ClampArt is happy to present “Lindsay Morris: You Are You”—an exhibition of photographs to coincide with the release of the monograph of the same title from Kehrer Verlag (Hardcover, 112 pages, 11.25 x 11.25 inches, $50). This is the artist’s first solo show in New York City. “You Are You” documents an annual weekend summer camp for gender-nonconforming children and their families. This camp offers a temporary safe haven, where children can freely express their interpretations of gender alongside their parents and siblings without feeling the need to look over their shoulders.
In 2007, Lindsay Morris began attending the camp with a loved one and has continued to document the camp experience over the last seven years. It was with a great deal of courage that, in 2012, the camp parents and children agreed to have selected images published as a cover article for “The New York Times Magazine.” This started an important and timely dialogue in a public forum. Since then, the story has been published in France, Italy, Germany, Israel, Australia, and Eastern Europe, demonstrating a common global interest in the predicament of gender-independent youth.
Morris writes: “By sharing this unique story, I intend to reach beyond the confines of the camp to contribute to a dialogue about the crucial role that support plays in the lives of gender-nonconforming children. A lack of understanding of gender identity and the ways in which these children express themselves often lead to discrimination. Through these images the viewer will experience something different—a groundbreaking, heart opening place that serves as the backdrop for this important moment in history, where the first gender-creative childhoods are being freely expressed.”