Kyle Angel is constantly reimagining his identify through “fabulously zany ways,” according to his in his own words. To see that zaniness on display, look no further than Acrylics on CAMP—Angel’s latest exhibition currently on display in the McClure Gallery at the Art Academy.
Angel is currently an adjunct professor at both the Art Academy and the University of Cincinnati DAAP (College of Design, Architecture, Art, & Planning). Graduating in 2017 from the Art Academy, Angel has worked with textiles, fashion, video, sound, installation, illustration, and text. Through the art of drag and performance, he transforms himself into the playful and quirky persona of Crystal Tubes (she/her/they/them), which allows Angel to question and defy limitations around queerness and gender expression.
For Acrylics on CAMP, Angel fully embellished and bejeweled a collection of 58 pairs of gloves in response to Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on Camp. Angel writes: “Throughout her notes, she attempts to explain the unexplainable (“camp”) and reminds us not to always take everything so seriously. During a time when drag is constantly being met with fear and disdain, I look toward Sontag’s writing to remind myself of the artistry, expression, and playfulness that originally made me fall in love with drag!”
Read more about CAMP in this Q&A with Angel.
Tell us about pairing the famous “Notes on ‘Camp’” essay with your own sense of artistry. When did you first encounter the essay, and how does it complement your own work?
Ah, Notes on “Camp”—a piece that is as elusive as it is defining! I first encountered Sontag’s essay in grad school in 2018, and I’ve held it close by ever since. At the time, I was just beginning to explore my Drag persona, Crystal Tubes (she/her/they/them), and the possibilities of Drag existing as a part of my artistic practice and voice. Camp, in Sontag’s words, becomes this sparkling and complicated understanding of why we gravitate towards what some might call “too much” or “tasteless.” Existing with and creating through her essay in my studio felt like having a bunch of craft nights with your best friend who just instinctively gets you and encourages every single one of your nonsensical ideas. The list of characteristics also acted like a series of prompts for me as I went about creating each pair of gloves and its set of embellished acrylic nails.
I kept coming back to her list, marveling at how it echoed drag’s unapologetic embrace of the fabulous, the artificial, and the deeply layered. Through Crystal Tubes, I use camp to celebrate queerness, to challenge norms, and to interject a sense of joy into what can often feel like a rigid world. Notes on “Camp” is a mirror that reflects both the silliness and sincerity of that effort, and that’s what I hope to invite others to see in this exhibition.
This exhibition features 58 pairs of embellished gloves. Tell us about the materials you used to elevate the gloves beyond the ordinary. What was your process like?
Each pair of gloves in Acrylics on “CAMP” is its own mini experiment in extravagance! The materials range widely—mesh, leather, rubber, rhinestones, feathers, metal studs, faux fur, beads, and, of course, acrylic nails as the centerpiece. The acrylic nails consumed a good majority of my time… all 580 of them… as I used layers of gel polish and builder gel to bring each one to life. One set might embody Camp Vision on rubber-dipped work gloves with googly eyes, 301 eyelashes, glitter, and rhinestones, while another set, inspired by Excruciating, appear on physical therapy gloves with quilting pins shoved into the gums of resin teeth.
The process was wonderfully chaotic. The sight of my studio floor was practically nonexistent as I doused each glove in adhesive (a huge shoutout to E6000, Gorilla Super Glue Gel, and hot glue) and began throwing anything and everything at them. Every glove became a small character study, an attempt to embody that “too much” spirit Sontag described. The gloves evolved through layering, from everyday utilitarian instruments and simple vintage finds to lavish, absurd, and totally impractical artworks that look like they could only belong on the hands of a glamour-obsessed creature with a loose grip on reality.
In your opinion, what do we gain from embracing camp as spectators? What do we gain from embracing camp as participants?
When we embrace camp as spectators, we are giving ourselves permission to drop the everyday façade(s). We can laugh without feeling self-conscious, admire the artifice, and let go of our need to analyze everything so seriously. Camp allows us to celebrate passion, even if (especially if!) it is a bit misguided or ridiculous.
As participants, camp becomes something even more magical! We get to revel in our imaginations and creativity without boundaries. Camp as participation is a practice in embracing all parts of ourselves—the polished and the imperfect, the sincere and the ironic. In my art, and particularly in my expressions through Drag, camp becomes a tool for survival. It is a way to express queerness with pride, to turn vulnerability into strength, and to find resilience in fabulous defiance. Through camp, we get to live in a world where seriousness is dethroned, and joy becomes a statement of its own.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us and the readers about your exhibition and your artistry in general?
Crystal Tubes—the persona and the artist—exists in a playful and utopic universe where contradictions collide. My work with Acrylics on “CAMP” is really an invitation for viewers to join me in that universe. It is a space where gloves are more than just fashionable garments; they are canvases for identity, symbols of queerness, and little imaginings of rebellion against the mundane. At the heart of it all, camp teaches us that the only thing more radical than standing out is standing out with joy, self-acceptance, and maybe a rhinestone or two… or a few hundred!
And to anyone reading: I hope you leave the exhibition with a renewed sense of worth to be gloriously yourself, however extravagant or subtle that may be.
Read more about CAMP. This exhibition is on view in the McClure Gallery until December 6th, 2024.
Our galleries are free and open to the public, and no registration is needed. Check-in at the security desk is required. View all upcoming exhibitions for the rest of the season.
Gallery Hours:
Monday – Friday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location:
Art Academy of Cincinnati College of Art & Design
1212 Jackson St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
Traveling via the Connector streetcar? We’re right around the corner from station 7 in Over-the-Rhine!
