Scott Treleaven is a Canadian artist whose work employs a variety of media including

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

, film, video, drawing, photography and installation.

Artwork

Critical writings have invoked references to

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

Jack Pierson Jack Pierson (born 1960 in Plymouth, Massachusetts) is a photographer and an artist. Pierson is known for his photographs, collages, word sculptures, installations, drawings and artists books. His "Self-Portrait" series was shown in the 2004 Whit ...

and

Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born September 12, 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work often explores LGBT subcultures, moments of intimacy, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Her most notable work is '' The Ballad of Sexual Depe ...

, in describing Treleaven's place in "a lineage of obdurate misfits". He attended the

Etobicoke School of the Arts The Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) is a specialized public arts-academic high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in Etobicoke, it has been housed in the former Royal York Collegiate Institute facility since 1983. Founded on September ...

and

OCAD University Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

. Treleaven has exhibited in a number of institutions throughout the world including Cooper Cole, Toronto; XYZ Collective, Tokyo; MOCA Tucson, Arizona; Invisible-Exports, New York; The Suburban, Milwaukee; 80WSE, New York; ICA, Philadelphia; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; ICA London, UK; La

Biennale de Montréal La Biennale de Montréal (BNL MTL) is a bi-annual multidisciplinary arts event to confront the Quebec and Canadian art with those of foreign artists around common issues and concepts corresponding to ''"the timeliness of the art"''. Founded in 1 ...

; and John Connelly Presents, New York. In 2014 Treleaven's drawings were included in the final segment of 'Outside the Lines' at the

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a not-for-profit institution in the Museum District, Houston, Texas, founded in 1948, dedicated to presenting contemporary art to the public. As a non-collecting museum, it strives to provide a forum for visual ...

, a major survey of contemporary abstraction.

Films

Treleaven's first film ''Queercore: A Punk-u-mentary'' was produced in 1996, a documentary on the

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifical ...

scene in the 1990s. In 2002 Treleaven presented an overview of his independent publishing experiences in a film entitled ''The Salivation Army'' which has been screened at

MOMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; Ang ...

and

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...

, Switzerland. In 2005 photographer/director

Carter Smith Carter Smith (born September 6, 1971) is an American filmmaker and fashion photographer. He is best known for directing the films '' The Ruins'' (2008) and ''Jamie Marks Is Dead'' (2014). Life and career A native of Bowdoinham, Maine, Smith moved ...

approached Treleaven about adapting his published horror story, ''Bugcrush'', into Smith's

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

award-winning short film. Director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

has openly lauded the film. In 2008, he appeared in the feature film, ''

The Lollipop Generation ''The Lollipop Generation'' is a 2008 Canadian underground experimental film written, produced, and directed by G. B. Jones, whose previous films include ''The Troublemakers'' and ''The Yo-Yo Gang''. It premiered as the Gala Feature presentation ...

'' by

G.B. Jones G. B. Jones (born 1965) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines born in Bowmanville, Canada. She is known for producing J.D.s with her acclaimed''Tom Girls'' drawings before going on to create more musically, cinematica ...

, alongside Jena von Brücker,

Mark Ewert Marcus Ewert, previously known as Mark Ewert, is an American writer, actor and director, living in San Francisco. Ewert began making and appearing in films in the 1990s. He has appeared in the Gus Van Sant short film ''Four Naked Boys and a Gu ...

Vaginal Davis Vaginal Davis (born in Los Angeles, California) is an American performing artist, painter, independent curator, composer, filmmaker and writer. Born intersex and raised in South Central, Los Angeles, Davis gained notoriety in New York during the ...

Calvin Johnson Calvin Johnson Jr., (born September 29, 1985) is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons with the Detroit Lions. He played college football at Georgia Tech, where he twice ...

and

Joel Gibb Joel Gibb (born 28 January 1977) is a Berlin-based Canadian artist and singer-songwriter who leads the "gay church folk" group The Hidden Cameras. He was born in Kincardine, Ontario. Career His first involvement with the music scene was as ed ...

. In March 2011, The Museum of Modern Art in New York (

) featured a program of Treleaven's films as part of th
Queer Cinema from the Collection: Today and Yesterday
program, curated by artist

AA Bronson AA Bronson (born Michael Tims in Vancouver in 1946) is an artist. He was a founding member of the artists' group General Idea, was president and director of Printed Matter, Inc., and started the NY Art Book Fair and the LA Art Book Fair. Earl ...

and Joshua Siegel, Associate Curator, Department of Film, at The Museum of Modern Art.

Publications and Zines

Concurrent with the documentary ''Queercore: A Punk-u-mentary'', Treleaven created an illustrated

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

project called ''This Is The Salivation Army'' (1996–1999): a mix of

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

, and

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

aesthetics, alongside homages to iconoclasts like

Brion Gysin Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the ...

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

, and

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

. The zine was a seeding ground for a variety of concepts and styles that would continue to appear in Treleaven's visual art. Books, zines and independently produced publications continue to be a recurring motif throughout his work. In 2006 a book marking the 10th anniversary of the ''This Is The Salivation Army'' project was published by Printed Matter (NY) and

Art Metropole Art Metropole is an artist run centre that publishes, promotes, exhibits, archives and distributes artists' publications and other materials. Art Metropole was founded in 1974 by the Canadian artist collective General Idea as a division of Ar ...

(Toronto), containing an entire reprint of the zines alongside more recent drawings and collages. Treleaven's contribution to artist publications has been acknowledged in the books, ''In Numbers: Serial Publications by Artists Since 1955'' (JRP, Ringier 2009), ''The Magazine – Documents of Contemporary Art Series'' (MIT Press 2015) and ''Showboat: Punk, Sex, Bodies'' (Dashwood 2016).

Filmography

* ''Last 7 Words'' (2009), actors:

Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions arti ...

, soundtrack b
LocrianTerence Hannum

André Foisy
* ''Silver'' (2006), actors:

, soundtrack by Andrew Zealley * ''Gold'' (2006), actors:

and

Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions art ...

, soundtrack by Andrew Zealley * ''Bugcrush'' (2006), original story. Written and directed by

* ''The Salivation Army'' (2002), actors:

Kevin Drew Kevin Drew (born September 9, 1976) is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene. He was also part of the lesser-known KC Accidental, which con ...

* ''Beastboy'' (2002), actor: Andrew Cecil * ''He Is the Boss Of Me'' (2001), video for

The Hidden Cameras The Hidden Cameras are a Canadian indie pop band. Fronted by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the band consists of a varying roster of musicians who play what Gibb once described as "gay church folk music". Their live performances have been elaborate ...

* ''Queercore: A punk-u-mentary'' (1996)

Bibliography

* ''The Age of Collage Vol. 3: Contemporary Collage in Modern Art'', gestalten, Berlin, 2020 * ''Showboat: Punk / Sex / Bodies'', Dashwood Books, New York, 2016 * ''The Two Eyes Are Not Brothers'', by Scott Treleaven, published by

Kiddiepunk Kiddiepunk is a Paris-based, independent publisher founded in 2002 by artist and filmmaker Michael Salerno. They specialize in releasing limited edition books and zines, as well as film and video projects. Overview Originally based in Melbourne, ...

, Paris, 2011 * ''Passing Strange'', by Scott Treleaven, published by Viafarini, Milan, 2009 * ''Collage: Assembling Contemporary Art'',

Black Dog Publishing Black Dog Publishing was a British publishing company specialising in illustrated non-fiction books on contemporary culture. Topics covered by Black Dog include architecture, art, craft, design, environment, fashion, film, music and photograph ...

, 2008, * ''Queer Zines'', Printed Matter Inc., 2008, * ''Grey Book'' (catalogue), by Scott Treleaven, published by The Breeder gallery, Athens, 2008 * ''Some Boys Wander By Mistake'' (catalogue), by Scott Treleaven, with texts by

Dennis Cooper Dennis Cooper (born January 10, 1953) is an American novelist, poet, critic, editor and performance artist. He is best known for the ''George Miles Cycle'', a series of five semi-autobiographical novels published between 1989 and 2000 and describ ...

, Terence Hannum, and

, co-published by Kavi Gupta Gallery, John Connelly Presents & Marc Selwyn Fine Art, 2007, * ''Juicy Mother: How They Met'', edited by

Jennifer Camper Jennifer Camper is a cartoonist and graphic artist whose work is inspired by her own experiences as a Lebanese-American lesbian. Her work has been included in various outlets such as newspapers and magazines since the 1980s, as well as in exhibits ...

Manic D Press Manic D Press is an American literary press based in San Francisco, California publishing fiction (novels and short stories), poetry, cultural studies, art, narrative-oriented comix, children's books, and alternative travel trade paperbacks. It was ...

, 2007, * ''An Emerald Tablet'', by Scott Treleaven, Friends of the High Line, NY, 2007 * ''The Salivation Army Black Book'', by Scott Treleaven, Printed Matter Inc./

, 2006, * ''Generation Hex (The Disinformation Company book), Generation Hex'', edited by

Jason Louv Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He was ...

The Disinformation Company The Disinformation Company (abbreviated as Disinfo) was a privately held company, privately held, private company limited by shares, limited American publishing company until 2012 when it was sold to Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari. It also owned ''Disinf ...

, 2005, * ''Queer Fear II'',

Michael Rowe Michael Rowe (born 1960) is an American television writer, producer and comedian. He has written for ''Becker (TV series), Becker'', ''The Nanny'', ''Futurama'', ''Paranormal Action Squad'' and ''Family Guy'', as well as writing the episode of ...

, editor,

Arsenal Pulp Press Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, focusing primarily on underrepresented genres such as und ...

, 2002, (horror fiction collection featuring Treleaven's infamous short story 'Bugcrush') * ''We want some too: Underground desire and the reinvention of mass culture'', by Hal Niedzviecki,

Penguin Putnam Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initiall ...

, 2000, * ''This Is The Salivation Army'', issues 1–8, by Scott Treleaven, 1996 to 1999 * ''This Is The Salivation Army'', issue 10, by Scott Treleaven, Art Gallery of York University, 2004 ('The Salivation Army' film is considered issue #9; issue 10 was an addition to ''This Is the Salivation Army'' zines in name only and not considered part of the original run)

References

External links

*
Scott Treleaven's artwork at Cooper Cole gallery, TorontoScott Treleaven's artwork at Invisible-Exports gallery, New York
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treleaven, Scott Artists from Toronto Canadian contemporary artists Queercore Film directors from Toronto Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian LGBT artists Canadian mixed media artists Gay artists Canadian video artists