I thought this was a classy party?

Colorful textile art collage featuring a red one-eyed horned character in four scenes: standing in a grocery store aisle with two people, close-up of its face, sitting at a vanity with everyday items, and riding in a car with two passengers and a dog.

Title: I thought this was a classy party?

  • Show Run: Mon, March 20-Fri, May 1

  • Closing Reception: May 1, 5pm

  • Gallery Hours: M-F 10am-6pm

Artist: Marcus Rothering

Artist Statement

My tufted wall rugs and ceramic sculptures explore Black queer domesticity and the negotiations of race and gender that shape everyday spaces. My rugs reclaim softness as a site of power, drawing from craft traditions often dismissed to reveal moments of discomfort that reflect feeling othered. The ceramic forms lean into ambiguity with resisting fixed identities that shift ways Black queer bodies are read and misread. With this work I am questioning who gets to belong in a room and who is asked to perform.

Biography

Marcus Rothering earned his B.A. in Studio Arts from Metropolitan State University and an MFA in Ceramics and Fiber/Textiles from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. He has completed artist residencies at Ateliergemeinschaft Milchhof e. V. in Berlin, Germany, and Mudflat Pottery School in Boston, Massachusetts. Rothering was awarded the Rose Fellowship, through which he conducted ceramics and fashion research in Seoul, South Korea. Originally from Duluth, Minnesota, he now lives in Minneapolis with his poodle, Pansy.