UIC Gallery 400 40th anniversary

Edie Fake’s vantage point on climate catastrophe comes from living in the Mojave Desert, an environment imminently threatened by extractive exhaustion and biological collapse. Fake takes as his subject the harsh and absurd realities of a rapidly shifting place as well as the possibility of adapting to severely stacked odds. His exuberant paintings and intricate collages are inspired by his sandy surroundings in the high desert and continue to explore themes of queer community which have been at the core of his work for years.

Fake’s work has evolved from his acclaimed Memory Palaces series­—reimagined facades of urban lesbian bars and gay nightclubs—to a new feeling of vulnerability due to shifts in the U.S. social and political climate. The work blurs lines between architecture and body with structures adorned by elements that seem to be both decorative and protective.  Architectural components are used as visual metaphors for the ways in which definition and validation elude trans identities. Fake’s work has been included in the UIC Gallery 400 exhibitions The Dragon is the Frame (2012), Making Chances (2015), and Reckless Rolodex (2023).