off centre is an online publication dedicated to critical writing about contemporary art and artists outside of large metropolitan centres. We believe it is important to provide opportunities for and highlight the practices of artists, writers, and curators who produce and exhibit in these regions, challenging the expectation that culture emerges in the centre and works it's way beyond.
off centre prioritizes the work of artists, writers, and curators who identify as emerging, Black, Indigenous, racialized, Queer, disabled, and / or those who are working in underrepresented practices.
off centre is independently run and funded. We are currently able to offer a modest writer’s fee of $100 upon publication of successful submissions.
off centre was collaboratively founded by Adrien Crossman and Luke Maddaford.
Luke Maddaford is an interdisciplinary Canadian artist and curator whose practice explores the intersection of identity and place. Emerging out of his personal experience, he is interested in how we navigate social and physical spaces and how those experiences inform the way we perceive ourselves and the spaces we occupy. With a special interest in queer identity, much of his current research revolves around non-urban space and the history of queer occupation. He has exhibited throughout Canada, and holds a Diploma in Visual Art and Design from Keyano College, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drawing from the Alberta College of Art + Design, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Visual Art from the University of Windsor. He currently lives in Windsor, ON, where he co-runs LEFT Contemporary, a grassroots art gallery.
Adrien Crossman (they/them) is a queer and non-binary white settler artist, educator and curator currently residing on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples in so called Hamilton, Ontario. They hold an MFA in Visual Art from the University of Windsor (2018), and a BFA in Integrated Media with a Minor in Digital and Media Studies from OCAD University (2012). Crossman is interested in the affective qualities of queerness, investigating how queerness can be felt through specific aesthetics and sensibilities. Their work is deeply enmeshed with their queer and trans identity and is attentive to the ways that white supremacy and colonization have shaped dominant understandings of gender and sexuality. Their practice seeks to destabilize these systemic ideas and speculate on more expansive alternatives. Adrien has written for the IOTA Institute, CBC Arts, and Kapsula magazine and is an Assistant Professor in the School of the Arts at McMaster University.
info[at]weareoffcentre.com
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