Responding to the theme of humour, performance artist and AGO X RBC Artist-In-Residence Clayton Lee stages a large-scale intervention in Walker Court and the Gallery at large. The latest in an ongoing series, the artist explores his own personal history through the lens of queer diasporic sexuality and aesthetics, classical music, and professional wrestler Bill Goldberg.

Scent will be used as a material in the performance -- visitors with sensory-processing sensitivities should exercise caution.

This event features mature themes, sexual content, and a live snake. 

Created and performed by: Clayton Lee
With: Marc-Andre Boulanger AKA The Beast King FTM, Costa, Luna, and more

Music: J.S. Bach
Scent: Killian Wells for Xyrena
Costume Fabrication: Lisa Blackford

Outside Eyes: Franco Boni, Francesco Gagliardi

Clayton Lee (he/him) is a Toronto-based performance artist and curator. Performances include (◕‿◕✿) at The Performance Arcade in Wellington, New Zealand and Chapter’s EXPERIMENTICA in Cardiff, Wales; Ways of Being, co-created with Michael Rubenfeld (FOLDA, The Kick and Push Festival); Duets for Beginners (SummerWorks); and Informal Beginnings (Katzman Contemporary’s Duration & Dialogue II). He is the outgoing Rhubarb Festival Director at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and is the Director (Artistic) of Fierce Festival. For more information, visit AGO X RBC Artist-in-Residence: Clayton Lee | Art Gallery of Ontario

Presented as part of the 2023 AGO x RBC Artist-in-Residence Program. This year, artists are asked to respond to the theme of humour, and to share with us what makes them and others laugh, and to consider if laughter is merely a physical response or something more? Artists were encouraged to work with concepts or materials that offer surprising, absurdist or playful engagements and consider how humour might bring people closer together. To learn more about the AGO X RBC Artist-In-Residence program, visit https://ago.ca/artist-in-residence