"Hot Chicks and Homeless Peeps"

The art of Ange McLane

Opening party Friday 4/27/12, 6 to 9pm

Featuring the music of Tyler Jakes
Show runs 4/16, through 5/26/12

 “Hot Chicks and Homeless Peeps,” takes risks with the borders of the acceptable and the risqué. 

Ange McLane 
Born in Mexico City to a Mexican mother and American father, Ange McLane grew up first below the border, and then above, in Texas—finally choosing to make her home in the Bay Area, in 2005. Her experience of the two cultures, and an early exposure to art-making, heavily influence her current photographic work.

Ange began carrying a camera with her daily at the age of 8, photographing her friends as well as her own installation art work, which was comprised at the time of doll nativity scenes and modeling clay cities.

In college, Ange pursued Advertising at the Universidad de la Comunicacion in Mexico City, Art History at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX, and Fine Art Photography at the Glassell School of Art in Houston. More recently, she studied Digital Photo-Montage and Experimental Film at the San Francisco Art Institute. 
“Hot Chicks and Homeless Peeps,” takes risks with the borders of the acceptable and the risqué.

Her subjects are not overtly sexy, nor overtly subjugated. They are complicit with the act of being photographed. She captures each one’s subtle essence, inviting their revelations, whether in flesh made visible through lingerie, or in personal message exposed via cardboard and marker.
She says, “I am interested in the sensuality of the image, the bold colors, not just in a visual way, but in a contextual way. I enjoy when an image brings together a balance in light and dark and bold color.”

Of her series of street photographs, Ange describes, “Seven years ago, while I was studying at the Glassell School of Art, I frequently ventured into downtown Houston—this was pre-gentrification—with my camera. I was meeting people that were living on the streets, talking to them. I would buy them beer or cigarettes and we would talk about their lives. I started to carry cardboard and markers with me. And I would invite them to share their real message with the world. This was way before the time of Facebook and smart phones, way before anyone was carrying a camera and posting their thoughts with apps.”

Regarding the juxtaposition of the two groups of subjects, Ange’s work invites the viewer to question assumptions. She says, “With the homeless, I wanted to portray that beauty and that fight. And when it comes to the girls, it’s not slutty — they’re just feminine.”

The collection of images in “Hot Chicks and Homeless People” bears witness to Ange’s natural affinity to bold colors, architectural composition, and edgy, thought-provoking themes.