Labours of Love is a new group exhibition including works by Boy Blue, Alana Lake, Daira Ronzoni and Emily Witham that delves into the deep, complex relationship between love and work within the queer community. Join us to celebrate the opening of this exhibition and enjoy an exclusive first look ahead of its public opening.
Curated at Treadgolds, a historic site in Portsmouth that was once the premises of a family-run ironmongery and blacksmith business established in the 19th century, the building will become the backdrop for how one can forge lasting and enduring love in a world that often denies it.
At the heart of the exhibition is the idea that love, for many queer individuals, is not simply a natural or effortless emotion, but a powerful act of defiance, perseverance, and self-determination. In a society that often marginalises or seeks to define love within heteronormative frameworks, queer love requires active, ongoing work. From self-love to romantic, platonic, or familial connections, love becomes a radical act of existence and resistance—something we must fight for, nurture, and continuously build.
The four featured artists were selected from an open call, which invited applicants to respond to the ‘Labours of Love’ exhibition concept, by the curators Gemma Rolls-Bentley and Ricardo Reverón Blanco. The international group of artists, based across the UK, in Manchester, Glasgow and London, are at different points in their careers and working with various disciplines. Their work comes together in this expansive exhibition to explore how radical queer love is something we must nurture, build, resist, protest and care for.
Alana Lake is an artist whose practice explores addiction, desire, and identity through materials like glass, ceramic, and expanded drawing, engaging with biological and psychological themes. Her work, informed by research and psychoanalysis, intersects with queer identity.
Boy Blue is a London-based people painter and researcher whose work explores political themes, including queer desire, cross-cultural identity, and the representation of Asian identity. Through her doctoral research and painting practice, she examines how art can empower marginalized communities and challenge societal stereotypes.
Daira Ronzoni is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores ecology, pre-Columbian mythologies, and queer theories through sculpture, painting, and virtual landscapes. Drawing from her Indigenous Patagonian heritage and life in the UK, she creates imagined worlds that weave ancestry, cultural hybridity, and personal storytelling.
Emily Witham’s practice explores the history of dyke subcultures, contemporary lesbian politics, and the legacy of butch/femme identities through illustration, textiles, and archival research. Alongside her artistic work, she is an active organiser in lesbian nightlife and founded The London Dyke Market, creating spaces that celebrate queer community and resistance.
This exhibition comes at a pivotal moment for Portsmouth as it hosts UK Pride ‘25 and draws national attention to the work of the volunteer-run Portsmouth Pride and all of the partners and supporters across the city who have come together to realise this ambition. UK Pride is awarded to a different community-run pride every year and Portsmouth will use its year in the spotlight to celebrate our collective work creating a more inclusive city for the LGBTQ+ people who live in, work in, study in or visit Portsmouth.
The intergenerational approach of this exhibition is crucial in highlighting the evolution of queer love and activism, ensuring that past struggles and triumphs inform present and future expressions of identity and resistance. By bringing together artists who engage with history, politics, mythology, and materiality, the exhibition fosters a dialogue between different generations of queer experience—honoring those who paved the way while empowering new voices to shape the future.
Hosted in Portsmouth during UK Pride, it reflects on how queer communities have continually fought for visibility, acceptance, and self-determination, making space for ongoing conversations about love as an act of resilience. In doing so, the exhibition not only celebrates the diversity of LGBTQ+ experiences but also reinforces the necessity of collective memory and solidarity in the fight for enduring and radical love.
With thanks to Patrick Holmes whose generous donation to Portsmouth Pride has made this exhibition and programme possible.