User:Bethan Hickie/sandbox

Black Lodge Press
Black Lodge Press is a self-initiated ongoing print project formed around ten years ago by CJ Reay (born 23 July 1988) in North Yorkshire, ran from within their home. CJ is a self-taught artist who learnt to screen print at the Star and Shadow, a radical social centre in Newcastle. Originally producing and disseminating zines by queer artists who create through a politically anarchist lens, Reay has shifted their focus onto their own print work that features vintage typography and illustrations reminiscent of mid-century political posters, in keeping with their anarchist ethos.

There is a sense of urgency about Reay’s work; reactionary to Britain’s current socioeconomic political climate, their direct nature allows for accessible and memorable messages, displayed within several strategies of activism, recognising Reay as a crucial participant within the UK small press scene.

Printing with Footprint Workers Collective, Reay’s production is mostly managed within the Yorkshire area and is in-keeping with their ethical and sustainable values, as all paper and card chosen are recycled and all inks used are ecologically safe.

Form
“Reay creates images using a combination of bold text, images and abstract textures”. They work within the medium of A3 Riso prints on paper/ screen prints on cloth and prior to this, created zines with the intention of disseminating information and forming communities, without relying on an exhaustive essay format to send a message. DIY physical zines and posters come with an element of authority due to their nontechnical and quickly generative nature, making them perfect instruments for communicating current and poignant political messages. As Flood says, “posters have a fleeting lifespan, but a prosperity to be remembered and preserved that sets them apart from other forms of printed ephemera” and “continues to have a totemic status, will continue to be effective, efficient, and emblematic to the cause or issue it represents”.

Works
Inspired by agitprop and art of the European anarchist underground, Reay produced Queer Borders, a billboard campaign, with a direct statement in support of queer solidarity against colonialist borders and the racist and homophobic systems in which they are implemented. Reay says, “art and social justice, or radical left politics, are intrinsically linked” “raising awareness, raising funds, supporting asylum appeals, creating art, disrupting immigrants' raids are all tangible actions we can utilise to distrust the border system and hostile environment”. The banner read “queer solidarity smashes borders” and was much larger than Reay’s usual A3 Riso print work, so was proudly draped over a bridge by the queer activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants, during Pride month in 2012, reactionary to the incline of sanitised and appropriated rainbow capitalism.

Originally from West Cumbria, Reay has experienced growing up without an adequate queer support group and has been involved in political activism since their teenage years. Later, Reay found themselves within the role of a sexual health outreach worker. Inspired by the people they helped and interacted with, they created the zine CRUISING, detailing the extensive secret languages and customs that exist around the cruising culture whilst delivering an urgent essence of activism for a more inclusive future away from heteronormativity.

During lockdown, Reay began attending to an allotment and used their zine work as a means to document and perhaps persuade others of the socioeconomic benefits to growing your own garden. Allotment is a month-by-month diary illustrating the importance of agricultural action, as an act of soft resistance and autonomy against the pressures of privatisation and neoliberalism.