A pair of queer alien Elvises on a country roadside want to know: Are You Loathsome Tonight?
Art duo The Huxleys' latest exhibition Disgraceland is a camp and otherworldly tribute to Elvis Presley, a contemporary echo of how strange the singer might have seemed starting out in small-town USA during the 1950s.
Growing up in suburban Australia, both Garrett and Will Huxley both looked to the King of Rock 'n' Roll's alternative image of masculinity - theatrical, effeminate and glamorous.
"We were both queer kids feeling really at odds with our environment and seeing someone like Elvis was very inspirational," Will Huxley told AAP.
Parts of Disgraceland have been shown at the Melbourne Fringe Festival and online, but the August show at the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne is the first time the project has been displayed in full.
The Huxleys were initially approached by costume designer Catherine Martin, who was nominated for three Oscars for her work on Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, to feature in her guest-edited Elvis tribute edition of Vogue Living in 2022.
When they discovered Elvis had a stillborn twin, the idea of two Elvises took hold and became one giant photography project.
They shot much of the series in Victoria's northeast and in Albury-Wodonga, with some wild experiences taking staged pictures on country roadsides.
Once a flash got caught in the wind and tumbled down the road, Will Huxley chasing after it in heels.
On one 35C day on a back road outside Chiltern, the duo were in full costume when a local pulled up in his ute and said they didn't look anything like the Elvis he remembered.
Initially sceptical, he and a mate ended up trying on wigs and posing for photos.
"He said it was the weirdest thing he'd seen on that road in all his time living in Chiltern, so it was kind of special," Will Huxley said.
With makeup, costume and wigs taking about three hours for each shoot, the Elvis project was full of challenges.
The photos were taken with only the Huxleys present, using an automatic timer - the artists dashing into position, then running back to see if they captured the shot.
It's a difficult way to work for such elaborate photographs, but Will Huxley believes the results are better because both artists trust each other - and they don't feel embarrassed in their outlandish costumes.
The Huxleys' work crosses from visual art to performance and back again, with Elvis tribute videos for Disgraceland, a performance night and even a tea-towel bedazzling workshop.
Disgraceland is on at the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne, August 9-20, with a tea towel workshop on August 15 and performance night on August 12.
