Pride Campaigner Wins Gong

A dedicated campaigner for LGBT Pride in Europe has been awarded a well-deserved MBE. Pride Solidarity founder and annual visitor to Pride celebrations in Europe Clare Dimyon received the honour “in recognition of her services to promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Central and Eastern Europe”.

Clare responds: I am only a visitor and witness to the PRIDE parades in C&E Europe and the determination of LGBT people (and their friends and families) to achieve their full human rights and dignity. I am delighted at this recognition for the LGBT people of C&E Europe, it is recognition and honour they richly deserve. I look forward to the day when their own countries recognise and honour them for their contribution, not only to the development of the human rights and dignity of LGBT people (and all minorities) but the embedding of democratic principles in the post-Soviet era.

As I am prone to saying on my travels in C&E Europe: “Love is the answer, so what was the question?”

Schools OUT and LGBT History Month co-chair said, “Clare is a great friend to us and I am thrilled that she has received this well-deserved honour. While the lazy-minded media follow Peter Tatchell on his brave and selfless annual trips to Moscow, they ignore this fantastic ambassador who travels through the former Eastern Europe to show solidarity for LGBT people everywhere.”

For those who wish to meet more of the fabulous LGBT people of C&E Europe, the EU Commission is currently hosting an exhibition: Fall of the Wall meet Stonewall – a visual parade of the parades of C&E Europe in honour of the 40th birthday of PRIDE.

Fall of the Wall meets Stonewall
8-18th June 2010
12 Star Gallery,
EU Commission,
8 Storey’s Gate,
Westminster
SW1P 3AT

Exhibition: The Holocaust Against the Roma and Sinti and Present Day Racism

The third edition of Gypsy, Roma and Taveller History Month is taking place this month. To mark the event, a mobile exhibition entitled ''The Holocaust against the Roma and Sinti and present day racism in Europe,'' will take place in east London.

This is the first mobile English-language exhibition on the Nazi genocide against the Sinti and Roma. The prime goal of the exhibition is to examine the holocaust against the Roma and Sinti, and, above all, the extent to which Europe as a whole was involved. The comprehensive final part of the exhibition focuses on present-day racist discrimination against the Sinti and Roma.

In most European countries today the vast majority of people remain totally unaware of the National Socialist genocide of the Roma and Sinti minority which claimed some 500,000 victims during the Second World War. As a consequence of the failure to overcome this ignorance the racist clichés and stereotypes about the Roma and Sinti, which were heavily influenced by Nazi propaganda, persist until the present day. These prejudices, passed down the generations, are among the main reasons for the perpetual wave of racially motivated crimes of violence which are still being committed against the Roma and Sinti in Europe today. Roma and Sinti suffer discrimination and prejudice in all social strata: a disadvantaged minority numbering some 10 million.

Against this backdrop, the exhibition seeks to impart a greater appreciation of the past in an attempt to help dissolve current situations of conflict. In focussing on the Holocaust against the Roma and Sinti and its European dimension, the main aim is to expose a crime against humanity which to this day eludes all historical comparison and remains unimaginable in its enormity. Like the Jews, the Roma and Sinti were rounded up, disenfranchised, ghettoised and finally deported to the extermination camps, all in the name of National Socialist racial ideology. With no respect for persons and individuals, National Socialism subjected infants and the elderly alike to the same de-humanising treatment. The National Socialists denied these people the right to exist, collectively and definitively, merely because they had been born Sinti, Roma or Jews.

As regards content, the exhibition is subdivided into four areas. The first part documents the beginning disenfranchisement of the German Roma and Sinti following the National Socialist accession to power up to the outbreak of the Second World War and the first deportations to occupied Poland. The second part of the exhibition covers the genocide of the Roma and Sinti in Nazi-occupied Europe. The exhibition seeks to highlight the distinctive features of the persecution in the different occupied and allied states, against the backdrop of the overarching themes common to the National Socialist extermination policy. The third major area documents the systematic homicide of Sinti and Roma from virtually every European country in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.

Finally, the fourth part of the exhibition picks out the main developments since 1945 in Europe, turning the spotlight on the public avoidance to confront and acknowledge the Nazi genocide against the Roma and Sinti and on the emergence of the civil rights movement in the Federal Republic. One particular emphasis is on current forms of discrimination against the national Roma and Sinti minorities in Central and Eastern Europe. Using selected examples, the exhibition demonstrates that Roma and Sinti are increasingly subject to open and violent racism and continued social prejudice.

Holocaust against the Roma Sinti exhibition
2 - 20 June.
The Art Pavilion
Mile End Arts Park off grove Road
Tower Hamlets
London E35BH
12:00 - 6:00pm Tuesday - Saturday
12:00 - 4:00pm sundays.
There will be a late night showing on June 3rd untill 10pm.

Official Launch Event
8 June, 1:30 – 4pm
Reception hosted by the German Embassy
Confirmed speakers include Mr Romani Rose, the respected academic and writer about the Roma Sinti Holocaust, Donald Kenrick, the deputy German Ambassador Dr.Eckhard Lübkemeier, and Romany Academic Damian Le Bas Jr.
RSVP: evasajovic@yahoo.com

Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton at The Drill Hall

Throughout February The Drill Hall is exhibiting a display of the work of the two UK pioneers in queer cartoons. The work of Kate Charlesworth and David Shenton can be seen in the basement of the nation's most loved queer theatre venue for the rest of the month of February, with guided tours on the 18th and 25th and a free day on the 20th.

Click here for details.

Michelangelo's dreams of male muse go on show at Courtauld

London gallery displays finest of Renaissance artist's drawings for his friends, with loans from the Vatican and the Queen.

Some of the most magnificent drawings ever executed – physical manifestations of Michelangelo's love and infatuation for a handsome and intelligent teenage boy – will on Thursday go on display as a group for the first time.

The groundbreaking show at the Courtauld gallery in London, with loans from the Vatican and the Queen, is essentially a joyously gay love story.

Read the full article in the Guardian here.

See also, in the Guardian, Michelangelo's drawings at the Courtauld gallery are intimate encounter with an artist in love.

Michelangelo's Dream
Courtauld gallery,
London
Starts 18 February
Until 16 May
website

Tatchell to Open Dorian Aroyo Show at the Menier Gallery

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell will open gay painter Dorian Aroyo's latest portrait show at Menier Gallery in Southwark, on Tuesday 22nd September 2009 at 7pm.

The exhibition is open to the public. All welcome.

Mr Tatchell is one of the featured subjects in the exhibition, which also includes a selection from Aroyo's LGBT 'Heroes and Heroines' series of paintings:

Alan Turing, Bishop Gene Robinson, Martina Navratilova, Simeon Solomon, Radclyffe Hall, Oscar Wilde, Ian McKellen, Michel Foucault, Kenneth Williams, John Waters, Elton John, Quentin Crisp, Maggie Hambling and Justin Fashanu.

See the paintings online: www.dorianaroyo.co.uk/heroesandheroines.htm

Image: "Icon (Peter Tatchell)" by Dorian Aroyo, 2006, mixed media on canvas. 40x30cm, collection: Peter Tatchell.

Exhibition: Ethnic Minorities Coming Out

Coming out can be painless for some but stressful and even traumatic for others, including friends and family. A new exhibition to open in East London documents the experiences of ethnic minority individuals coming out, allowing them to express their experiences and difficulties with culture and traditions through the medium of visual arts.

The project involves the production and exhibition of photographic images of ethnic minority lesbian, gay and bisexual people, accompanied by text describing their experience -both positive and negative- of coming out.

To find out more and view some of the images of the exhibition, visit www.sonalle.com

Ethnic Minorities Coming Out
Fri 11 September – Sun 4 October
admission free
Rich Mix
Mezzanine
35 - 47 Bethnal Green Road
London E1 6LA
www.richmix.org.uk

Image: Sonalle Photography

TS Eliot a Champion of Lesbian Literature

Poet-playwright TS Eliot will be shown as a champion of lesbian fiction and compassionate father figure to struggling writers, when a new exhibition opens at the British Library next month.

According to reports, letters written by him as a publisher at Faber and Faber suggest that he risked the wrath of the British authorities to bring out Nightwood, one of the first lesbian novels ever written.

The previously unseen correspondence shows that Eliot thought the 1936 book, by Djuna Barnes, was “the last big thing to be done in our time”.

Also to be exhibited are excerpts from a diary that Ted Hughes wrote in the 1960s, which refer to the poet as “the Guru-in-chief” and describe the older Eliot as a “father figure”.

Media reports are suggesting that Eliot’s letters to his three-year-old godson, descriptions of his role as a fire warden during the Blitz, and stories about his wartime problems with paper and ink shortages all paint a striking new image of a man with a benevolent, compassionate side.

Eliot's reputation has previously suffered because of his apparent anti-semitism.

Surrey investigates its gay history

Surrey county council has started an investigation into the county's gay history after the charity Gay Surrey donated its archives to the Surrey Historical Centre.

Volunteers are to spend the next few months working through approximately five million records, dating back to the 12th century, in order to find evidence of gay life.

They are aiming to put an exhibition together on the county's hidden history, in time for LGBT history month in February.

Read the full story on PinkNews here.

Gay and Lesbian Humanists Celebrate 30 years of Achievement

The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) celebrates its 30th anniversary at a free public event on Friday 10th July 2009.

The event will include an exhibition about GALHA’s work, reflections and recollections of GALHA founding members about the organisation’s early years, and talks exploring the historical context of LGBT campaigning. Speakers will include celebrated human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, and Member of the European Parliament, GALHA Vice President Michael Cashman.

In addition, the CHE/Derek Oyston Award in conjunction with GALHA will be presented to the winning campaigner who has made a particularly outstanding contribution to the LGBT community. This new annual award which is seen as a replacement for the Mike Rhodes Award will consist of £1,000.

GALHA is also pleased to welcome the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) to this event to celebrate their own 40th anniversary.

GALHA secretary David Christmas, commented. “This is expected to be a fun event, but it also has a very serious point. Both GALHA and the LGBT Community in general have achieved even more than we could have dreamt of in the dark days back in the 70s and 80s when people like Mary Whitehouse tried to use the law to bully us into silence.”

“However, while we may have seen off the bigots of 30 years ago, our very success has provoked a new generation of religious fundamentalists who are determined to roll back gay rights across Europe and North America, and to ensure that gay people continue to be denied freedom and equality in other parts of the world.”

“The next 30 years will probably determine whether gay equality becomes a permanent fixture across the globe.”

“However GALHA is about much more than exposing the intellectual and moral flaws of religion. Through our program of regular events and activities, and our campaigns, our aim is to build a community in which gay people with no religious beliefs gain a sense of belonging, and contribute to building a better, fairer and happier society.”

The Bishopsgate Institute, the venue for the event, recently added the GALHA’s archives to its historical and radical library.

The event starts at 6:30pm
Bishopsgate Institute
230 Bishopsgate
London EC2M 4QH
www.bishopsgate.org.uk

Find out more about the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association here.

Gay Icons at the National Portrait Gallery

Will Young and Nelson Mandela will stand side by side in a new exhibition of 'gay icons'. The singer and the former South African president are among 60 figures chosen for the National Portrait Gallery's show.

Gay Icons explores gay social and cultural history through the unique personal insights of ten high–profile gay figures, who have selected their historical and modern icons. The chosen icons, who may or may not be gay themselves, have all been important to each selector, having influenced or inspired them.

The 10 curators are: Labour peers Waheed Alli and Chris Smith; the chief executive of gay campaign group Stonewall, Ben Summerskill; comedian and presenter Sandi Toksvig; actor Sir Ian McKellen; musician Sir Elton John; tennis champion Billie Jean King; and writers Alan Hollinghurst, Jackie Kay and Sarah Waters. Each chose six icons.

Their only constraint was that choices had to be photographic portraits. This creates a timeframe of about 150 years - the period in which homosexuality gradually became accepted and made legitimate, the gallery said.

One of Lord Smith's choices was Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science whose career ended when he was "outed" and criminally prosecuted at a time when homosexuality was still illegal. And Sir Ian chose Harvey Milk, the first openly gay, elected politician in California whose life has just been depicted on film in an Oscar-winning performance by Sean Penn.

The choices provide a fascinating range of inspiring figures – some very famous, some heroic, others relatively unknown. Spanning the worlds of entertainment, art, music, literature, sport and politics they include artists Francis Bacon and David Hockney, civil rights campaigner Harvey Milk, writers Quentin Crisp, Joe Orton, Daphne Du Maurier, Patricia Highsmith and Walt Whitman, composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, musicians k.d. lang, Will Young and Village People, entertainers Ellen DeGeneres, Kenneth Williams and Lily Savage, and Nelson Mandela and Diana, Princess of Wales.

A fully illustrated book accompanies the exhibition, featuring over seventy striking photographs, an introduction by Sandi Toksvig and an essay by Richard Dyer.

Gay Icons
Opening Times: 2 July to 18 October 2009. Open daily 10:00-18:00. Thursday-Friday until 21:00.
National Portrait Gallery
Trafalgar Square
London WC2H 0HE
Tickets: £5/£4.50/£4, free for Gallery Supporters
webpage

13 Love Stories

13LoveStories.com is a multimedia advocacy project that profiles the stories of thirteen couples whose lives were profoundly affected by Proposition 8 - the recent California ballot initiative that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry.

This mobile photo exhibition and video project is presented by UCLA Art | Global Health Center and directed by Gideon Mendel. It debuted at UCLA on March 5th.

www.13lovestories.com

Burroughs Live

A new exhibition opened this week at the Royal Academy as part of the GSK Contemporary Season. Burroughs Live marks the mid point between the tenth anniversary of William Burroughs’ death and the fiftieth anniversary of the first publication of his best known novel Naked Lunch. By means of film and video footage of Burroughs performing his works to camera alongside portraits of him by photographers, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annie Leibovitz, Ira Cohen and his self portraits and artworks, the presence of Burroughs is evoked.

Burroughs Live
Royal Academy
8 Dec 2008—19 Jan 2009
website

The exhibition is also accompanied by screenings of films about the Beat Generation, including a new film by Malcolm McLaren inspired by Borroughs cut up technique.

Burroughs Live: Films
13 — 14 Dec 2008
website

Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life

A new exhibitions opened yesterday at the National Portrait Gallery until 1 February 2009. Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990–2005 includes over 150 photographs by the celebrated lesbian photographer, encompassing well-known work made on editorial assignment as well as personal photographs of her family and close friends. "I don't have two lives," Leibovitz says. "This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it."

Find out more here.

Hadrian's life uncovered in new British Museum exhibition

Think of Roman Emperor Hadrian and the first thing that springs to mind is the wall that bears his name, separating England from the revolting Picts. However, there were many sides to Hadrian, as a new exhibition about his life reveals. As well as being a great leader who strengthened the empire through consolidation and crushed dissent ruthlessly, Hadrian was also a cultured man and the first openly gay emperor.


Hadrian: Empire and Conflict, opened at the British Museum today. It offers a new perspective on the personal life and career of a man of many contradictions.

Hadrian, full name Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus, was born in AD 76 to a family of Spanish descent.His father died when he was a young boy, and he was taken under the wing of the Emperor Trajan, who groomed him for succession. Hadrian excelled as a military leader and was married to Trajan’s great-niece, further cementing his future succession. He eventually became emperor on Trajan’s death in 117 AD.

However, the marriage was one of convenience rather than love; neither Hadrian nor his wife was happy. Instead, Hadrian consoled himself with a string of lovers, including a young Greek boy named Antinous. Homosexual relationships were nothing new during the Roman Empire, however, the extent to which Hadrian expressed his devotion for Antinous was unusual.

The young man became a consort of the emperor, accompanying him on his many travels. It was during one such trip to Egypt that Antinous drowned in the Nile in 130 AD. Devastated by this loss, Hadrian founded an entire city, Antinoupolis, in memory of his lover, near the spot where he had died. The emperor’s grief was such that he had Antinous deified as a god and many statues, busts and silverware featuring Antinous’ image were made. Some are included in the exhibition.

However, this soft, romantic side to Hadrian contrasted dramatically with his role as a military leader. He was often ferocious in his suppression of dissent, particularly during a Jewish revolt in Jerusalem in 132 AD.

Hadrian was well known as a great traveller. It is said he travelled more widely, and met many more of his subjects than any other emperor. He also showed a great interest in architecture, and oversaw the construction of many iconic buildings, including the Pantheon in Rome and the Villa Adriana in Tivoli, a magnificent celebration of Greek and Egyptian art and culture.

Hadrian died in 138 AD, aged 62 and is regarded as one of the "Five Good Emperors." Thorsten Opper, the curator of the exhibition, hailed Hadrian as an "extremely successful emperor who left an immense and enduring legacy."

Certainly, Hadrian was a man of many faces – military champion, political strategist, ruthless leader, man of the people, lover of culture, grief-stricken lover – and gay icon. History should remember him as a complex man with many passions.

Hadrian: Empire and Conflict opens at the British Museum in London on 24th July until 26th October.

More details are available here.

With thanks to PinkNews.co.uk

Military Pride - Imperial War Museum North

This week-end sees the opening at the northern branch of the Imperial War Museum of a small display which reveals via portrait photography and personal testimony the experiences of LGBT people within the context of conflict, war and military service. Military Pride also details changes in historical and cultural context and a timeline of post 1945 legislation and policies within the Armed Forces and is timed to connect with the Manchester Pride Festival.

The display of 12 personal testimonies reflects through contributors’ own words how war and conflict have shaped people in the LGBT communities' lives from 1945 to the present day. As well as reflecting adversity the display aims to celebrate the achievements and reflect the positive contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities to the Armed Forces and examine how experiences may have changed since 1945.

Catherine Roberts, Visitor Programmes Manager, Imperial War Museum North says: "The experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, within the context of conflict, war and military service, is arguably still a largely hidden history. Through this small but important display hopefully we can make a step towards helping to reveal and celebrate it."

An intimate, temporary display, Military Pride will have a permanent legacy as the histories collected will form part of Imperial War Museum’s collections for future generations and it is hoped that the display will also tour.

Imperial War Museum North has a 3-year history of delivering tours and events relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender experience in war and conflict from the First World War to the present day, reflecting the Museum's focus on how war has shaped and continues to shape peoples lives.

To view a timeline on equal rights in the armed forces from 1955 onward, click here

Related free events

A Closer Look Tour: Pride
Fri 15, Mon 18, Wed 20 & Fri 22 August 1.30pm
A free tour focusing on the hidden histories of LGBT communities in periods of war and peacekeeping.

Military Pride Night
Main Exhibition Space, Saturday 16 August 6.30 – 8.30pm
A tour of the WaterWay exhibition, good company and a drink, celebrating the contributions of LGBT communities in the armed services. There will be an opportunity for a Q&A with the curators during the evening. booking required on 0161 836 4007.

Military Pride
12 July – 12 October
Admittance is free
Imperial War Museum North
The WaterWay
Manchester
Website

Brace Yourself for the Adventure - Exhibition

May looks set to be a second LGBT History Month in the South West this year. An exhibition, organised by The Intercom Trust and running throughout the month, opened on the 1st May at the North Somerset Museum in Weston-super-Mare as an opportunity to experience the vibrant heritage of everyone’s diverse past.

Brace Yourself for the Adventure
1 May – 31 May
North Somerset Museum
Burlington Street
Weston-super-Mare
10am to 4.30pm, Monday – Saturday

Intercom Trust

Brutal Beauty: Derek Jarman

The Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park, London is hosting a selection of work by the leading British film-maker of his generation. Curated by artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien, it will highlight Jarman’s work in film and painting, including his presentation of the moving image within the gallery context. Jarman was arguably the single most crucial figure of British independent cinema in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. He struggled for Gay Liberation and with the impact of AIDS and lived as a participant observer, recording all that passed before him, from punk to Thatcher, Hampstead Heath to film premieres.

Brutal Beauty: Derek Jarman Curated by Isaac Julien
23 February - 13 April 2008
Serpentine Gallery
Kensington Gardens
London W2 3XA
020 7402 6075
www.serpentinegallery.org

Download Gaydar Nation podcast: Isaac Julien talks to Joanne Oatts tour the Jarman exhibition

This Spring will also see Jarman's super-8 films displayed as part of the Tate’s Lightbox series from 5 April – 1 June at Tate Britain.

Films Screening
To coincide with the Derek Jarman exhibition at the Serpentine, Roxy Bar & Screen is screening two of Jarman's feature films (Sebastian and Caravaggio), preceded by a documentary called Derek Jarman: Life as Art by Andy Kimpton-Nye.

Sunday 23 March
Roxy Bar & Screen
128-132 Borough High Street
£3 cover for whole day
Info & map

First London Lesbian Art Festival

The first London Lesbian Art Festival wil open on 30th November at the Pierre Garroudi Gallery.

Whole festival is devoted entirely to the contemporary art by lesbian artists. It includes both English and international well-established and known artists like Caroline Halliday, Irene Waters, Ewa Podles or Lauren Dresher as well as new, very talented and promising artists like Erica Bohr, Kelly-Anne Davitt or Tina Mammoser.

It is the first chance and opportunity to see most talented contemporary lesbian artists put in one place – in the amazing and magic space of Pierre Garroudi Gallery.

Pierre Garroudi Gallery
Arch 6 Crucifix Lane
London SE1 3JW
020 7378 1187

GayWise Festival

GFest - gayWise LGBT Arts Festival will take place between 14th and 20th November in London. The festival showcases Queer/LGBT Arts created by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) artists and practitioners from diverse backgrounds. Events include screenings of short films, performances, exhibitions and workshops.

For more information, visit www.gaywisefestival.org.uk

Arte e omosessualità

The exhibition Art and Homosexuality, from Van Gloeden to Pierre et Gilles opened last Saturday in Florence, Italy. Until 6 January 2008, 220 works by 150 artists will be on display in the Royal Palace.

The exhibition, originally organized for another city, Milan, and another venue, Palazzo della Ragione, reopens now in Florence after the censorship that closed it immediately after its opening in July this year.

Promoted by Vittorio Sgarbi, curated by Eugenio Viola and organized by Artematica, this exhibition, the most extensive of its kind ever staged in Italy, presents an investigation of the connections between art and homosexuality in the period stretching from the birth of photography through to the present day.

The visual representation of subjects closely associated with homoeroticism is present throughout the history of humanity, although the cultural values it expresses and the underlying meanings are naturally the reflection of the specific historical and socio-cultural contexts. Scenes with homoerotic contents appear on the vases of ancient Greece and in the Persian bas-reliefs, at the dawn of eastern art, in the Italian Renaissance and in the Baroque period. A subtle fil rouge that by way of short circuits and fundamental passages reaches the present day, developing independently and long before the advent of the modern concept of gender’s diversity.

However, what should we identify with the term “homoerotic art”? Works created by artists of whose homosexuality we are certain and in which frequently, but not necessarily, we find something that references an homoerotic taste? Or should we consider the work of artists who are not officially homosexual but whose creations reveal an extraordinary eroticism that encourages such an interpretation? Departing from the homosexuality of an artist for the interpretation of his/her work triggers a series of particularly thorny questions. Knowledge of the (homo)sexual orientation of the artist generally alerts us to the possible presence of a metaphorical representation of homosexuality. What kind of relationship is established between the biography of the artist and the interpretation of his/her work?

The criteria for the selection of the works exhibited does not consider this relationship, but is instead based on the specific characteristics of the individual works, identifying, beyond the conventional identities of gender, a thematic strand within a common mode of feeling, of expressing states of being, attitudes and emotions, without any claim to define the canons of a “homosexual specific” within the art. On the basis of this approach, a number of works exhibit openly homoerotic contents, while in others this is expressed obliquely through specific codes, symbols, allusions, allegories and metaphors. An itinerary that from the Arcadian photographs of Baron von Gloeden explores the territories of homoerotic photography, from Herb Ritts and Bruce Weber to Mapplethorpe, from Jack Pierson to Bruce Labruce, with a glance at the camp aesthetic of James Bidgood revived in more recent years by David Lachapelle. Artists who are working in a historical period in which it is possible to freely treat gay, lesbian or transgender themes, presenting anxieties and questions that are preponderant and frequently crucial for much of the art of the end of the last century and the opening of the new millennium.

An exemplary itinerary of images through the evolution of perception and the consequent representation of existential diversity, from Carol Rama to David Hockney and Andy Warhol, by way of the roaming identities of Ugo Rondine, Yasumasa Moritura and Eva & Adele, highlighting the work of the latest generation of artists who use homoerotic love as an expedient for questioning superstructures of race, desire, gender and sexual identity and braking down the conventional distinctions between art, eroticism and pornography.

See Also:
Art and Homosexuality - cplonline (includes pictures)

Art and Homosexuality.
From Von Gloeden to Pierre et Gilles
Palazzina Reale of Santa Maria Novella
Piazza Adua 50
Florence, Italy
27 October 2007 – 6 January 2008