May/June 09.
Pablo Peinado, curator of Coleccion Visible’s Love Stories / Historias de Amor, presents Miami with his collection of homosexual art in avid support of the gay rights movement in Spain and around the globe. His collection, currently at the Hardcore Art Contemporary Space in Wynwood, is comprised of 200 pieces by 30 artists from different parts of the world. Living in the midst of the struggle for the right of homosexual couples to marry in 2004 Madrid, when the conservative government, the Justice Department, and the Church, among others, actively spoke against the movement, it was hard for Peinado not to take an active role in the fight for equality.
By denying homosexuals the right to marry, the government and its allies denied first class citizens a basic civil right. Peinado began to put together an exhibit to help the cause. This exhibit would show homosexual love under the most natural of lights therefore defining the purity of love between any two people. This hard-hitting curator created a group of voices against the forces that stood in the way of missing rights. Love Stories / Historias de Amor finally opened in Madrid in June 2005. A few days after its opening, the Spanish Parliament approved certain adjustments to the Spanish Civil Code ultimately approving gay marriage in Spain.
The selected 54 pieces from artists such as Aurelio Antona, Goh Mishima, Eduardo Arroyo, David Hockney, Ralf König, Arturo Bibang and Czanara in Love Stories / Historias de Amor, at Hardcore Art Contemporary Space, show “love, desire, and sexuality and consequently the identity of LGTB people” (Pablo Peinado). The artists that complete the exhibit use mediums like painting, photography, drawing, toys, collage, and printmaking to voice their objection to the general misconception of homosexual love. In this exhibit they focus on encouraging its accurate representation and public interpretation as what it really is: passionate and real. One photograph of the collection entitled Paternidad by Aurelio Antona shows two men and two boys wearing t-shirts that say “Papa” (Father) and “Hijo”(Son) in a casual city street setting. A more private section of the gallery houses drawings, paintings, and photographs of a racier nature evoking passionate love scenes and bedroom intimacy.
Hardcore Art Contemporary Space along with CCE Miami (Centro Cultural Español), Consulate General of Spain, and the Miami Design Preservation League are proud to support the gay right’s movement in Miami. Hardcore Art Contemporary Space shows support not only by hanging Love Stories / Historias de Amor on its walls but also by hosting a series of events, one being a symposium of Queer Literature in conjunction with the University of Miami in the gallery’s main space. These spaces, institutions, and organizations believe in collaborating with the movement by raising awareness throughout Miami.
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