Carne Sagrada at Manos Amigues in CDMX

A few installation shots and snaps from the opening of Carne Sagrada (Sacred Meat), fundraising exhibition for @manos.amigues here in CDMX. Featuring unique artworks and prints by local and international artists including:

Alejandro Ruiz
Andrés Gudiño
Antonio Zaragoza
Bruce LaBruce
Donovan Quiroz
ektor García
Fabián Chairez
Fidel Blanco
G del Diablo
Gio Black Peter
Joaquín Fierro
Lechedevirgen
Óscar Sánchez Gómez
Raul de Nieves
Ricardo Velmor
Rubén Esparza
Slava Mogutin
Stuart Sandford
Tony Solis

All proceeds benefit Manos Amigues, a community dining room and LGBTTTQI+ cultural centre. Exhibition curated by @slavamogutin & @perrasdemuseo

Manos Amigues
Pedro Moreno #113
Col. Guerrero. Ciudad de México

Pleasure Boy - solo presentation in Zurich, Switzerland

Thrilled to announce that my first solo presentation in Switzerland opens January 5th in Zurich! I’ll be showing selected works from my ongoing Polaroid Collages series (2018-TBA) and my Polaroid Collages - LA/CDMX series (2022).

Titled Pleasure Boy, the exhibition is curated by Steven Anggrek for Anggrek Agency and runs through march 30th.

My Gay Eye / Mein schwules Auge #20 UNCENSORED

The 20th edition of My Gay Eye / Mein schwules Auge is now available and features a few pages of my work and my life-size Aldocutio (Sean Ford) sculpture. Grab a copy via their website: www.mygayeye.com

400 pages with works by more than 80 international artists among them Johnny Abbate, Henning von Berg, Sabatino Cersosimo, Norbert Bisky, Male Shibari, Slava Mogutin, Josef Wolfgang Ohlert, Ohm Phanphiroj, Sal Salandra, Peter Schmid, Stanley Stellar, Wolfgang Tillmans, Tom of Finland and many more. Exclusive text contributions by Michael Ampersant, Jan Gympel, Thomas Luthardt, Brane Mozetič, Felice Picano, Steven Reigns, Jens Rosteck, Michael Sollorz, Edmund White and more. (Texts in both German and English.)

The Wrestler/s, 2023, bronze edition now available

The first version of my new sculpture The Wrestler/s is now available. Inspired by the lost Greek bronze sculpture The Wrestlers (also known as The Two Wrestlers, The Uffizi Wrestlers or The Pancrastinae), this updated version emphasises the inherent sexuality and tension of that form by repeating the figure (the same model was 3D scanned in both the "top" and "bottom" positions to create the work), giving him both dominant and submissive roles.

Created using 3D scanning and modelling techniques, this edition is cast in bronze and is available in a painted white edition as well as a classic brown patinated edition to reflect the original ancient bronze. Both are in editions of 5 and are 30.4 × 14.7 × 24.3 cm / 12 x 5.8 x 9.6 in. Two editions remain of the painted white version and four in the classic brown patina. A larger version will also be available early next year. If you're interested in this larger version, please do get in touch.

Tom of Finland Foundation Art & Culture Festival 2023 - this weekend in Los Angeles

This weekend in Los Angeles at the Soho Warehouse sees the LA iteration of the 2023 Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival. Tickets available here: www.tomoffinland.org/artfair

The Festival is ToFF’s yearly programming effort to bring together artists, galleries and patrons from all over the globe in a socially friendly setting, so that they can network as well as buy and sell works. I’ll have a new print available as well as a new zine. For those of you not able to attend, you can purchase a copy of the zine online via this link.

This new zine continues my exploration of the ‘selfie’ which I began in 2007 with my celebrated Cumfaces series. These images were generated by entering the prompt ‘photo of a young man in his underwear taking a selfie in the mirror’.

Désir - group exhibition on view now in Berlin

On new now and running through September 16th, Désir (Desire) is a group exhibition at Instinct Berlin. Curated by Yves de Brabaner and Eric le Rouge. I’m showing three works from my Polaroid Collages - LA/CDMX (2022) series, installation views below. More info: www.instinct.berlin

𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘢'𝘴 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 - on view now in Los Angeles

On view in Los Angeles and online via Artsy is 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘢'𝘴 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, a group exhibition curated by Steve Galindo and Arushi Kapoor. Participating artists:

Evangeline Adalyrion, Alannah Farrell, Stuart Sandford, Little Ricky aka Ricky Sension, Mia Weiner, Sara Sandoval, Duane Paul, Naruki Kukita, Sophia Gasporian, Joey Brock, Miguel Reyes Angel, Ruben Esparza

Viewable only by appointment: steve@thestyleguyde.com

www.artsy.net/show/arushi-gallery-decoding-americanas-queer-sensibilities

Polaroid Collages - LA/CDMX, 2023 - book pre-order

My new book Polaroid Collages - LA/CDMX is now available to pre-order here with Men On Paper Art. This book collects the entire series of 36 works executed in 2022 and is available as an Artist Edition (of 25) with a signed Polaroid print of the cover image and also as a standard open edition.

Originally commissioned by the New Collection, the series builds on my existing ongoing Polaroid Collages series (2018 - TBA) but focuses on the two cities in which I've spent the majority of the last 10 years, Los Angeles and Mexico City. Creating a dialogue between these two vast, imposing, sometimes impenetrable mega cities, stems from two things, first my love for my adopted homes, and second, that as an outsider looking in, and depicts the people and places in both cities that continue to inspire and draw me there.

Marco Paez from The Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles has written the foreword to the book and texts are in both English and Spanish.

Polaroid Collages - LA/CDMX
2023
Soft cover
84 pages
21 x 21 cm / 8.2 x 8.2 in

Artists edition $300 / £250 (plus shipping)
Standard edition $50  / £40 (plus shipping)

Bribones Libertines: Jotxs y recuerdos

Pequeños Bribones invites you to Bribones Libertines: Jotxs y recuerdos on the 10th and 11th of February, 2023 at Cerrada de La Paz 37, Colonia Escandón, Mexico City (the opening will be held from 7 pm to 11 pm on February 10th / with an open house on the 11th, from 1 pm to 5 pm).

SPANISH TEXT BELOW

This is an exhibition curated by Tony Solis, photographer and editor-in-chief of Y- NOT Magazine and creator of Pequeños Bribones (art gallery). On this occasion, the work of three artists invited to collaborate is exhibited: Slava Mogutin (Russia), Rubén Esparza (United States) and Stuart Sandford (United Kingdom), together with Donovan Quiroz, a Mexican photographer, and Tony Solis. Bribones Libertines (Jotxs y recuerdos) addresses gender dissidence and new LGBTIQ+ masculinities from the multidisciplinary perspective and the contrast of these five artists, whose work ranges from queer documentary photography to disruptive poetry and activism.

Thus, the exhibition articulates the works of a lifetime (and the experience they entail) with an invitation to explore the non- binary phenomenon from new angles in the context of the post-pandemic. Body language, and the role that sensations play in said exploration, is a constant that runs through the work and that uses different techniques that clearly captures the current climate of what the "liquidity" of gender means in the West. The work goes beyond the limits of what is considered artistic and even leads to a particular activism. Such is the case of Slava Mogutin, a Russian-American multimedia artist, author, and activist exiled from Russia for his outspoken queer writing and activism, among his projects are seven books of writings in Russian, three monographs of photography and two illustrated collections of poetry publish in the US, his work examines the notions of displacement and identity, pride and shame, devotion and disaffection, love and hate. Rubén Esparza, for his part, portrays the events of the non-binary scene in Los Angeles, with pieces such as CUNT (2011) and Transexual Jesus (2019), who’s also the founder and director of the Queer Biennial, an international survey of LGBTQ+ art and culture. 

Building on his ongoing Polaroid Collages (2018-TBA) series, self labelled as “instant sculptures”, Stuart Sandford focuses on the male body and ideas of space/place/belonging to present works that explore the rawness of non-binary sexuality and chosen family.. On the other hand, Donovan Quiroz, who is co-director of Y- NOT Magazine, lightly synthesizes the sensuality and harshness of the homoerotic, from the portrait of limbs, bodies, gazes, and shadows that make his work a currentproposal on dissidence sex in Latin America. 

All this in conjunction with the pieces and curatorship of Tony Solis, a photographer who has worked and collaborated in national and international printed publications and has participated in multiple art fairs in different countries.

As a collaborative piece, all the participating artists will install a large collage across an entire wall, creating a huge shout of dialogue between all these disparate queer voices in real time before the opening.

Pequeños Bribones te invita a Bribones Libertines: Jotxs y recuerdos este 10 y 11 de febrero de 2023 en Cerrada de La Paz 37, Colonia Escandón, Ciudad de México (la inauguración será el día 10, de 7pm a 11pm / habrá open house el día 11, de 1pm a 5pm).

Esta es una exposición curada por Tony Solis, fotógrafo y editor en jefe de Y- NOT Magazine y creador de Pequeños Bribones (galería de arte). En esta ocasión se exhibe el trabajo de tres artistas invitados a colaborar: Slava Mogutin (Rusia), Rubén Esparza (Estados Unidos) y Stuart Sandford (Reino Unido), junto a Donovan Quiroz, fotógrafo mexicano, y Tony Solis.

Bribones Libertines (Jotxs y recuerdos) aborda las disidencias de género y las nuevas masculinidades LGBTIQ+ desde la perspectiva multidisciplinaria y el contraste de estos cinco artistas, cuyo trabajo va desde la fotografía documental queer hasta la poesía disruptiva y el activismo. 

Así, la exposición articula las obras de toda una vida (y la experiencia que conllevan) con una invitación a explorar el fenómeno no binario desde nuevos ángulos en el contexto de la pos-pandemia. El lenguaje corporal, y el papel que juegan las sensaciones en dicha exploración, es una constante que recorre la obra y que utiliza distintas técnicas que captan claramente el panorama actual de lo que significa la “liquidez” del género en Occidente. El trabajo va más allá de los límites de lo que se considera artístico e incluso conduce a un activismo particular. Tal es el caso de Slava Mogutin, artista ruso-americano, autor y activista exiliado de Rusia por su franca escritura y activismo queer, entre sus proyectos se encuentran siete libros de escritos en ruso, tres monografías de fotografía y dos colecciones ilustradas de poesía publicadas en Estados Unidos. Su obra examina las nociones de desplazamiento e identidad, orgullo y vergüenza, devoción y desamor, amor y odio. Rubén Esparza, por su parte, retrata el devenir de la escena no binaria de Los Ángeles, con piezas como CUNT (2011) y Transexual Jesus (2019), además fundador y director de la Bienal Queer, una encuesta internacional de arte y cultura LGBTQ+. Stuart Sandford se centra en el cuerpo masculino y las ideas de espacio/lugar/pertenencia para presentar obras que registran la crudeza de la sexualidad no binaria, presentando el proyecto Polaroid Collages autodenominado como “esculturas instantáneas” que viene construyendo desde 2018 a la fecha. Por su parte, Donovan Quiroz, quien es codirector de Y- NOT MAGAZINE sintetiza con ligereza la sensualidad y aspereza de lo homoerótico, a partir del retrato de extremidades, cuerpos, miradas y sombras que hacen de su obra una propuesta actual sobre las disidencias sexuales en América Latina. 

Todo esto en conjunto con las piezas y la curaduría de Tony Solis, fotógrafo que ha trabajado y colaborado en publicaciones impresas nacionales e internacionales y ha participado en múltiples ferias de arte en diferentes países. 

Como pieza colaborativa, todos los artistas participantes instalarán un gran collage en toda una pared, creando un gran grito de diálogo entre todas estas voces queer dispares en tiempo real antes de la inauguración.

Polaroid Collages - LA/CDMX online exhibition with James Freeman Gallery

Presented by James Freeman Gallery and Artsy, an online exhibition of selected works from my Polaroid Collages - LA/CDMX (2022) series is online now and runs through December 1st. All the info below.

James Freeman Gallery is pleased to present Polaroid Collages – LA/CDMX, a collection of new editions by the British artist Stuart Sandford. The imagery for these works are taken from a group of Polaroid collages originally commissioned by the New Collection, and explore the experience of living in both Los Angeles and Cuidad de Mexico as adopted homes.

Polaroid as a medium allows a moment to be captured and stored in unique physical form. This inevitably makes the photographs themselves special: precious, like the memories they hold, something which in turn we look to hold onto. In creating his collages, Stuart cuts across this special character and ruptures that unique object, but as a means to create something new, much like the process of leaving the past behind to find new life in new cities. Through juxtaposing scenes of intimacy with snapshots of the urban environment, Stuart’s works speak of the romance we can feel for places just as much as we do for people. The works in this collection take those unique collage images and enlarge them into archival prints in editions of 3. The original collages are also available on request.

For a full list of available works, please email info@jamesfreemangallery.com.

Photos from the inaugural London edition of the Tom of Finland Arts & Culture Festival

A few photographs by Martin Perry of the incredible inaugural London edition of the Tom of Finland Arts & Culture Festival which took place the weekend of October 8/9 at Second Home in London. What a pleasure and an inspiration to connect/reconnect in the flesh with so many beautiful, fierce, queer artists and creatives. As the tag line went, Tom really does unite.

Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival 2022 - London and Los Angeles - 8/9 October

Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF) is presenting the 27th Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival — Tom Unites. The Festival is ToFF’s yearly programming effort to bring together artists, galleries and patrons from all over the globe in a socially friendly setting, so that they can network as well as buy and sell works.

This is the first time the Festival incorporates Second Home’s London outpost in Spitalfields.

This year’s event will bring together erotic artists, vendors, performers, DJs, and galleries. ToFF will also present its annual awards.

I’m delighted to be showing work in both Los Angeles and London as part of the 2022 iteration of the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival and tickets are available here for both events. The festival runs the weekend of October 8-9 at Second Home Spitalfields and Second Home Hollywood. In Los Angeles I’ll be showing a selection of my Polaroid Collages (2018-TBA) with Edward Cella Gallery and in London I’ll be showing my (long delayed!) life size bronze Adlocutio (Sean Ford), 2022, sculpture. I’ll be in attendance at the London festival so I hope to see you there.