Opening: 3rd October 2019, 7pm
Exhibition: 4th October – 28th October 2019

„I paint men because I am a man, and it is what I know best, I know its essence, its attitude, its eroticism.” – Rubén Lartigue

Bodies of superheroes and animal heads, a conquest of perfection through syncretism, a game beyond the real. Welcome to the world of Rubén Lartigue.

Rubén Lartigue (b. 1972) is a self-taught painter originally from a small city near Buenos Aires, Argentina. His art, informed by his experiences living in different cities around the world, draws on a cultural history of human-animal representations; seen in ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology as well as the works of more recent artists such as Dali and Picasso. Lartigue’s erotically charged subjects, idealized male bodies combined with the heads of animals, reimagine the potentials of the male form and create new, unexpected pathways of desire. By blending references to pop culture and BDSM, his work playfully investigates the societal norms and taboos surrounding male bodies. Lartigue represents male beauty as a sublime experience to be witnessed, desired and embraced, a syncretic coming-together of forms, ideals, projections and embodiments.

Ruben Lartigue has shown his work in Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay. Now, the Schwules Museum will present a selection of Lartigue’s work for the first time in Germany. The works span over 8 years (2009-2017).