An individual with a naked upper body, jockstrap, nipple piercing and red-painted lips that could not be clearly categorised characterised Berlin’s cityscape in the summer of 2015: Canadian-born artist Cassils. Their work ‘Advertisement: Homage to Benglis’, which questions gender norms, formed the poster motif for ‘Homosexualität_en’. In cooperation with the Deutsches Historisches Museum, the Schwules Museum Berlin presented a comprehensive show on the different histories, politics and cultures of homosexuality: While the DHM focused on 150 years of homosexual movements, the SMU showcased current artistic positions on the subject of sexuality and gender. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of its opening on 26 June, we are presenting the poster as our find. This milestone in our exhibition history attracted many visitors over six months – and was was subsequently taken over in its entirety by the LWL Museum in Münster (2016). In the run-up to the Münster exhibition, Cassil’s poster was suddenly declared by Deutsche Bahn as ‘sexist/sexualised’ and for a while not on display in its stations…
Image: Cassils and Robin Black: Advertisement: Homage to Benglis (photo 2011, poster 2015)