Towards a Homoerotic Historiography
Arranged to emulate exhibition displays found in ethnographic and art museums, these figurines are based on sculptures, artifacts, and historical drawings and research from the ancient Americas that show male figures engaging in a series of sexual acts. In replicating the works, Motta calls attention to the ways colonial constructions of history largely obscured, overlooked, and sometimes destroyed aspects of ancient American culture, specifically the role and portrayal of sex. The rough surfaces and small scale of the objects challenge the viewer to reconstruct the scenes through imagination and offer a queer critique of the narrowness of sexual conventions in society.
Artwork Details
- Title: Towards a Homoerotic Historiography
- Artist: Carlos Motta (Colombian, born 1978)
- Date: 2013–14
- Medium: Eleven gold-washed metal figures and ten tumbaga-washed metal figures
- Dimensions: Each approximately: 1/4 × 5/8 × 3/8 in. (0.6 × 1.6 × 1 cm)
- Classifications: Sculpture, Installations
- Credit Line: Purchase, Lilly Scarpetta Gift, 2018
- Object Number: 2018.410a–u
- Rights and Reproduction: © Carlos Motta
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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