Gonzalo Orquín

Gonzalo Orquín is a Spanish artist best known for his paintings of intimate scenes of melancholy and everyday eroticism, and his controversial 2013 photo series, titled "Sí, quiero", featuring gay and lesbian couples kissing in Roman Catholic churches in Rome.

Early life and education
Orquín was born in Aracena, Huelva Spain, in 1982. He moved with his family to Sevilla from a very young age, where he studied Fine Arts at the University of Seville from 2000 to 2004. Since 2004 he lives between Italy and Spain. Painter and artist, he loves working with different media, techniques and languages: oil on canvas, paper, photography, installation, street art. .



Career
The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art has described his works as "pronouncedly domestic, intimate, post-coital, and romantic. Set in common place interiors of muted tones, his subjects which include cats, dogs, solitary men and women, as well as gay and straight couples, display a contemplative depth of emotion."

Always committed to the rights of the LGBTQIA+ world (one of his photographic work of 2014, Sí, quiero, had a wide worldwide echo attracting an official warning from the Vatican to expose the work ). The painter focuses his attention on contemporary heroes, martyrs and resisters, proudly gay in countries where homosexuality is still opposed and punished up to the death penalty.

Syria and the (new) disasters of war, gender identity, the drama of migrants, culture and knowledge as tools of civilization, the portrait and the image of intimate everyday life. Gonzalo Orquín, reflects on the past, but citing the present and addressing highly topical issues.

His first exhibition was in 1998 in Seville, when he was only 16 years old. His first solo show was in Rome, Italy, in 2006, when he was only 24 years old.

Among the main exhibitions recently held: BP Award, shortlisted in the exhibition promoted by the National Portrait Gallery in London. "In Loving Memory", artist residency and exhibition at M.A.C.R.O. (Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome) 2019. Fighting, loving, dreaming My Berlin diaries at Village, Berlin. “Próximo destino: Roma", solo show at the Instituto Cervantes in Rome, 2018. "Librografie", solo show at the Casa delle Letterature in Rome, 2015, and then the Embassy of Italy, Washington, D.C 2017. "Sí, quiero", solo show at The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art New York City, 2014.

In 2020 Orquín has been commissioned to paint the portrait of Alfonso Dastis, former Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de España for the gallery of portraits at the Palacio de Santa Cruz (Madrid) 

In 2023, Orquín inaugurated his exhibition "Being Human-The sea at night is too big-" at the Migratie Museum Migration in Brussels, as a collateral event of the 2023 Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Commissioned by the Spanish Embassy in Belgium, the exhibition stems from an idea by Francesca Paci, a journalist from La Stampa, and aims to tell stories and experiences of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe, focusing particularly on two main points, by sea in Lampedusa, Italy, and Bihac, Bosnia, along the so-called Balkan route.

To carry out the project, the artist collaborated with ARCI, the Italian Consortium of Solidarity – Refugee Office (ICS), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (INHCR), with the special collaboration of Italian photojournalist Francesco Malavolta. The exhibition is completed with a short documentary directed by the director French Alex Forge, who narrates all the work behind the paintings, the trips and the meetings with migrants and refugees.  https://elpais.com/cultura/2023-11-19/la-tragedia-migratoria-en-europa-oleo-sobre-lienzo.html

Among the many exhibitions in which he took part: "The looking glass and thought it" (Museum of 20-21 Century Art, St. Petersburg ) "Artsiders" Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia, 2014 "," El día y la noche, Spanish Academy in Rome, 2014," Imperfectu, International film and gender Festival" Tijuana, Mexico,2014, “Trialogo” (Galleria L'Opera, Rome, 2013), etc.

His work has been talked about in: The Art Newspaper, Rai Cultura, La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, The Huffington Post (US, France, UK, Spain), Le Figaro, Le Monde, New York Daily News, La Stampa, Il Giornale del arte, Artribune, Exibart, Inside Art.

Sí, quiero
In 2013, Orquín shot a photo series of gay and lesbian couples, mostly friends and acquaintances, kissing in Roman Catholic churches in Rome. He planned to include the photos in an exhibition titled "Trialogo," which was scheduled to open at the Galleria L'Opera in Rome.

However, before they could be shown, Vatican City officials sent a letter threatening legal action should the photos be shown. Spokesman Claudio Tanturri told a newspaper that the photos violate the Constitution of Italy, saying:"'Italian constitutional law safeguards an individual’s religious feeling and the function of places of worship. Therefore photos that are not suitable and do not conform to the spirituality of the place offend and infringe upon the advancement of man in the particular place for the expression of faith.'"Orquín spoke to lawyers and decided not to exhibit the photos "for security reasons," but maintained that lawyers were working on the case and that he hoped the photos would be shown eventually. As an act of protest, he posted on his Facebook page a picture of the photos on the museum wall covered in black paper and crosses fashioned out of black tape pasted to the wall. Orquín told reporters that he found Italy to be "a very homophobic country," saying "There aren't other countries in Europe or the West that are backward like this."

Gay rights groups in Italy were quick to protest. Flavio Romani, President of the group Arcigay, strongly criticized the Vatican's reaction, saying:"'In the images in which the church have seen provocation, I see an exchange of love, a type of public worship that creates harmony not contrast. The indignation of the Catholic Church, therefore, is extremely grotesque.'"In 2014, it was announced that the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art would be hosting the exhibit under the title, "Si, quiero", (English: "Yes, I want").