Towards a Homoerotic Historiography

Carlos Motta

2013–14 · Twenty-one gold-washed silver sculptures · Modern and Contemporary Art

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.

Artist

Carlos Motta

Date

2013–14

Medium

Twenty-one gold-washed silver sculptures

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Purchase, Lilly Scarpetta Gift, 2018