Homo Painting

Mediums: red velvet, oil.
Location: the Tate Modern Museum, London (the UK).

Among the intersecting lines and shapes, several people are depicted on a large canvas of red velvet. Two of them are clearly visible, while the others are difficult to see among the random pile of lines and spots on the left side of the canvas. The largest portraits are images of friends of Julian Schnabel, artists Ross Blekner and Izhar Patkin, who were present in several other works of the artist of this period. The same characters are casually depicted standing embracing to their full height on the right side of the canvas, which hints at their homosexuality. In the painting “Homo Painting”, the artist also placed his self-portrait – it is painted in grey and can be seen in the lower-left corner.