Walsall art gallery - Hidden Histories Exhibition

It is not often that an exhibition including major art works by the likes of Andy Warhol, Derek Jarman and Robert Mapplethorpe makes it to the Midlands, but Hidden Histories, a dedicated exhibition to (male) gay art, did just that. It brought together examples of fine art, installations, photography, drawing and sculpture from the 20th Century, all of which, touch on issues that have affected the lives of gay men. From the sensual study of two young men, 'Noonday Heat (Bathing Group)' by Henry Scott Tuke, to the powerful graphic of 'AIDS', by General Idea, a subverted take on the iconic graphic of 'LOVE' by Robert Indiana, this exhibition has more than enough to engage the viewing public, whether gay or straight, on the fundamental issues of love and freedom that should be a basic right to all. The group visited Hidden Histories at the new Walsall Art Gallery and were able to join in on a guided tour of the exhibition. This offered them a greater insight into the lives (and loves) of the artists as well as the issues and ideas that lead to the finished pieces of work.

Below are a few of the groups favourite images that were included in the exhibition together with their responses.

At the Hidden Histories exhibition there were many pieces of art that stood out to me. One of which was the AIDS logo by General Idea in the style of Robert Indiana’s LOVE emblem. This one in particular stood out to me because of the enormity of the piece of art, to me this symbolised the huge number of people affected by aids and how bad the epidemic has become. The way there was a square of Robert Indiana’s emblem LOVE on top of the AIDS logos wallpaper, made me think of how ironic that love can lead to something as dreadful as AIDS. The use of bright colours, and it being in the style of the LOVE emblem makes this art eye catching just another reason why this piece stood out to me.

X2Y visited Walsall Art Gallery to view it's Hidden Histories exhibition by gay artists on male same sex lovers. There was a wide range of artistic styles, from fine art to modern pop art and self portraits. The tour guide gave an elaborate description about each of the artists and the meanings behind their work. Overall, the artwork was very interesting. Some of the more detailed pieces were surprisingly more interesting than the instantly recognisable and eyecatching pop-art because there was a story to tell with them, which a lot of the time involved a tradgedy.