We also asked for love: Gay men’s narrative portraits of resilience and resistance
This exhibition is a collaboration between Edgar Rodríguez-Dorans and visual artist Eleonora Scalise creating a new body of work based on the concept of narrative portrait. Open to everyone!
About We also asked for love: Gay men’s narrative portraits of resilience and resistance
Supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland, this project creates a new body of work based on the concept of 'narrative portraiture'. Visual artist Eleonora Scalise responds to research conducted by Dr Edgar Rodríguez-Dorans (Research Fellow at the Centre for Creative-Relational Inquiry) with ten gay men from different ages and backgrounds. The resulting narrative portraiture artwork is inspired by anonymous interviews with gay men.
‘Narrative portraiture’ establishes a dialogue between visual arts and narrative research. It uses anonymised narrative data from research interviews to inspire portraits of people who have never been seen by the artist. Because of the sensitive topics discussed in research interviews, personal data are often anonymised and participants’ life stories become faceless stories in academic journals. The written word becomes privileged and the face, the body, and even the human qualities of the people who shared their stories often get lost in scientific reports. Because research findings cannot exist without the people who provided their narratives, this exhibition aims to capture the metaphorical aspects of the stories and create images of the people who told them.
‘When we were given sex, we also asked for love: gay men’s narrative portraits of resilience and resistance’ is a collaboration between Edgar Rodríguez-Dorans, expert in the study of gay men’s identities, and artist Eleonora Scalise, who has worked extensively in the genre of portraiture. Edgar researches lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer relationships and identities from a perspective of mental health and embraces an interdisciplinary perspective. He is interested in the dialogue between arts and qualitative research in social science. He thinks that the importance of this project lies on the need to remind the viewer that, although the sensitivity of their stories requires participants’ identities to remain anonymous, research findings emerge from full-fleshed people and the medium of narrative portraiture gives these narratives a face and body.
Eleonora Scalise – who is experienced in painting dramatic portraits and has conveyed complex themes such as multiculturalism, gender, tragedy and despair through her artwork – has read the anonymised narratives of the gay men who participated in the study. She perceives in them an ambivalent sense of hopelessness and resilience, love and resistance in the often-sexualised stories of these men. By imagining who are the men behind the stories, Eleonora painted ten portraits based on the real-life stories represented in the narrative data.
The portraits, along with the narratives that inspired them, will be shown at a public, free exhibition as part of the activities of Pride Month.
While we take every opportunity to ensure the details for We also asked for love: Gay men’s narrative portraits of resilience and resistance are accurate, we always advise that you contact the event organiser before setting out for the event to avoid disapointment.
Exhibitions Events you might like...
The Power of Perspective Exhibition
NA, Edinburgh Old Town The Rock Trust, illusion expert Professor Richard Wiseman and MagicFest present a new series of mind-bending photographs this winter. Every photograph can be seen in more than one way.
Message from the Skies
NA, Various Locations Edinburgh Message from the Skies returns on 1st January with Shorelines, a collection of letters to Scotland reflecting on our relationship with our seas, waters and coast and our maritime heritage!
Edinburgh Wedding Exhibition
BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh West Looking for some inspiration to make the ‘Big Day’ that bit more special? If so, come along to Edinburgh’s Largest Wedding Exhibition at Murrayfield Stadium on 11th & 12th January!
Find Exhibitions events in Edinburgh
Arts and Crafts Events you might like...
Rags to Riches - Creative Textiles Workshop
Artisan Stitch, Edinburgh East Find out how to use up all those fabric scraps and make them into unique new fabrics in this workshop with Artisan Stitch.
Christmas Decoration Workshop in Granton Castle Walled Garden
Granton Castle Walled Garden, Edinburgh North Come and make your own Festive Season decorations from all natural materials gathered in and around Granton Castle Walled Garden on 14th December!
Strange Tales Workshop: Playing With Tales
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh West Join writer and performer Pauline Lockhart and the team for a workshop which aims to explore the creative process behind creating Strange Tales.
Find Arts and Crafts events in Edinburgh
LGBTQ Events you might like...
Queer Death Experience
Opium, Edinburgh Old Town Queer Death Experience is a monthly LGBT + friendly alternative club night at Opium Edinburgh with free entry.
DILF Edinburgh: Festive Finale
The Mash House, Edinburgh Old Town Are you ready for some fireworks? DILF Edinburgh brings the year and the decade to a close with it’s FESTIVE FINALE.
Queer Death Experience
Opium, Edinburgh Old Town Queer Death Experience is a monthly LGBT + friendly alternative club night at Opium Edinburgh with free entry.
Find LGBTQ events in Edinburgh
Find other events in Edinburgh
Sponsored Links
Popular Events
Castle of Light
Expect wonder, enchantment and a spectacle of colour this festive season as Edinburgh Castle, the defender of the nation, becomes the ‘Castle of Light’!An Edinburgh Christmas Carol
The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh is delighted to present the world premiere of An Edinburgh Christmas Carol, a magical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas tale.24 Doors of Advent
Throughout December Edinburgh opens its doors to showcase the unique buildings in the city in this real-life advent calendar.Disney’s The Lion King
The story of THE LION KING is miraculously brought to life using masks, puppets and striking costumes to tell the story of young Simba's epic adventures.Christmas at the Botanics 2019
Explore the sights and sounds of Christmas in this magical after dark experience at the Royal Botanic Gardens!Advertise With Us
Looking to reach new customers? We offer a variety of advertising options with prices starting from just £30 per month!
