Rick Sindt
b. 1990, Hastings, MN
Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt’s upcoming one-person show explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them into images of intimacy.
“This body of work has been crystalizing in my mind for about five years,” says Sindt, “It is the product of reflecting on how the places I learned the most about myself, and my desires, are considered something that sullies a person, something taboo.”
Focused on the experiences of gay men, this body of oil paintings depicts moments that range from tender touches to more sexually explicit acts.
“It was important to me that I only represent what I know,” explains Sindt, “I identify as a man, and I am attracted to others who identify as men. I don’t believe it is my place to speak on behalf of other members of the queer community whose experiences I am unfamiliar with.”
“In creating this work, I spoke with men who told me about how they hid magazines when they were a kid, took out P.O. Boxes in their small hometowns to protect their privacy, and learned how to cover their tracks on the internet. These secretive acts become necessary when the need to understand yourself is great, but your world is bereft of representation."
