Delirium, 1993
50 x 35 cm y 70 x 50 cm.
Mixed media on Fabriano paper: Acrylic, tempera, pastel, image transfer and collage with aerotic postcards from the beginning of the 20th century.
With this series young artist accuses a retrograde way of assuming the phenomenon of sexuality (the taboo, homophobia and other social prejudices embedded in a patriarchal and sexist culture) to question the double moral of a society and an ideological system that, by persecuting, stigmatizing and imprisoning homosexuals and trans, marginalized the LGBT community for several decades without the slightest shame.
Erotic Art vs. Taboo and Sexism
In this series of works on paper, Benítez -avoiding empty and simplistic lyricism that could disguise the drama of this phenomenon- evokes an aesthetic of the androgynous and gloats, delights in what society considers “dirty,” “sinful,” and forbidden in order to question false morality and emphasize the prejudices of the socio-political and cultural structures in the Cuba of the moment (and today). In the target: the endemic homophobia of an ideological, social and political system eaten away by the macho and sexist tradition and intolerance, the disrespect and the arbitrary, systematic, restriction of individual rights. A lamentable reality that we have not yet managed to overcome. In this series, Ernesto Benítez, in keeping with his principles, rather than proposing, demands that the fallacious discourse of “tolerance” be replaced by a real and conscious profession of respect.