Gonzalo Orquín is a Spanish artist and photographer based in Rome, Italy, best known for his controversial 2013 photo series, titled "Sí, quiero", featuring gay and lesbian couples kissing in Roman Catholic churches in Rome.

Biography

Early life and education 
Orquín was born in Aracena, Huelva Spain, in 1982. He moved with his family to Sevilla from a very young age, where he studied Fine Arts at the University of Seville from 2000 to 2004.  Since 2004 he has lived in Italy, first in Perugia - where he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti Pietro Vanucci - and then in Rome, the city where he currently resides. Painter and artist, he loves working with different media, techniques and languages: oil on canvas, paper, photography, installation, street art. .

Career 
The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art has described his works as "pronouncedly domestic, intimate, post-coital, and romantic. Set in common place interiors of muted tones, his subjects which include cats, dogs, solitary men and women, as well as gay and straight couples, display a contemplative depth of emotion."

Always committed to the rights of the LGBTQIA+ world (one of his photographic work of 2014, Sí, quiero, had a wide worldwide echo attracting an official warning from the Vatican to expose the work ).  The painter focuses his attention on contemporary heroes, martyrs and resisters, proudly gay in countries where homosexuality is still opposed and punished up to the death penalty.

Syria and the (new) disasters of war, gender identity, the drama of migrants, culture and knowledge as tools of civilization, the portrait and the image of intimate everyday life. Gonzalo Orquín, reflects on the past, but citing the present and addressing highly topical issues.

His first exhibition was in 1998 in Seville, when he was only 16 years old. His first solo show  was in Roma, Italy, in 2006, when he was only 24 years old.

Among the main exhibitions recently held: BP Award, shortlisted in the exhibition promoted by the  National Portrait Gallery in London. "In Loving Memory", artist residency and exhibition at   M.A.C.R.O. ( Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome) 2019.
Fighting, loving, dreaming My Berlin diaries at Village, Berlin.  “Próximo destino: Roma", solo show at the  Instituto Cervantes in Rome, 2018. "Librografie", solo show at the Casa delle Letterature  in Rome, 2015, and then the Embassy of Italy, Washington, D.C 2017. "Sí, quiero", solo show at The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art New York City, 2014. 

In 2020 Orquín has been commissioned to paint the portrait of Alfonso Dastis, former Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de España for the gallery of portraits at the
Palacio de Santa Cruz (Madrid)

Among the many exhibitions in which he took part: "The looking glass and thought it" (Museum of 20-21 Century Art, St. Petersburg ) "Artsiders" Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia, 2014 "," El día y la noche, Spanish Academy in Rome, 2014," Imperfectu, International film and gender Festival" Tijuana, Mexico,2014 , “Trialogo” (Galleria L'Opera, Rome, 2013), etc.

His work has been talked about in: The Art Newspaper, Rai Cultura, La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, The Huffington Post (US, France, UK, Spain), Le Figaro, Le Monde, New York Daily News, La Stampa, Il Giornale del arte, Artribune, Exibart, Inside Art.

Sí, quiero 
In 2013, Orquín shot a photo series of gay and lesbian couples, mostly friends and acquaintances, kissing in Roman Catholic churches in Rome. He planned to include the photos in an exhibition titled "Trialogo," which was scheduled to open at the Galleria L'Opera in Rome.

However, before they could be shown, Vatican City officials sent a letter threatening legal action should the photos be shown. Spokesman Claudio Tanturri told a newspaper that the photos violate the Constitution of Italy, saying:"Italian constitutional law safeguards an individual’s religious feeling and the function of places of worship. Therefore photos that are not suitable and do not conform to the spirituality of the place offend and infringe upon the advancement of man in the particular place for the expression of faith."Orquín spoke to lawyers and decided not to exhibit the photos "for security reasons," but maintained that lawyers were working on the case and that he hoped the photos would be shown eventually. As an act of protest, he posted on his Facebook page a picture of the photos on the museum wall covered in black paper and crosses fashioned out of black tape pasted to the wall. Orquín told reporters that he found Italy to be "a very homophobic country," saying "There aren't other countries in Europe or the West that are backward like this."

Gay rights groups in Italy were quick to protest. Flavio Romani, President of the group Arcigay, strongly criticized the Vatican's reaction, saying:"In the images in which the church have seen provocation, I see an exchange of love, a type of public worship that creates harmony not contrast. The indignation of the Catholic Church, therefore, is extremely grotesque."In 2014, it was announced that the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art would be hosting the exhibit under the title, "Si, quiero", (English: "Yes, I want").

Exhibitions 
2021, Berlin: Instinct, The Village: Fighting-Loving-dreaming; My Berlin Diaries
2021, Brussels: Spanish Embassy: L’Ocean entier est affectée par un cailloux
2019, Rome: MACRO ( Museum of contemporary art of Rome); In Loving Memory. Artist residency
2018, Rome: Instituto Cervantes; Próximo destino: Roma

 2017, Washington D.C: Italy in U.S. Italian embassy; LIBROGRAFÌE 
 2016, Palermo: Cantieri culturali alla Zisa, Sicilia Queer/ Arti Visive/ Something Queer. Corpo, territorio di relazioni
 2016, Rome: Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali, Biblioteca Angelica. Concorso "Oltre i libri" Vincitore categoria grafica
 2016, Mattelica: Palazzo degli Ottoni; Lo so, in viaggio per Pasolini
 2015, Rome: Casa delle Letterature; LIBROGRAFìE
2014, Rome: M.A.A.M.; La cappella porcina e-maamcipazione
 2014, Perugia: Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria; ARTSIDERS
 2014, New York City: Leslie-Lohman Museum, Windows Gallery; Sí, quiero
 2014, Rome: Real Academia de España; El día y la noche
 2014, Tijuana, Mexico: Imperfectu International Film and Gender Studies Festival; Yes, I do
 2014, Groningen, Netherlands: Galerie Mooiman; Duals
 2013, Rome: Galleria L’Opera; Trialogo
 2012, Florence: Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia; Un secolo e sette. Premio Fabbri per l'Arte 
 2012, Bologna: Galleria Nazionale dell'Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna; Un secolo e sette. Premio Fabbri per l'Arte
 2012, Seville: Fundación Cajasol; Bailando en la oscuridad, el despertar creativo
 2011, Campobasso: University of Molise. Progetto Aratro Papiroflexia
 2011, Rome: Galleria Arscritica Modernaecontemporanea. Il pensiero fatto segno_Opere su carta dal primo '900 ad oggi 
 2011, Rome: Studio Andrea Gobbi; Vita in Studio
 2009, Rimini: Castel Sismondo e Palazzo del Podestà. Biennale di Rimini; Conteplazioni.Bellezza e tradizione del nuovo nella pittura italiana contemporanea
 2008, Milan: Veronesi Foundation; Il seno nell'Arte
 2008, Berlin: Werkstatt Gallery
 2008, Rome: Galleria Chiari; La poesia del corpo
 2007, Paris: Galerie Myriam Haas; Natures Vives
 2007, Milan: Palazzo della Ragione; Da Von Gloeden a Pierre et Gilles
 2007, Francavilla al Mare, Chieti: 58º Edizione Premio Michetti; Nuovi Realismi 
 2007, Florence: Palazzina Reale; Da Von Gloeden a Pierre et Gilles
 2006, Rome: Studio Andrea Gobbi; Espejo romano. 
 2000, Seville: Sala de Antigüedades y subastas de Sevilla; pintores Noveles

References 

1982 births
Living people
Spanish photographers
Spanish contemporary artists
Photographers from Seville