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# Unlimited Intimacy: New group exhibition frames the 1980s and 1990s as a politically charged time for LGBTQ+ histories and movements
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/unlimited-intimacy-new-group-exhibition-frames-the-1980s-and-1990s-as-a-politically-charged-time-for-lgbtq-histories-and-movements/
- Published: 2023-10-19T08:23:55.000Z
- Updated: 2023-10-19T08:23:55.000Z
- Description: Lead Pic: Stuart Linden Rhodes, Wolverhampton, The Deep, 1993, digital photograph Borrowing its title from the 2009 book by Tim Dean, Unlimited Intimacy is a new group exhibition that frames the 1980s and 1990s as a politically charged time for LGBTQ+ histories and movements. The presentation survey
- Author: Graham Robson
- Tags: Exhibitions, LGBT, LGBTQ, Newcastle, Stuart Linden Rhodes

***Lead Pic: Stuart Linden Rhodes, Wolverhampton, The Deep, 1993, digital photograph***

Borrowing its title from the 2009 book by **Tim Dean**, ***Unlimited Intimacy*** is a new group exhibition that frames the 1980s and 1990s as a politically charged time for LGBTQ+ histories and movements. The presentation surveys critical and radical perspectives on gay and queer sexuality through photographic and documentary practices.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/screenshot-2023-10-19-at-09-14-51-e1697703319516.png)

L: Tessa Boffin, The Knight, 1990/2023, archival inkjet print, 106.7×38.8cm, edition of 8 plus 2 artist’s proofs. Courtesy: the Estate of Tessa Boffin and the Gupta+Singh Archive. R: Tessa Boffin, The Lady-in-Waiting, 1990/2023, archival inkjet print, 106.7x39cm, edition of 8 plus 2 artist’s proofs. Courtesy: the Estate of Tessa Boffin and the Gupta+Singh Archive.

***The Knight’s Move*** by **Tessa Boffin** (1960 – 1993) unapologetically challenges heteronormative representations of historical and mythological figures. The monochromatic works reimagine the Knight, the Knave, the Angel, the Casanova and the Lady-in-Waiting as lesbian protagonists.

**Phyllis Christopher** presents an intimate and evocative exploration of female sexuality, sensually depicting skin and bodily fluids. The photographs compel viewers to confront the interlaced relationship between sexual desire, pleasure, and pain.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sgupta_saleemandme-e1697703502447.jpg)

Sunil Gupta, Towards an Indian Gay Image – Saleem and me, 1983, archival inkjet print, 71×106.6cm

***Cruising Delhi in the 80s*** by **Sunil Gupta** in conversation with the Indian art historian and gay rights activist **Saleem Kidwai** (1951 – 2021) is a reflective video work on their shared histories of cruising in **Delhi**, India.

**Stuart Linden Rhodes** captures the diverse gay scene and queer club culture of the UK in the 1990s, a period also marked by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, homophobia, and discriminatory laws.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/csingh_theycalleditlove2-e1697703417365.jpg)

Charan Singh, Still from They Called it Love, But Was it Love?, 2020, film, duration 8.35mins. Courtesy: the artist and sepiaEYE. Commissioned by Visual AIDS / Day Without Art.

In ***They Called it Love, But Was it Love?***, **Charan Singh** examines the lives and worlds of the Kothi community, which is often targeted as a ‘risk group’ in India and troubles hetero- and homo-normative notions of gender and sexuality through a non-western lens.

Curator **Abdullah Qureshi** is a Pakistan-born multidisciplinary artist and curator. He is a Lecturer in Fine Art at **Northumbria University** in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The exhibition is part of ***Assemblage I: Body and Politics***, hosted by the Department of Art at Northumbria University.

***Unlimited Intimacy* is showing from October 26 – November 18 at Vane, Orbis Community, 65 High Street, Gateshead, NE8 2AP. For more info, [CLICK HERE](https://www.vane.org.uk/exhibitions/unlimited-intimacy?ref=scenemag.co.uk)**