Queer artist Eureka, aka Michael O’Hanlon, held his first exhibition as a gay man at Altona’s Joel Gallery five years ago.
It was part of Midsumma and also the first GLBTIQ exhibition in Hobsons Bay and Melbourne’s west.
Five years on, western suburbs’ councils have banded together to host a swag of GLBTIQ events over a three-month period under the banner GOWEST and coinciding with Midsumma.
Eureka, 58, has also come a long way since that first exhibition at Joel Gallery, and later at Footscray Community Arts Centre.
His latest exhibition, Deoupages d’hommes, is a compilation of works from an artistic residency in Berlin.
“I was one of eight international artists there and it was three months – it was like Big Brother for artists … it was intensive.
“This series combines my love of architecture with my love of men,” he said. “[Berlin] has a different attitude to the body. They have this thing called FKK, which is basically free body culture, which emphasises that there’s nothing wrong at all with the naked human body.
“There’s this wonderful honesty about the body, and acceptance, which is one of the reasons I was motivated to do this in Berlin.
“It’s no trouble at all finding models that’ll take their clothes off and pose for you. It’s much harder in Melbourne.”
Deoupages d’hommes runs until January 20 at Fortyfivedownstairs, Flinders Lane.
