Until June 15, Rotterdam’s industrial art space Brutus hosts a raw and radical exhibition: Everything is True – Nothing is Permitted. Eighty contemporary artists come together to challenge power structures, beauty standards, violence, and identity – with a fierce and unmistakably queer undertone.
Don’t expect comfort here. Art becomes a weapon, a protest. Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky nailed himself to Moscow’s Red Square to denounce life under Putin’s regime. French performer Made in Eric paints his naked body and becomes urban furniture – a table, a bike rack, or, in one photo, a hurdle for a horse to jump over.
British artist Mat Collishaw offers a moment of eerie calm amid the chaos. His piece Narcissus, a haunting self-portrait, evokes themes of vanity, vulnerability, and identity – a quiet rebellion of its own.
There’s dark humour too: in Coq/Cock, South African queer artist Steven Cohen parades in drag near the Eiffel Tower, a rooster tied to his exposed penis. The police intervene, the rooster enjoys the stroll, and Cohen confronts the idea of queer visibility in spaces loaded with history and oppression.
From shadow puppets denouncing racism in the American South to extreme performances, this exhibition is a deep dive into the messiness and beauty of resistance.
A bad trip? Maybe. But one that brings powerful insights.
Everything is True – Nothing is Permitted
Until June 15 at Brutus, Rotterdam
brutus.nl
This article was written thanks to WINQ magazine, as KET.brussels is part of the European LGBTQIA* Media Association.
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