{"id":52679,"date":"2026-05-18T02:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T01:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ket.brussels\/?p=52679"},"modified":"2026-05-14T12:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:26:32","slug":"baimenik-gabe-the-trans-man-under-jorge-sevillas-brush-opens-madrid-prides-queer-art-route","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ket.brussels\/en\/2026\/05\/18\/baimenik-gabe-the-trans-man-under-jorge-sevillas-brush-opens-madrid-prides-queer-art-route\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBaimenik Gabe\u201d: the trans man under Jorge Sevilla\u2019s brush opens Madrid Pride\u2019s queer art route"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Madrid is getting ready for Pride season, and this year one of the first signals comes from a canvas. At DLRO Live<\/strong>, a queer nightlife and culture space in the Chueca district, the Nicaraguan artist Jorge Sevilla<\/strong> is presenting \u201cBaimenik Gabe\u201d<\/strong> (\u201cWithout permission\u201d in Basque), an exhibition that puts trans men<\/strong> at the centre of the frame. The show officially opens the art route of Muestra t<\/strong>, the cultural festival of MADO Madrid Orgullo<\/strong>, which runs through June and July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to ELMA \u2013 the European LGBTQIA+ Magazines Association<\/strong>, ket can share and adapt this story first published by Spanish queer magazine Shangay<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Making trans men visible in the Pride city<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBaimenik Gabe\u201d is presented as a queer exhibition dedicated to visibilising trans men<\/strong>, a group that is still often missing from mainstream Pride imagery: less hyper\u2011fetishised than other bodies, less represented in media and campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sevilla\u2019s paintings focus on the trans masculine body and presence<\/strong>, using colour, gesture and texture to reclaim a space that art history and contemporary visual culture have rarely ceded to trans men. The choice of title \u2013 \u201cwithout permission\u201d \u2013 underlines the point: this is not a timid request for inclusion, but a statement that these lives do not need anyone\u2019s authorisation to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Shangay notes, the fact that this exhibition opens the\u00a020th edition of Muestra t<\/strong>\u00a0is not a detail. It signals a conscious decision by the festival to start its cultural route with a trans\u2011centred project, rather than tagging one on at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cArt has always been my refuge\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the interview quoted by Shangay, Jorge Sevilla<\/strong> describes how painting became a lifeline long before any gallery wall.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cArt has always been my refuge. Since childhood, painting was a way to escape and to understand the world. I grew up in an environment where opportunities were limited and art was not seen as a possible path, but I still found in it a constant need,\u201d he explains.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He goes on to say that this exhibition\u00a0\u201cwas born from the need to make visible what is often ignored \u2013 a community that is growing and resisting.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0That line could easily double as a manifesto for trans men across Europe: present, active, but still routinely erased from both transphobic attacks and trans\u2011positive narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Muestra t: the cultural heart of Madrid Pride<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For anyone who only knows\u00a0MADO<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0through the street party and parade,\u00a0Muestra t<\/strong>\u00a0is the part of Madrid Pride that lives in galleries, bars, cinemas and cultural centres. Celebrated between\u00a0June and July<\/strong>, it is the\u00a0official cultural festival of Madrid Orgullo<\/strong>, with a programme of events that promote LGTBIQ+ diversity and inclusion through art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muestra t\u2019s mission is to organise and showcase queer projects<\/strong>, creating meeting spaces for the community and inviting the wider public into those conversations. Its programme covers:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n