Art New Zealand – August 2019

49

with elegant flower arrangements,
a multitude of candles and crystal
glasses and, everywhere around
us the images of beautiful young
men, their sculpted bodies oiled and
glistening, some dripping with gold
paint, others smeared with red like the
blood of Dante’s Hell. The setting in
the Hopetoun Alpha, a deconsecrated
church, was the perfect venue for an
exhibition that intertwines the rituals
and strictures of the Roman Catholic
church with Dante’s Inferno and the
experience of homosexuality.
In the evenings, the building’s
façade was lit with projected flames
and, as visitors entered the darkened
space of the interior, the deep
reverberating bass of an ominous
soundtrack could be felt through the
soles of one’s feet. Fourteen large-scale
photographs were hung on a series
of black pillars that spanned the two
levels of the space. The artist’s allusion
to the fourteen Stations of the Cross
was reflected in the number of images
as well as the evident pain of the
photographed subjects, surrounded by
the symbolism and accoutrements of
Catholicism.
The anguish expressed in these
images remains a daily occurrence for
many homosexual men. The inclusion
of animals in the photographs is a
common reference associating gay sex
with bestiality. The deer in Viado (Deer)
is a reference to Taccetti’s Brazilian
background, in which gay men are
pejoratively referred to by the name of
that animal. Brazil, Taccetti confided,
was ‘not a safe or forgiving place for
those who did not conform’.

The hero image of the exhibition,

Misericórdia (Mercy), is set in the

final circle of Hell. A taut figure is

enveloped by a twisted ribbon of

steel which is a reference to the nine

concentric circles of the Inferno. The

red heat of flames and of the many

chillies strewn across the floor, antique

fire extinguishers and crucifixes are

all elements of Taccetti’s Hell. It is

one of the most desolate and yet most

beautiful of the images.

Taccetti’s most tragic and

confronting work is Botão De Rosa

(Rosebud). Like all his images this

photograph has a baroque aesthetic

of richly textured wallpaper and

props, shadowy lighting and darkly

saturated colours. The central figure

is also enveloped in a ribbon of steel

and here a multitude of delicate roses

including a single rose placed between

his buttocks. This is clearly a reference

to sodomy that defines homosexuality

in the mind of a heterosexual world.

It is also intended to resonate with an

inscription cut into the stone above the

gates of Hell, ‘Abandon all hope ye

who enter here’. For Taccetti, coming

out as a gay man was like entering the

gates of Hell.

The artist hopes that in presenting

these images of what is essentially a

universal story he can raise awareness

around the issues faced by the rainbow

community and the need for increased

access to mental health support

networks.