Realism
2025
MAK Center
Los Angeles, CA, United States Of America
https://www.mak.at/en/program/exhibitions/final_projects__2

Group exhibition curated by Seymour Polatin (MAK Center) with Artor Jesus Inkerö, Ursula Mayer and Paula Strunden.
Artor Jesus Inkerö brings painting and installation into the Garage Top Gallery and their bedroom at the Mackey Apartments, visible from the gallery. Here they draw connections between public exhibition and private personal space, inspired by printed media such as Paul Preciado's view on architecture in his book Pornotopia: An Essay on Playboy's Architecture and Biopolitics, exploring the Playboy's Penthouse as the male boudoir for heterosexual exploration.
For Inkerö, it is important to work with printed physical media. Following recent executive orders under President Trump, online spaces have become increasingly hostile to transgender, queer, and non-binary people, while legislative and healthcare policies have further marginalized these communities. At the same time, the West has seen a significant rise in the misuse of testosterone treatments and injections among men.
Inkerö's paintings depict scenes of Proud Boys marching in uniform, juxtaposed with historical images of a Nazi student and an SA member looting the Institute for Sexual Science in 1933 Berlin.
Fragments of recent news reports intermingle with abstract representations of genitalia, creating a layered reflection on power, masculinity, and erasure. The assumed male organs become something else, pumped and enlarged to an abnormal size, questioning whether these parts are male at all or if they cross the boundary of gender altogether. With much of our data existing online, and the sudden shift in political climate, Inkerö examines the significance of printed media and how easily it can be altered or deleted.

Pumped
2025
Burned screens and metal

Proud Boys
2025
Silkscreen, acrylic and enamel on canvas

There was a 3.5-fold increase in testosterone use among 18- to 45-year-old men.

2025

Silkscreen, acrylic and enamel on canvas

Trump orders federal agencies to recognize only two sexes

2025

Silkscreen and acrylic on canvas

Quote from Pornotopia by Paul Preciado

2025

Urethane enamel on canvas

A Nazi student and a member of the SA plundering the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin (May 6, 1933). Photo: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

2025

Silkscreen and acrylic on canvas

No. 17-1618. Argued October 8, 2019–Decided June 15, 2020*

In each of these cases, an employer allegedly fired a long-term employee simply for being homosexual or transgender.

2025

Silkscreen and acrylic on canvas