FRANCESC RUIZ, 'SUKIA' EXHIBITION AT WHITE CUBICLE TOILET GALLERY

Francesc Ruiz with Anna Colin cutting the ribbon


Enrique 'Zocotito' Giner


Cibelle, Kleber Matheus


Anna Colin, Tetine's Eliete, Liliana Sanguino


Sukia inside the White Cubicle!


Sukia trying to seduce two young Spanish boys



Sukia and Gary in the toilet!



FRANCESC RUIZ
‘SUKIA’
Sunday 5 December, 8-11pm
The White Cubicle Toilet Gallery,
George and Dragon Public House, 2 Hackney Road, London E2 7NS

For his exhibition at White Cubicle, Francesc Ruiz will cover the toilet’s walls with covers and pages from Sukia, an erotic Italian comic published between 1977 and 1986, which has been translated by Ruiz from the Italian, with it making the comic for the first time accessible to English speaking audiences. Sukia was part of the phenomena developed in Italy during the late 70s and early 80s known as fumetti erótico italiano (Italian erotic comic strips), a genre that explored the low passions of its masculine readers through a mix of sex and violence. Sukia features the adventures of Sukia, a heterosexual vampire with lesbian tendency, and Gary her gay butler. Through out the 10 years it was published, Sukia and Gary jetset around the world, from party to party and from adventure to adventure, while at the same time they both attempt to have sex with all the men that they find in their way. Although Sukia was conceived as a heterosexual comic (its covers always feature busty images of Sukia inspired by the Italian actress Ornella Mutti) in its interiors it exhibited with maximum detail the sexual adventures of Gary the butler, which in many occasions eclipsed the protagonism of Sukia. Over the course the years Gary’s appearance also changed dramatically, at the beginning of the series he was a twink, but as he becomes older he acquires a more muscular build. In this way Sukia acted as a camouflaged gay comic, which allowed readers from sexually repressed countries where homosexual publications were not allowed at the time (for example it was translated and published in Latin America) to access its sexually charged contents without the need of identifying themselves as homosexual. Sukia’s disappearance coincided with the Aids crisis, which would change the scenario of sexual liberation and ambiguity that existed during the previous decade...

Francesc Ruiz’s recent solo exhibitions include The Paper Trail, CIC, Cairo (2010); Big Boom, Centre d'Art la Panera, Lleida (2009); Bcn Eye Trip, Galeria Estrany de la Mota, Barcelona (2008); La Visita Guiada / The Guided Tour, MNCARS, Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos, Burgos (2008), Game Over Expanded, Maribel Lopez Gallery, Berlin (2007). Selected group exhibitions include The Last Post. The Last Newspaper, New Museum, New York (2010); The Malady of Writing, MACBA, Barcelona (2010); The Graphic Unconscious. Philagrafika, Temple Gallery, Philadelphia (2010); Sequelism: Episode 3: Possible, Probable or Preferable Futures, Arnolfini, Bristol (2009); and 28th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana (2009). Currently on view at Gasworks, London is his installation Gasworks Yaoi, in which Ruiz transforms the gallery space into a bookshop specialising in yaoi comic books (Japanese gay comic books created by women for women), where inspired by the gay establishments in Vauxhall the artist has created a semi-fictional narrative that plays with the clichés around sexuality and lifestyle in the area.
www.gasworks.org.uk

THE WHITE CUBICLE TOILET GALLERY measures 1.40 by 1.40 metres, is located within the Ladies Toilet of the George and Dragon, and works with no budget, staff or boundaries. White Cubicle presents a discerning programme of local and international manifestations as an antidote to London’s sometimes extremely commercial art scene. Past exhibitions have included the work of Deborah Castillo, Gregorio Magnani, Butt Magazine, Federico Herrero, Terence Koh, i-Cabin, Steven Gontarski, Pixis Fanzine/Princess Julia and Hanah, General Idea and avaf, Basso Magazin, Carl Hopgood, Giles Round, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Superm, (Brian Kenny and Slava Mogutin), Elkin Calderon, Wolfgang Tillmans, Calvin Holbrook/Hate Magazine, Husam el Odeh, Simon Popper, Fur, Dik Fagazine, Rick Castro/Abravanation, Jean Michel Wicker, Noki, Ellen Cantor, Karl Holmqvist, Julie Verhoeven, Aldo Chaparro, Esther Planas, Nikos Pantazopoulos, Luis Venegas, Twinklife, Rocky Alvarez, Benedetto Chirco, STH Magazine, Elmgreen & Dragset...
http://www.whitecubicle.org
For updates and exhibition dates join the White Cubicle Facebook group

With the support from Gasworks London, SEACEX and Fundación Marcelino Botín.
Special thanks to Gasworks curator Anna Colin