In the stunning Peres Projects gallery in Berlin, the new Ad Minoliti exhibition injects a great dose of light, colour and creativity onto the white walls of the huge space. Tackling the issue of adolescence, a convulsive phase for many people in which we are not children anymore but we have not become adults yet, which is a very stereotyped stage of life in Western culture where teenagers tend to be marginalized and regarded as the ‘other,’ this exhibition speaks directly to the viewer and manifests an undeniable reality: the lack of positive spaces intended for teenagers.
From paintings and sculptures to murals and carpets, GG also incorporates a coffee corner, a library including Argentine fanzines and comics and live events. And if we delve into the meaning of this new exhibition and what the artist wanted to reflect through these multicoloured pieces, Minoliti addresses the issue of the representation of queer and trans youth struggles in their teenage years. They invite us to get on board a futuristic and cartoonish queer spacecraft by advocating warmth and care as legitimate rhetorical strategies and relying on geometric characters with no gender, origin, age or class that populate the walls of the gallery.
Their art seems innocent, but it’s not. Behind each element, there is an interesting decision-making process with which they send effective messages. If we look at the colours, the forest green, cobalt blue, pumpkin orange and candy apple red come from the colour code of Argentinian activist groups. The Argentinian artist whose practice draws from transfeminist and queer theory and has shown in numerous institutional solo exhibitions worldwide is sending a powerful message to the world. And we shouldn't overlook it.