BRANDHORST FLAG COMMISSION: PHILIPP GUFLER

On view till 15.03.2024

T-shirts are available in white, Bavarian sky-blue and grey in S, M, L, XL and XXL as long as stocks last. Only few T-shirts left! In the benefit of Forum Queeres Archive München to support our self-organized archive. 

Artist Philipp Gufler will occupy the space with a new work. With his signature approach, he recontextualizes queer history in his often textile-based works. Rather than depicting complex overlays as in his silkscreen prints on fabrics and mirrors, for “Urning” he uses the visual impact of the medium of the flag.

In his flags, Gufler places the lawyer Karl Heinrich Ulrichs at the center of his work, using Pop Art aesthetics. Ulrichs coined the term “Urning,” which, in reference to the Greek god Uranos, was the first to formulate queer identity through a positive self-designation. At the German Jurists’ Forum, held at the Odeon in Munich on August 29, 1867, he demanded impunity for same-sex love. Although the term “Urning” did not catch on, Ulrichs has become a central source of inspiration for queer theory. Gufler links this historical importance to a significant poster campaign by the initiative Act Up Munich, which gained notoriety in 1995 for its protest against local Bavarian politicians. He updates the AIDS awareness campaign and creates a link between the historical treatment of queer identity and its relevance to current debates.