A stunning yet Vatican-condemned photo series featuring same-sex couples in passionate embraces inside Roman Catholic churches will get a new life in New York.
The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay & Lesbian Art will display Rome-based artist Gonzalo Orquin's "Si, quiero" photographs in its Wooster Street Window Gallery. In 2013, Orquin had planned to include the photographs in an exhibition titled "Trialogo," which was scheduled to open at Rome's Galleria L'Opera.
The photos made international headlines when Vatican reportedly shot down Orquin's plan, and sent the gallery a notice threatening legal action. Nonetheless, the colorful shots are a natural fit for Leslie-Lohman, according to Museum Director Hunter O’Hanian.
"We selected this work because it was so simple and beautiful," O’Hanian wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. "These images tell a straightforward story in a very direct way about how people can share their affection for each other and for their religion."
Noting that the photos "transcend any particular religion, sexual orientation or point of view," O’Hanian said he felt the images tied into the museum's mission to exhibit work "which might otherwise be denied access through mainstream venues."
The exhibition is slated to open at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay & Lesbian Art in New York on April 30. For more information, head here.
Take a look at a selection of Orquin's stunning photos below:
