4me4you Features - ‘Burning Desires’.

ABOUT ME

4me4you had the delightful opportunity to visit Unit London Gallery, where the spotlight was on the artist Gori Mora - ‘Burning Desires ’.

Artists:

Gori Mora’s solo exhibition at Unit Gallery, Burning Desires, offers an evocative exploration of queer identity, intimacy, and the search for belonging. Through a series of captivating works, Mora blends cosy interior settings with outdoor scenes, crafting "safe spaces" that resonate with the queer experience.

His distinctive visual language, rich with motifs such as bitten apples, disembodied body parts, constellations, and the Moon, alongside symbolic references to nightlife, communicates coded meanings that deeply engage with themes of identity and community. A standout feature of Mora’s art is his innovative use of oil on perspex. This technique requires him to build his compositions in reverse, with each initial brushstroke immediately visible to the viewer. The perspex not only imparts a unique light diffusion to the paintings but also acts as a protective layer, echoing the themes of safety and security that are central to Mora’s work.

Mora’s primary goal is to cultivate a deeper understanding of queer experiences, particularly in relation to intimacy. He views misunderstanding as a root cause of fear, which in turn fuels inequality and injustice.

By drawing on the secretive and coded meetings portrayed in the works of artists like Leonora Carrington and Philip Guston, Mora sheds light on the injustices faced by the queer community. His nocturnal settings offer refuge to those who defy societal norms, depicting figures who either challenge patriarchal constraints or carve out spaces where they can express their true selves.

Mora’s fragmented compositions are built on a unique visual vocabulary, where disembodied figures and obscured faces, such as the frequent depiction of the back of the head—often his own in an unconventional self-portrait—play a central role. Objects like white underwear, gold earrings, socks, mirrors, flowers, and fruit float across the canvas, carrying intimate meanings that vary depending on the viewer’s interpretation. Mora’s approach is inspired by Guston’s idea of an “alphabet,” where even the simplest shapes and objects can convey deep meanings, sometimes standing in for the human form itself.

Ultimately, Burning Desires is a holistic celebration of closeness, connection, and the creation of safe spaces. Mora’s work serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of cultivating these sanctuaries, both for ourselves and for our communities, offering moments of introspection and solace to all who seek them.