Exhibition text for Gabriel Francez’s part in “THE HUNGER”, at Parochialkirche, in Berlin.
The show presented photographs by Gabriel Francez and paintings by Patrick Uwe Mullins.
TW: fake blood & nudity.
“Take, eat; this is my body… Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” – Matthew 26:26-28
In a world where faith wavers and ecstasy replaces devotion, pleasure is no longer a mere indulgence – it is an obsession, a hunger, a curse. But what is the cost of this relentless pursuit? The very thing we seek to quench our thirst may, in reality, be draining our souls, like a parasite feeding on flesh.
This exhibition explores martyrdom in the modern age, where longing and destruction entwine in an ecstatic embrace. Three nocturnal entities – dark rulers of temptation – preside over their victims, leading them into a ritual of abandon, where bodies are given, blood is spilt, and souls are lost. Their presence recalls the violent chiaroscuro of Ribera’s tortured saints, the raw sensuality of Caravaggio’s martyrdoms, where pain and ecstasy blur in the half-light.
But these figures are not relics of the past. They are the neo-martyrs of our time, bound by the same contradictions – the search for transcendence in the depths of excess. This is the fate of a generation, where desire turns to addiction, where chemsex and the pursuit of sensation leave bodies ravaged, veins emptied, minds lost in the abyss. These images echo the suffering of Saint Sebastian – his pierced body, venerated and condemned, transformed into a queer icon, a symbol of beauty, agony, and temptation. He stands at the crossroads of devotion and transgression, caught in the gaze of a society that both craves and punishes pleasure.
And yet, what separates martyrdom from damnation? The Eucharist speaks of a body broken in sacrifice, of blood poured out in redemption. But here, in the shadows, another sacrament is offered – a cup not of salvation, but of self-annihilation. The choice is made. The fall is inevitable. The feast begins.
This exhibition invites you to confront a question at the heart of human desire: We take, we drink – but who is truly being offered up?
© Michael Almeida Machado
Images
Gabriel Francez – Instagram: gabrielfrancez_
Models: Danira, Oda Louise, Mathis Chevalier & Yassin Chekkouh.
Patrick Uwe Mullins – Instagram: patrickuwemullins
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Michael Almeida Machado 