“Wilde-Turing 1+75” (2016)
by Oriana Kacicek (1986-)
8×8 in., oil on linen
Coppola Collection

I commissioned Oriana to create a painting based on a photo I took in the Halong Bay (Vietnam) in 2014. These have been known for a long time as the Trong Mai Islet (or Fighting Cock Rocks), although the more recent and less aggressive sensibilities have starting to think of them as a hen and rooster kissing.

I named the painting “Wilde-Turing 1+75” to honor the memories of some of  those who suffered gay persecution over the past (nearly) 175 years: Oscar Wilde, Alan Turing,  the portion of the German Criminal Code (Paragraph 175) that was broadened by the Nazis to capture and detain the “pink triangle” prisoners, and finally 1976 (1+75), the birth year of Matthew Shepard.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Alan Turing (1912-1954)
Paragraph 175 (1871-1994)
Matthew Shepard (1976-1998)