Podium Gallery's 'Ballet with the Devil' exhibition explores queer desire through biblical and sexual motifs

From June 7 to August 16, 2025, Podium Gallery in Hong Kong presented the group exhibition 'Ballet with the Devil,' examining desire and subjectivity through painting and installation. Artists Tao Siqi, Dew Kim, João Gabriel, and Jaewon Kim contributed works that reinterpreted biblical narratives through queer perspectives. Tao Siqi's oil painting 'Savoring' (2025) featured an androgynous figure kissing a foot with red toenails, accompanied by a serpent, creating erotic tension. Dew Kim's metal and blown glass pieces, including 'One Whispered Pleasure, the Other Promised Pain' (2025), transformed sexual objects into gold-plated brass sprigs alluding to the Tree of Knowledge, challenging taboos on lust. João Gabriel's oil-on-paper works referenced pre-AIDS 1970s gay porn imagery, depicting male figures with blurred features and tattered edges reminiscent of vintage magazines. Jaewon Kim's print series 'Lingering State I-IV' (2025) showed corroded metal plates resembling microorganisms, reflecting on HIV/AIDS's impact on LGBTQ+ experiences. The exhibition contrasted ancient mythology with queer resilience, offering new visual languages for desire and sexuality.