ego andaluz at QUEER UNFRAMING Berlin — A Queer Exhibition That Felt Necessary

(Deutsch / Español)

Last week, I travelled to Berlin to take part in QUEER UNFRAMING — Art Beyond Straight Lines, a group exhibition curated by Julian Daynov during Gallery Weekend Berlin. I arrived excited, curious, and honestly not fully prepared for how intense, emotional, and affirming this experience would become.

Gay Artist ego andaluz at Queer Unframing Berlin

Queer Unframing Berlin

Queer Unframing Berlin

Linocuts of gay artist ego andaluz

Gay artist ego andaluz and his linocuts

Gay artist ego andaluz

What stayed with me most was not only the exhibition itself, but the people. Over the course of a few days, I met artists, curators, collectors, and visitors from very different backgrounds. Some of those encounters immediately felt meaningful. The kind where you already know: this won’t end in Berlin. Some of these conversations will turn into real friendships, future collaborations (hopefully), and lasting connections.

And that matters.

Because QUEER UNFRAMING was not simply another group show. Thanks to Julian Daynov, the exhibition made something visible that is still surprisingly rare in contemporary art spaces: queer artists placed at the centre of the conversation — not as seasonal decoration during Pride Month, not as an “inclusive addition,” but as artists whose work deserves space, complexity, and serious attention all year round.

Seeing the resonance from visitors throughout the week was honestly overwhelming. People stayed. People engaged. People connected. There was curiosity, emotion, recognition. You could feel how necessary exhibitions like this still are. Especially at a moment where queer visibility is simultaneously more present and more contested than ever.

I also want to say thank you to Julian Daynov for the invitation. The moment he reached out, I did not hesitate for a second. And after seeing what he managed to create, I’m even more grateful to have been part of it. Bringing together so many different artistic voices, organising an ambitious exhibition during Gallery Weekend, and creating a space that felt both politically relevant and genuinely warm is no small thing. What he built was held together not only by curatorial vision, but by real care.

Julian Daynov at Queer Unframing, Photo credit: Tim Sonntag

What made the exhibition particularly strong was the diversity of perspectives. The participating artists — including Milena Zara, Tim Sonntag, Viktor Petrov, Janina Roider, Moritz Kloppe, Armin Dietrich, Timmi Taubenschreck, Brett Seiler, Domingo el Chino, Alfonso del Moral, Ilya Fedotov-Fedorov, Chorus of Body, and ego andaluz — came from different countries, practices, generations, and visual languages. Some worked conceptually, others emotionally, some directly political, others intimate and personal. And yet the exhibition never felt fragmented. It felt alive.

For me personally, showing my own works in this context carried a different emotional weight than usual. The conversations around visibility, performance, queer bodies, and self-image suddenly moved beyond the studio and became something collective.

Berlin welcomed me with open arms. The city felt raw, chaotic, curious, queer, exhausting, and strangely comforting at the same time. And after this experience, I genuinely hope this was not my last time there.

Photo credits gallery: Tim Sonntag (photo 1, 4 & 5)