PULSE Nightclub: 49 Elegies
PULSE Nightclub: 49 Elegies is a series made by artist John Gutoskey to honor and commemorate the 49 individuals massacred at the LGBTQ Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016. Gutoskey uses symbols that are personal to him and his experience as a gay man, and combines them with other cultural and spiritual iconography that are more universally understood to create the 49 visual elegies or poems.
Although I did not know any of the victims personally, I felt an overwhelming sense of anger followed by a broad feeling of loss and an almost metaphysical sadness that this had happened to the LGBTQ community; that it had happened inside what was supposed to be a safe, sacred queer space; and that it had happened to a minority within a minority, as it was Latin night at PULSE Nightclub.
- John Gutoskey
© John Gutoskey
Despite playing across a range of imagery and palettes, the final presentation is extremely unified, successfully presenting a crowd of individuals. Gutoskey’s tribute is as vibrant and beautiful, and shot through with chaos, as the victims whose lives and bodies were broken to pieces two years ago — and perhaps offers those who continue to live with the tragedy a visual language with which to express their grief.
- Sarah Rose Sharp, Hyperallergic June 2018
PULSE Nightclub: 49 Elegies addresses not only the loss, the grief and the aftermath of such a tragic event, but also makes reference to the current issues of gun violence, homophobia, Hispanophobia, violence against people of color and the transgender community, and LGBTQ rights. The 49 mixed-media monoprints in this series combine woodcut, collage, digital images from photographs and scans, stencil, spray enamel, glitter, colored pencil, art paper, gift wrap paper, and alcohol gel transfer decals.
Number of objects: 49 prints on paper, 28 x 20 inches each
Rental fee: $5,000 for eight to 12 weeks plus shipping and insurance.