An elegant photographic series by Juan Jose Barboza-Gubo and Andrew Mroczek, Los Chicos consists primarily of nude gay men wearing only ornate crowns. The men are surrounded by the gothic trappings of a decaying Lima mansion, one full of signifiers representing Catholic wealth and more local class markers. The handsome young men mostly look directly at the camera, conveying an almost naive mix of fearlessness and vulnerability. The crowns they wear are large and appear quite heavy – a few are on display in the gallery window – making it a little unclear whether they’re meant to be taken entirely seriously.
