Queer Culture +

The collection Algabal (2011) developed under the mentorship of Walter Van Beirendonck at Antwerp’s Fashion Department, critically examines masculinity as a performative and non-natural construct, drawing parallels to the masquerade of symbolic power. Influenced by hermeticism, 19th-century German philosophy, religious attire, and Western fine art, the collection envisions masculinity as an aesthetic and symbolic spectacle, embodied by a central figure who assumes a God-like role within a self-created realm of opulence and desire. This figure’s authority is articulated through garments adorned with hierarchal motifs and constructed from synthetic, reflective materials that underscore their artificiality. The symbolic use of color further highlights the superficiality of this representation, presenting masculinity as a transcendent yet emotionally inaccessible performance. By situating Algabal alongside The Missing Men (2018) in the 2025 publication Queer Culture+: Inclusive Articulations and Practices in Media, Arts & Materiality, the collection of images contributes to academic discourses on gender as a socially mediated and performative phenomenon, challenging traditional notions of masculinity and power.