SOCARRAS, Jorge; ODOM, Mel
The Archaeology of Eros

Homoerotic poetry and art appear throughout the world’s civilizations for millennia. The Archaeology of Eros, the first published collection of poems from cult music figure Jorge Socarras, taps into that continuum together with the collaboration of acclaimed artist Mel Odom. Each body of work representing a lifetime reflecting on and celebrating homoerotic desire and romantic sensibility, Socarras’ intimate love poems and Odom’s evocative drawings are beautifully juxtaposed in this elegantly designed book. Straddling the sensual and the archetypal, the contemporary and the classical, poetry and art join forces in exploring the mystery and wonder of Eros, affirming that same-sex desire has lived before even as it flourishes now.

Jorge Socarras is known for his 1970s collaboration with pioneering synthesizer musician Patrick Cowley as the duo Catholic, as singer-frontman of the 1980s avant-rock group Indoor Life, and as half of the ongoing musical duo Fanatico X. He was also cofounder of the Silence=Death Collective, the AIDS activist group that in 1987 created the eponymous poster design and slogan.

Mel Odom’s award-winning art has graced numerous book covers and magazines since the 1970s, has been the subject of two books, and has been exhibited in galleries and art institutions, including in collaboration with gay literary icon Edmund White. The Archaeology of Eros is the first creative collaboration between longtime friends Socarras and Odom. [publishers’ note]

Published by Dark Entries Editions, 2023
Poetry / Queer Culture