João Gabriel's sensual paintings are created through quick vibrant brushstrokes with few edges and contours, yet they are also realistic manifestations of bodies and landscapes. The artist's inspirations range from Italian Renaissance painters such as Titian to the "Junge Wilde" and the gay painting of Rainer Fetting - but the starting point for his most recent works, in addition to porn films of the "queer underground" from the seventies, were the beaches of the Portuguese coast. Certain areas of the region are regularly used as cruising sites, meeting places for casual and anonymous sexual encounters. The print Gabriel made especially for the Kunstverein Braunschweig also reflects these central themes of his artistic work. The looming bodies can only be glimpsed, and although details of the scene remain hidden from the viewer, he becomes aware of the tenderness of the captured moment. In this way, Gabriel creates moments of intimacy and creates images that not only depict the present, but also echo what has been and a longing for what may yet come.