“Shaved and hairless what once was screaming / now lies silent and almost sleeping”.
The two lines from the Velvet Underground’s song, ‘Lady Godiva’s operation’, describe a transsexual woman having been forcibly sedated to receive a lobotomy; an immense act of violence. Simultaneously, the lines could be a description of the post-sex state of vulnerability and bliss. Yet again, they could describe the humiliated, lifeless Christ being taken down off the cross. This is what Jo Loui Borup has been interested in recently: That point of violent restrainment, erotic caress and tender compassion.
Working in painting, drawing and writing, Jo Loui Borup builds fictional worlds with extensive internal logics to tackle his subject matter.
Inspired by the film theory principle of body genres – horror, melodrama, porn, and comedy – he aims to address the body first, opening up the gates to the existential and political.
He often works with speculative Christian imagery as a touchstone for his own cultural and religious heritage, as seen through the lens of a 21st century transsexual spiritual experience.

Jo Loui Borup was born in 2000 in Odense, Denmark. He graduated from Biskops Arnö’s writer’s workshop in 2022 and currently studies a bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Konstfack since 2023.