2. Queer Art
• Artists have engaged in same-sex relationships since
antiquity, but sexual identity is a modern concept
• Due to social prohibitions against homosexuality
many LGBTQ artists remained in the closet
• The Stonewall Riot in 1969 and subsequent gay
liberation movement marks a major turning point for
LGBTQ politics and culture
• Concepts of censorship versus visibility and
assimilation versus intervention structure queer art
• LGBTQ is not a monolithic category
• “Queer” was reclaimed from a pejorative to an in-
your-face identity term in the politicized context of
the AIDS crisis in the 1980s-1990s
3. Joan E. Biren (JEB), Priscilla and Regina, Brooklyn, NY, 1979, photograph, 1979.
4. Catherine Opie, Papa Bear, Chief, Jake, and Chicken
from “Being and Having” series, 1991.
11. Robert Mapplethorpe, Man in Polyester Suit,
gelatin silver print, 17-15/16 x 13-15/16 inches, 1981.
12. Glenn Ligon, Notes on the Margin of the Black Book, offset prints (91) and text
(78), prints 11-1/2 x 11-1/2 inches framed each; text pages 5-1/4 x 7-1/4 inches
framed each, 1991-1993.
14. Sheila Pepe, Mr. Slit, industrial rubber bands, crocheted yarn with
hardware, dimensions variable, 2007.
15. Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled, 1991, billboard, dimensions vary. Installation
view at Van Dam Street near Queens Boulevard, Queens (February 20 – March 18,
2012) as part of Print/Out exhibition, The Museum of Modern Art, NY.
16. Tammy Rae Carland, Untitled (Lesbian Bed #7)
C-print, 40 x 30 inches, 2002.
17. Sharon Hayes, Revolutionary Love 2: I am
Your Best Fantasy (detail), documentation
of performance, Republican National
Convention, St. Paul, MN, 2008.
Donna Gottschalk holds poster
“I am your worst fear I am your
best fantasy” at Christopher
Street Gay Liberation Day
parade, 1970.
18. Juliana Huxtable, Untitled in the Rage (Nibiru Catalclysm) from “Universal
Crop Tops for All the Self Canonized Saints of Becoming” series, digital
photograph, 2015.
19. Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, Instructions for a Home Team, gouache, watercolor,
tea, marker, and acrylic on paper, 114.75 x 41.75 inches, 2014.
