Queer Art - Queer art emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s as LGBTQ artists came out of the closet following the Stonewall riots, with concepts of censorship, visibility, and identity central themes - In the 1980s-1990s, the AIDS crisis politicized queer identity further and the term "queer" was reclaimed from a pejorative to celebrate non-normative identities - Queer artists have explored LGBTQ experiences through various mediums like photography, performance art, posters, and installations to increase representation and understanding of queer lives.

1. Queer Art

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.

5. Catherine Opie, Self-Portrait/Pervert,
chromogenic print, 40 x 29-7/8 inches,
1994.
Catherine Opie, Self-Portrait/Nursing,
chromogenic print, 31 inches, 2004.

6. Gran Fury, Kissing Doesn’t Kill: Greed and Indifference Do, printed on
postcards and displayed as billboards and bus posters, 1989.

7. Zoe Leonard, Untitled (detail), installation at Documenta IX, Kassel, 1992.

8. GANG, Read My Lips, xerox poster,
11 x 17 inches, 1992.
Fierce Pussy, Political Greeting
Card Campaign, mailing, 1992.

9. Mary Ellen Strom, Nude No. 5, Eleanor Dubinsky and Melanie
Maar, 53 x 78 inches, video installation, 2004.

10. Kehinde Wiley, Alexander the Great,
oil and enamel on canvas, 6 x 5 feet, 2007.

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.

13. Harmony Hammond, Hunkertime, wood, cloth, gesso, acrylic, rubber, rhoplex, 4
to 5 feet by 20 feet, 1979-1980.

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.