LGBTQIA+ Rights
Only in quite modern times has it been possible for LGBTQIA+individuals to live openly and honestly, embracing their individuality and sexuality without fear of shame or persecution—and then, only in certain countries, and not even everywhere within those countries. The same is true for LGBTQIA+ art, which until recent decades was largely hidden from public view, created in secret, in basements and back rooms, because it was illegal to be LGBTQIA+ in most places in the world, and depictions of same-sex intimacy were often considered to be an obscenity. For artists, queer or otherwise, art is about recognition—of a thought, a vision, an experience, an identity, an idea, or a feeling. It helps the artist express who they are, what they see, and what is in their brains and hearts. In this respect, one way that queer identity has long been suppressed is that it could not be expressed openly in artistic form. Thankfully, with the opening of minds and societies has come a flourishing of LGBTQIA+ art.
That isn’t to say that the LGBTQIA+ art movement is devoid of history. Henry Scott Tuke made his name painting sensual images of men from the 1870s through the 1920s. Pre- and post-World War II, Frida Kahlo was known for having embraced both her masculine and feminine sides and for breaking gender stereotypes in her time. David Hockney is known for his playful depictions of queer domestic lives, some painted as early as the 1960s, with his work presented in galleries and museums across the globe. And in many respects, the first “modern” gay artist was Andy Warhol, who was never ashamed of his queer identity and never tried to hide it despite homosexuality being heavily suppressed in the United States in his time.
These historical influences aside, the recent renaissance of LGBTQIA+ art is unique in its influence and scope. One of the most influential artists in the context of art and gay identity is Robert Mapplethorpe, a seminal figure in the gay community and the arts from the 1970s until his death from complications of HIV/AIDS in 1989. Known for pushing boundaries, Mapplethorpe is credited for helping begin the shift in visual culture from a heteronormative male gaze to a more inclusive take on eroticism. Another LGBTQIA+ artist who found a way to affirm his pride in being gay through his work, much of which revolved around sex and sexuality, is Keith Haring. Since his death in 1990, also of complications of HIV/AIDS, Haring has become an icon not only of LGBTQIA+ art but, indeed, of late-20th Century art writ large.
In the 2000s, Black queer artists have begun to gain recognition long overdue. Mickalene Thomas is a contemporary African-American visual artist best known as a painter of complex works in a variety of styles using rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel. Thomas’s subjects are virtually always women of color, a means by which Thomas empowers the women and celebrates their culture and beauty. And one of the most influential contemporary LGBTQIA+ artists is Kehinde Wiley, who made history with his 2018 portrait of Barack Obama by being the first gay artist to paint a U.S. President’s official portrait. Before his painting of Obama, Wiley had already attained prominence as an artist in his own right through his highly naturalistic paintings of Black people, frequently referencing the works of the old masters.
The community of LGBTQIA+ artists has also expanded in scope and influence. In recent years, there has been a growing number of LGBTQIA+ art festivals, including the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival, the Berlinale queer film festival, and the Queer Arts Fest in Vancouver. These festivals provide a platform for LGBTQIA+ artists to showcase their work and connect with other artists and members of the wider LGBTQIA+ community. Along with these festivals is another pillar of the LGBTQIA+ art community, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York, which in 2016 became “the only dedicated LGBTQIA+ art museum in the world with a mission to exhibit and preserve LGBTQIA+ art and foster the artists who create it.” The museum exclusively features works by LGBTQIA+ artists and has more than 25,000 pieces in its holdings.
For too long, LGBTQIA+ art and artists were shunned, silenced, or ignored. The awakening that LGBTQIA+ art has experienced in recent years is laudatory and inspiring. Justice Murals is proud to help spread the word about LGBTQIA+rights and the artists helping to make those rights a reality.