It's a Queer World: Art

Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts

Thursday, 6 December 2012

The Photographic Art of George Platt Lynes

George Platt Lynes (1907 – 1955) was an American fashion and commercial photographer. Later in his career, a focus on homoerotic imagery started to take over his photographic life. He had begun in the 1930s taking nudes of his circle of friends and performers, and wsnt on to work with the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, which now holds one of the largest collection of his male nudes.

George Platt Lynes, Gordon Hansen, c. 1952

George Platt Lynes, Male nude with tattoos, 1934.

George Platt Lynes, The Ritter Brothers

George Platt Lynes, Male nude Fire Island, 1952

George Platt Lynes, Mike Miksche 1952

Friday, 30 November 2012

The Art of Konstantin Somov

Thursday, 8 November 2012

The Art of George Quaintance

The Art of Charles Demuth

October 8th is the anniversary of the death of the painter, Charles Demuth, one of the earliest artists in this country to expose his gay identity through forthright, positive depictions of homosexual desire.

"Turkish Bath With Self-Portrait"

Sailors Dancing

Twelve Nude Boys at the Beach

Three Sailors

Monday, 9 July 2012

David Hockney, Artist

b. July 9, 1937

It is very good advice to believe only what an artist does, rather than what he says about his work.

Initially famous for popularizing British pop art in the 1960s, David Hockney grew more influential as he showcased exceptional artistic flexibility. From oil paintings to lithography, photomontage to computer sketch, Hockney demonstrated an uncanny ability to adapt his creative talents to various media. The Hockney exhibit in the National Portrait Gallery in London from October 2006 to January 2007 was one of the Gallery's most successful exhibitions.

Catherine Opie, Photographer

b. April 14, 1961

"Let’s push the boundaries a little bit here about what you guys think normal is."

For over a decade, photographer Catherine Opie has used the power of her lens to create visibility for queer subcultures existing on society's fringes. Her raw and honest photographs challenge viewers to reevaluate notions of sexuality and societal norms. Her groundbreaking work has adorned gallery walls worldwide, including The Guggenheim in New York and The Photographer's Gallery in London.

At the age of 9, Opie decided to become a social documentary photographer after studying the work of Lewis Hine. Inspired by Hine's use of photography as a means to effect social change around child labor, Opie pursued her passion for documenting the world with her camera. At 18, she left her home in Sandusky, Ohio, to study at the San Francisco Art Institute where she received a BFA in 1985. She earned an MFA from California Institute of the Arts three years later.

In 1995, Opie's career gained momentum after her provocative portraits of gay fringe groups appeared at the Whitney Biennial, one of the world’s leading art shows. Images of pierced, tattooed and leather-clad members of Opie's inner circle were presented to the public in a bold and unapologetic fashion. "Looking at her pictures can be uncomfortable," observed The New York Times, "not because of their confrontational content but because they reveal as much about the beholder as the beheld."

In addition to documenting sexual minority communities, Opie photographs landscapes and architecture. In her exhibit "Freeways" (1994-95) she explores the intricacies of Los Angeles's highway system. In "Mini-malls" (1997-98), she reveals the rich ethnic diversity of Southern California's shopping centers. Combining both landscape and portraiture in her series "Domestic," Opie traveled nationwide photographing lesbian couples living together.

Opie is a professor of photography at UCLA. She has received various awards, including the Washington University Freud Fellowship in 1999 and the Larry Aldrich Award in 2004. In 2006, she was awarded the prestigious United States Artist Fellowship.

In an exhibit catalog interview, Opie reflects, "I have represented this country and this culture. And I’m glad that there is a queer, out, dyke artist that’s being called an American photographer."

Bibliography

"Catherine Opie." GuggenheimMuseum.org. 6 July 2010.
"Catherine Opie on Artnet." Artnet - The Art World Online. 6 July 2010.
Sheets, Hilarie M. "Home Views, Bound by Ice or Leather.” 19 May 2010
“Catherine Opie, American Photographer.” The New York Times. 19 May 2010.
"UCLA Faculty." UCLA Department of Art. 19 May 2010.
Wilton, Kris. "Catherine Opie.” ARTINFO. 19 May 2010.

Books of Catherine Opie’s Photography

Catherine Opie: 1999/In and Around Home by Jessica Hough et al (2005)
Catherine Opie: Chicago (American Cities) by Elizabeth Smith et al (2006)
Catherine Opie: American Photographer by Dorothy Allison et al (2008)

Websites

Catherine Opie’s Social Network

Catherine Opie’s Twitter Page

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

The Male Paintings of Marsden Hartley

Christ held by half-naked men

Finnish Sauna

Cannuck Yankee Lumberjack

In 1969, writing in the New York Times, Hilton Kramer praised Hartley's portraits as "the boldest paintings of male figures in the history of American art."

Christ Held by Half-Naked Men (1940-41), Marsden Hartley

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

Emma Stebbins (1815 - 1882 ), US Sculptor and lesbian pioneer.

b. September 1, 1815
d. October 25, 1882

Stebbins was among the first notable American woman sculptors. who lived openly as a lesbian in nineteenth century Rome.

After she moved to Rome she studied under John Gibson an English neoclassicist working there at that time. In Rome she fell in love with actress Charlotte Saunders Cushman, and quickly became involved in the bohemian and feminist lesbian lifestyle, which was more tolerated there than it would have been back in New York.

Cushman was confident, strong, and charismatic, and recently recovering from a break up following a ten-year relationship with the actress Matilda Hays. Cushman and Stebbins began traveling together, immediately taking a trip to Naples. Upon their return, they began spending time in a circle that included African American/Native American sculptor Edmonia Lewis, many celebrities, and fellow lesbians that included Harriet Hosmer.

Stebbins best known work is the Angel of the Waters (1873), also known as Bethesda Fountain, located on the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park, New York. 'Angel of the Waters' was created to celebrate the clean healthful water from New York's Croton Aqueduct, completed in 1842, with an oblique reference to the biblical "healing waters of Bethesda." The fountain complex is widely considered to be one of the great works of nineteenth century American sculpture.