Gay sculptors
Some LGBTQA+ artists have achieved world-renowned fame: Tom of Finland, David Hockney, Claude Cahun, and Glück, to name a few. However, there are many others whose work is less well-known but who provide important glimpses into the lives and struggles of their community. These artists showcase the sexual, secretive, radical/political, and heart wrenching-moments that many, if not all, members in the community have experienced. Moreover, there is still a stigma that clouds over both LGBTQA+ artists and the art itself. Fortunately, here at Thomas J. Watson Library, we accumulate an encyclopedic and comprehensive collection of materials on the history of art in the world. Our online catalogue provides a great starting place to find an ample amount of materials to examine LGBTQA+ art. Here are a few to acquire you started!
Jarrett Key is a Brooklyn-based visual designer. In his artist's guide Trans (see above), Key explores signs and symbols with relation to trans and gender identities and public restrooms.
Zanele Muholui is a South African creator whose photobook, Faces and Phases, presents portraits of black lesbian women, trans-men, and gay men, who are resisting
Out West: Gay and Lesbian Artists in the Southwest 1900-1969
Out West surveys the work of same-sex attracted and lesbian artists in the American Southwest from the early twentieth century through the Stonewall Riots of 1969, when the face of queer inclusion changed dramatically in the United States. While some artists built lives for themselves in states less welcoming to queer people, other areas, including northern New Mexico promised independence and a sense of community denied to them elsewhere. Queer communities played a significant role in developing the art communities throughout this region, although this influence is rarely acknowledged. Yet even in the most open communities, the impact of these early queer artists has yet to be fully recognized. In his engaging memoir Unbuttoned: Gay Existence in the Santa Fe Art Scene, Walter Cooper laments: “So much of our queer history has been swept under the rug, it’s almost as if we never existed. People tend to underrate or ignore ‘the gay factor,’ the enormous impact gay folk have made on New Mexico’s one-of-a-kind cultural life.”
Out West recognizes the contributions of gay and lesbian artists to the history of
About
Artist Statement
I sculpt what I would have liked to have seen in my youth.
The beauty of male love. His strength, his tenderness. Couples of fresh men, a tender gesture, the sweetness and charm of a face, a gesture of love - or sometimes more teasing.
And also the expression of desire through the body: the neck line, the power of a muscular back, a chiseled torso. Eroticism sometimes suggested. This masculine tenderness has been expressed very well by the artist Steve Walker.
I try to express this sensuality in 3 dimensions, with a focus on couples. My sculptures are made of stone, clay and bronze, and born of a memory, a pose seen, a sketch. Sometimes I invoke mythology, as with Icarus, or a more abstract or symbolic thought, as the hand with a cube. My intention is to offer or recall an sentiment, a lived moment. And to bring some beauty in this world.
About the artist
My family includes a few artists, and my paternal grandfather was block to committed and 'open minded' writers and artists. I had a silent admiration for these and other artists, the way they lived their lives, the solitude and quietness of their research, their work, observed during stu
Indeed, while Glass, age 19, does consider himself a member of the University of Brighton’s Young Gay Artist collective, he is skeptical of the group’s impact, and even expresses slight indifference on its purpose for existence. Glass says “I don’t think we [the Young Gay Artist group] have any sort of voice at the moment, and I’m not sure that we need one… there’s segregation [in being a gay artist] which is just natural, but it’s not necessarily a negative thing”.
Glass’
sculptures
embody
his
open‐ended
approach
towards
his
sexual
identity
in
his
art.
Made
in
groups
of
two,
with
each
couple
approximately
under
a
foot
tall,
Glass’
figures
depict
male
same‐sex
pairs
in
physical
contact
with
each
other,
including
men
with
linked
hands
and
pairs
embracing.
While
Glass
states
that
“the
initial
figures
were
two
men,
holding
hands”,
he
disavows
any
intent
or
commentary
on
queer
life.
“I
didn’t
have
any
idea
what
I
was
doing
when
I
first
started
[making
the
pairs]…I
just
wanted
to
make
these
stupid
little
[f
.