7 contemporary LGBTQIA+ artists you need to know
Art and the LGBTQIA+ Community
Over the centuries, art has been a vehicle for communicating experiences, stories, in addition to being a form of expression of identity, of a person or a culture. In Ancient Greece, unlike other cultures, male sexual attraction was normal and natural. These homoerotic relationships were present in art, whether in poetry or in the plastic arts (vases with sexual acts were often painted).Currently, the LGBTQIA+ community is gradually gaining greater visibility and being more accepted. From the 20th century to the present, several artists have used art as a means of expression to provoke a change in social perception of various themes, such as gender, sexual orientation, identity and the body. Discover in this article, seven artists who conceived, through their identity and artistic production, an increase in the visibility and liberation of the communityLGBTQIA+.
1. Claude Cahun
Claude Cahun was a surrealist photographer whose work explored gender identity and the subconscious. Born in 1894 in Nantes, as Lucy Schwob, but during his lifetime he adopted the name Claude Cahun. He was one of the first artists to fully embrace gender fluidity, long before the term came into use. In his self-portraits, the idea of his attitude and identity is conceived, due to his clothes that do not seem conventionally masculine or feminine, in addition to his defiant and frontal look at the camera. His inspiring work has left a lasting impression on photography and has influenced many contemporary artists such as Cindy Sherman, Gillian Wearing and Nan Goldin. Currently, his works are present in multiple collections of museological institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, among others.
Self-portrait by Claude Cahun
2. Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol was a multidisciplinary artist, known for his artistic production in the American Pop Art movement, in addition to his work as a filmmaker and graphic designer. His works, from Campbell's soup cans, to prints of celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and Elizabeth Taylor, are a critique of the materialism, capitalism and glamor of the 1960s and 1970s. culture gay underground, having frequently produced erotic photographs with male nudes.Andy Warhol continues to this day to be an iconic figure in the history of art and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Picture ofAndy Warhol in drag
3. Keith Haring
Keith Haring was one of the main artists of the Pop Art movement, when he produced images that easily communicated with the general public. After being diagnosed with AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) in 1988, the artist began intensively to promote understanding of this disease through his artistic production. He also founded the Keith Haring Foundation, as a way of educating, predicting and raising awareness about AIDS. Her career was brief due to her illness, but quite intense, continuing to this day to make history with her colourful, provocative and socially conscious images.
Ignorance = Fear / Silence = DeathinKeith Haring, 1989
4. Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer known for his black and white portraits, which express the classic aspects of beauty, from nudes, still lifes or self-portraits. In 1990, there was The Perfect Moment, her first exhibition to be criticized for pornography and obscenity. Although Robert Mapplethorpe disagreed with claims about his photographs being provocative and shocking, his work was criticized, creating a national debate about whether the US government should fund the arts at all. Robert Mapplethorpe's legacy continues to rock the world today, constantly challenging traditional notions and reaffirming the right to free speech.
Self portrait by Robert Mapplethorpe
5. Annie Leibovitz
Over the past forty years, photographer Annie Leibovitz has produced intimate portraits of such diverse figures as Demi Moore, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, among others. His photos reveal a personal side of celebrities' lives, often demonstrating and expressing their vulnerability and sexuality through the artistic nude. One of his most personal and moving works are the portraits of his partner, Susan Sontag. Produced over a period of fifteen years, the portraits vary, thus telling the story of their life together.On both fronts, commercial or personal, Annie Leibovitz sensitizes the public and gives voice to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Self-portrait by Annie Leibovitz
6. Mário Cesariny
The Estado Novo said that there were no homosexuals, but persecuted them. This was the case of Mário Cesariny, one of the most important members of Portuguese surrealism and an unavoidable figure of the 20th century. The artist was arrested several times in raids on urinals and subjected to humiliation by the police. However, in his artistic production,Mário Cesariny had the opportunity to express your dreams and desires intensely. Through his surrealist works, he was conceived a freedom for homosexuality, which ended up influencing the works of subsequent generations.
Picture ofMário Cesariny
7. Zackary Drucker
Zackary Drucker is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans photography, performance, film and installation. Her artistic practice focuses mainly on themes such as the body, sexuality and gender, as well as the hidden aspects of the history of what it is to be transgender, through facts and her own sexual identity. Zackary Drucker and his partner Rhys Ernst have documented their gender transition together through an incredible photo series called relationship. This project offers a fundamental and very intimate insight into such an important process.
relationship by Zackary Drucker