Queer Art

By csalazar81
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    Queer Art Movement

    The Queer art movement is a movement that gave power to people who identified as queer via expression through artistical means. Though they faced severe censorship and punishment, this did not deter anyone.
  • Romaine Brooks, Le Trajet (The Crossing), 1911, oil on canvas, 45 3/8 x 75 3/8 in, Smithsonian American Art Museum

    Romaine Brooks, Le Trajet (The Crossing), 1911, oil on canvas, 45 3/8 x 75 3/8 in, Smithsonian American Art Museum

    Brooks' Le Trajet or The Crossing (1911) is a portrait of Brooks' lover at the time, Ida Rubenstein. Since the woman laying is the primary focus of the painting, the viewer is essentially forced to think about the lesbian love Brooks had for Ida.
  • Romaine Brooks, Miss Natalie Barney "L'Amazone", 1920, oil on canvas, 86.5 x 65.5 cm, Collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum

    Romaine Brooks, Miss Natalie Barney "L'Amazone", 1920, oil on canvas, 86.5 x 65.5 cm, Collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum

    Brooks' Miss Natalie Barney "L'Amazone" (1920) is a portrait of Natalie Barney, a woman whom Brooks had a romantic relationship with for 50 years. In the portrait there is a horse, symbolizing the raw and untamed nature of the horse, in addition to the powerful people that were on horseback. "L'Amazone", translating to the Amazons, has important meaning because the Amazons were a tribe of women that were warriors, aggressive and powerful.
  • Keith Haring, Untitled, 1985, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

    Keith Haring, Untitled, 1985, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

    One of many of Haring's works without a title, Untitled (1985) is a clear depiction of the oppression that the queer people were feeling due to the lack of rights towards them.
  • Keith Haring, Boxers,1988, sculpture, polyurethane paint on aluminum, 46.5 x 33 x 22 in

    Keith Haring, Boxers,1988, sculpture, polyurethane paint on aluminum, 46.5 x 33 x 22 in

    Haring's sculpture titled Boxers (1988) shows two figures (likely males) having an arm go through their head and their lower abdomen/genital area. This symbolizes that they are connected mentally and physically; showing that love has no bounds.
  • Hugh Steers, Blue Dress, 1992, oil on canvas, 72 x 60 in

    Hugh Steers, Blue Dress, 1992, oil on canvas, 72 x 60 in

    Steers' Blue Dress (1992) shows a man in a blue dress and in high heels. This implies that the man in the mirror aligns with an identity that was not assigned to him at birth.
  • Hugh Steers, Hand, 1994, oil on canvas, 60 x 46 in

    Hugh Steers, Hand, 1994, oil on canvas, 60 x 46 in

    Steers' Hand (1996) shows two men undergoing an intimate moment in what appears to be a dim apartment. The mostly closed blinds of the windows in the background plus assumed nighttime due to the light coming through the windows gives the painting a feeling of secrecy, largely due to homosexual relationships being shunned still during this time.