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Art considered to be "queer" refers to the re-appropriation of the term in the 1980s, which was snatched back from the oppressors to become a celebratory, powerful political to describe the experience of LGTBQ+; gay, lesbian, bisexual. transgender, and intersex people. Queer Art does not have a particular style as it has used photography, portraiture, abstract painting, sculpture, and collage to explore the varieties and depths of queer identity.
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Lempicka's Saint-Moritz (1929) empowers the Queer art and movement through the use of her subject believed to be Ira Perrot, her long-time female lover and recurring muse. Ira Perrot, a French poet, remained in off-again friendship and relationship with Lempicka for decades; the painting quietly, yet powerfully acknowledges the relationship, which existed outside heterosexual marriage conventions. The subjects unique and bold appearance challenge ideas of femininity and gender presentation. -
Lempicka's Young Girl in Green is significant in the Queer movement through her open bisexuality and revolutionary depiction of strong, independent female subjects that subvert the traditional male gaze. The subject is portrayed with such confidence, elegance, strength, and self-possession that embodies the "modern woman" of the era. The painting conveys a sense of sensuality and eroticism appreciated through a female perspective by the emphasis of the subject's curves through her flimsy dress. -
Early Queer employs coded visual language as to not arouse suspicion among the public but allowing those familiar with the tropes the subculture to glean the hidden meaning. In the wake of Stonewall, the Civil Rights protests, and the AIDS epidemic, Queer Art became franker and more political in its subject matter; enforcing its viewers to recognize queer culture and to underscore the institutional inequities and hypocrisy that fueled homophobia.
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Mapplethorpe's Self Portrait (1980) is throwback to the leather subculture, portraying him as a stereotypical "tough guy" with a leather jacket, pompadour, and cigarette. The portrait features his hyper-masculine persona, referencing figures like Marlon Brando (The Wild One) and reflecting his active participation in the leather community. Devoted to the minimal elegance of black and white photography, the medium was used as an agent to explore certain paradoxes and binary relationships. -
Mapplethorpe's Self Portrait (1980) is a two-part of self-portraits that challenge gender binaries, this portrait showcases him in partial drag with dramatic makeup while the other portrays him as the hyper-masculine archetype of a "greaser". Mapplethorpe's contrasts of personas reveal that gender is a social construct, a powerful act of subversion that explored the fluidity between masculinity and femininity; reflection of the broader challenging societal definitions of beauty and identity. -
Haring's Saint Sebastian (1984) portrays the story of Saint Sebastian, a patron saint of queer individuals that paralleled the experiences and fears of the closeted gay community. During the AIDs crisis many artists, including Keith Haring who passed from the disease in 1990, found solace in the saint's association with healing and warding off plague. Saint Sebastian can be viewed as a symbol of the litany of LGBTQ+ individuals who have been murdered or succumbed to HIV/AIDS around the world. -
Mapplethorpe's Sleeping Cupid (1989) is a classical sculpture featuring a sleeping cupid reclining on an elaborately carved base, set against a black background with a white square in the upper left corner of the composition. Adapting the classical subject matter of a sleeping cupid, he connected it to modern homoeroticism, spanning across between historical art and contemporary queer sexuality. The photograph challenged societal norms showcasing homosexuality in a public, respectable manner. -
Haring's Rebel with Many Causes represents Haring's recurring theme of "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" - a criticism of those who would avoid social issues, especially with the AIDS Crisis. The title shows his attitude as both an artist and activist, both identities incorporated into his artwork. Openly gay when it was still considered taboo, he devoted himself to raising awareness of the AIDS crisis (e.g., through the movement ACT UP), when the federal government was slow to act.