Timeline: ZAP! Art and the Queer Revolution, 1969-present

Chronology of artists, events, shows, writings relevant to ZAP! Art and the Queer Revolution, 1969-present

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Most recent listed first.

2010, November 18-December 30 (forthcoming)

Times Square Arts Center marks the opening of the Thom Simmonds Gallery: "Do Not Be Afraid: Art and Male Sexuality 1977-2010", November 18-December 30, 2010. The gallery is at 300 W. 43rd St., 347-234-0468.

This group exhibition features work by Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Greg Gorman, Thom Simmonds, and Karim Zandieh. There will also be new works by Cyril Georget, Argilano, and Kaola Oty.

2010, November 2

Jonathan D. Katz and David C. Ward. Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture. NY: Random House, November 2, 2010. Book about the exhibit of the same title.

2010, October 30 through February 13, 2011

Jonathan David Katz and David C. Ward, curators: Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institutions. Washington, D.C. The first major museum exhibition to focus on sexual difference in the making of modern American portraiture.

2010, June 11-September 5

Leszkowicz, Paweł , curator. "ARS HOMO EROTICA." Exhibition, The National Museum, Warsaw, Poland. English description on the National Museum site.

YouTube Trailer

Published comment: Michalska, Julia. "Poland’s National Museum champions gay rights. An exhibition on homoeroticism in art, opening this week, has already met with criticism and threats of demonstrations." The Art Newspaper, Issue 214, June 2010. Published online June 8, 2010.

2010, June 4

Ken Johnson. "ART IN REVIEW. Bjarne Melgaard: ‘The Synthetic Slut: A Novel’. New York Times. Review of show at Greene Naftali, in Chelsea, New York City though June 19. Refers to: "Mr. Melgaard’s basic issues, which have to do with rough, interracial gay sex and disgust for the art world’s sociology." Accessed June 11, 2010 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/arts/design/04galleries-2.html

2010, May 11-29

Revealed: The Tradition of Male Homoerotic Art. Leslie/Lohman Gallery, 26 Wooster Street (between Grand & Canal), New York City 10013. (212) 431-2609. www.leslielohman.org Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, Noon - 6pm

From the Leslie/Lohman Gallery:

Robert Mapplethorpe's frank depiction of gay male sexuality both fascinated and shocked viewers when his retrospective exhibition, The Perfect Moment, opened around the U.S. from 1989 to 1990. In the twenty years since then, Mapplethorpe's renown has grown, but his art often elicits the same ambivalent response today. Yet, even Mapplethorpe's most notorious photography shares the same homoerotic intent as the artwork of one of the most revered masters of Western Art, Michelangelo, and of many others.

This exhibition, Revealed: The Tradition of Male Homoerotic Art, not only shows the similarities between Michelangelo and Mapplethorpe; it also asserts an artistic tradition of male homoerotic intent by gathering images of same sex desire that evolved over time from something secretive, suppressed, and suggested into something public, accessible, and explicit.

These paraphrased paragraphs from the curator's essay explain the aim of the exhibition, which first opened at the Central Connecticut State University Art Gallery in New Britain, Connecticut, on March 18, 2010. This landmark exhibition, which offered one of the broadest historical surveys of male homoerotic art ever presented at a public educational institution, now moves on to the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation in New York City.

The viewer experiences a tour de force survey of the homo-sensual, homo-erotic, and homo-sexual male figure, spanning over a hundred years, from the late nineteenth century to the present day.

Robert Mapplethorpe's provocative work from the late 1970s faces the exquisite and elegant photography of George Platt Lynes from the 1940s and 50s, which is also prominently featured in the show.

The rarely seen Sex Parts (1978) by Andy Warhol, of Pop Art fame, mingle with homoerotic artwork by early 20th century masters, including Marsden Hartley, Charles Demuth, Paul Cadmus, Jared French, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Andrey Avinoff, as well as the campy but skillful drawings of Tom of Finland.

Artists who openly explored gay identity in the era from Stonewall to AIDS include James Bidgood, Arthur Tress, Don Herron, Duane Michals, Paul Blanca, Mark Morrisroe, and Keith Haring. Robert Rauschenberg, who also treated homosexual themes in this era but in a much more subtle way, is represented by a photographic print of his one time lover, Jasper Johns (Ruminations series).

Elsewhere, the vintage photographs of Von Gloeden and Plüschow; the classic photography of Horst P. Horst, Hoyningen-Huene, and Minor White; and the beefcake photography of Al Urban, Bruce of L.A., and Bob Mizer, reveal the inspiration and roots for artists such as Stanley Stellar, Herb Ritts, and the young 21st century contributor Mikel Marton, whose work indicates an innovative new direction for homoerotic art.

Finally, fetish meets fashion with Rick Castro and advertising embraces homosexuality with David LaChapelle, both representing a visual culture that extends beyond the traditional confines of the "History of Fine Art."

While the imagery in this exhibition mostly offers a celebration of the sensual male nude and homoerotic expression, a thoughtful and startling art installation by curator Robert Diamond takes us beyond the images and wall text and reminds us of one the exhibition's political undercurrents: a history of suppression and secrecy shaped the development of homoerotic art, and homophobia continues to affect the creative and artistic output of gay artists, as well as their personal lives. It reminds us of the importance of this exhibition, which seeks to break no new ground academically but puts some thirty years of earnest gay art scholarship into mainstream consciousness. Although this is, in some ways, a new era for the representation of gay people in the arts, this exhibition defies the unwillingness at an institutional level to study and showcase gay history or to acknowledge gay presence in visual culture.

Curator Robert Diamond, who admitted that organizing this exhibition was a journey of "defying the odds," concludes his official statement with these words: "If this exhibition reveals more parts of the male anatomy than are usually seen in public exhibitions, it also reveals a need for recognition of and freedom of expression for homosexual artists. I hope the celebratory nature of this exhibition offers much to savor and to reflect on long after leaving the exhibition space."

2010, March 18-April 22

Revealed: The Tradition of Male Homoerotic Art. Central Connecticut State University Art Gallery in New Britain, Connecticut. Guest curator: Robert Diamond.

2010, January 26

"In Between: (re)Negotiating Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality," curated by Emily Yochim, Vika Gardner and Darren Miller. Artist's Talk by Zanele Muholi and Opening Reception, Tuesday, January 26, 7 – 9 PM. Exhibition Dates, 1/26 – 2/16/2010.

Class, race, sexuality, gender and all other categories by which we categorize and dismiss each other need to be excavated from the inside.- Dorothy Allison

In early 2010, we find ourselves in a culture characterized by both profound changes and intense fears. Just a year after President Obama’s inauguration signaled hope and change, new terrorist activity on the United States’ home front has reignited persistent and entrenched fears of “the other” - those whose identities lie somehow outside conventional norms of race, gender, sexuality, class, and nationality. Such fears are frequently soothed by social, cultural, and political practices that seek to define subjectivities as concrete and fixed – as black or white, gay or straight, male or female, good or evil. Still, continued debates about gay marriage, changing demographics signaling the impending “minoritization” of white Americans, globalized media, and the election of our first biracial President each gesture toward a culture in which traditional definitions of identity will simply not work. What’s more, our responsibility as informed and concerned citizens interested in social justice impels us to see the spaces “in between,” to resist the urge to force our fellows into preexisting categories, and to welcome new visions of self and subjectivity.

The artists featured in In/Between urge us to question and challenge lines of identity. Though each of the artists works toward different specific ends, what unites them is a refusal to conform to banal and limiting myths about prevailing systems of political representation, discourse, and their categorized place(s) within those systems. Working from their own personal experiences of gender, sexuality and ethnicity, the artists also blur the lines between art and activism and the personal and political. Compelling and thoughtful work like that featured here in the Allegheny College Art Galleries has affected social and legal reform throughout the world.

If contemporary activist-art-makers stand on the shoulders of those who’ve come before, then they are also stepping forward to create new foundations for social change. In our era, most artists are no longer attached to deconstruction as an end in itself, but are working toward the creation of new identities. Their work helps us to see the gaps in our own understanding and challenges our preconceptions about the other. Gender, sexuality and ethnicities are not simple binaries. We’re all required to recognize and question the complicated ways in which cultural ideological hierarchies (often internalized) serve to distribute power, privilege and opportunity throughout our society. The artwork here serves to remind us that things are not as simple as gay and straight, male and female, us and them. There are many spaces in between.

Emily Chivers Yochim, PhD, Assistant Professor of Communication Arts

Vika Gardner, PhD, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

Darren Lee Miller, Gallery Director / Assistant Professor of Art

http://webpub.allegheny.edu/dept/art/artSite/inbetween.html

2007, January

Michael Petry. "Hidden Histories: The Experience of Curating a Male Same Sex Exhibition and the Problems Encountered." International Journal of Art & Design Education. Volume 26, Issue 1, Pages 119-128. Published Online: 22 Jan 2007 at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118491797/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

2006, March 21-April 29

"The Culture of Queer: A Tribute to J.B. Harter." Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans. Exhibition and Text by David S. Rubin, Curator of Visual Arts. Exhibition and Exhibition Catalogue Published by Contempoary Art Center, New Orleans. (See below 2005, July 23.)

2005, January 28

"Log Cabin." Group show curated by Jeffrey Uslip. Artists Space. New York City. Cited in Rubin, 2005, July 23, p. 9.

Holland Carter. "Art in Review. "Log Cabin." New York Times, January 28, 2005, p. ?. ("a field report on what art with queer identity as a theme is looking like these days." Thirtythree artists, including: Cass Bird, A.A. Bronson. Nayland Blake, Jimmie Durham, Glen Fogel Terence Koh, Wardell Milan, Jonathan Horowitz, Kelley Walker, Ken Gonzales-Day, Matt Lipps, Dean Sameshima, Scott Treleaven and the team of Slava Mogutin and Brian Kenny, Matt Keegan, Benjamin Kress, Glenn Ligon, Mark Verabioff, Jenny Perlin, Allison Smith, Christy Gast, K8 Hardy, and Paul Pfeiffer.) Accessed June 11, 2010 from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E4DF143BF93BA15752C0A9639C8B63&scp=1&sq="Log%20Cabin."%20Artists'%20Space.&st=cse

2005

"Homomuseum." Exit Art, New York City. Cited in Rubin, 2005, July 23, p. 9.

2005, July 23-September 18

"The Culture of Queer: A Tribute to J.B. Harter." Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans. Exhibition and Text by David S. Rubin, Curator of Visual Arts. Exhibition and Exhibition Catalogue Published by Contempoary Art Center, New Orleans. (See above 2006, March 21.)

2004

Weinberg, Jonathan. Male Desire: THe Homoerotic in American Art. NY: Harry N. Abrams, 2004.

2004 "neoqueer." Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle. Cited in Rubin, 2005, July 23, p. 9.

2004

"Body Commodities/Queer Packaging." Works, San Jose, California. Cited in Rubin, 2005, July 23, p. 9.

2004, May-July

"Hidden Histories: 20th century male same sex lovers in the visual arts," an exhibition and book by Michael Petry. The New Art Gallery Walsall, West Midlands, UK. Artmedia Press, London, May 2004. See also: Petry, Michael, 2007, January.

Abstract: "Hidden Histories was the first international historical survey of its kind to examine the lives and work of male artists in the 20th century who were same sex lovers. It comprised a curatorial project within The University of Wolverhampton, an exhibition at The New Art Gallery Walsall and a publication by Artmedia Press. This text looks at issues that arose in the production of the project which included a change of name from Mad About the Boy, ethical concerns, and censorship by the local council."

Hidden Histories did not contend there was a queer, gay or same sex aesthetic connecting the work of the surveyed artists. It did not 'out' anyone – all the information presented existed in the public domain. Hidden Histories documented how male artists' work was affected by evolving attitudes to homosexuality. Its thesis (the arch of openness) describes how public attitudes changed throughout the 20th Century; from prohibition in the late Victorian Period, to begrudging tolerance in the inter-wars years; from relative openness post WWI, to outright homophobia during the Cold War; and from decriminalisation in the West (following the Stonewall Riots), to stigma in the AIDS era. Hidden Histories was premised on the inter-dependence of same sex and dominant cultures, and demonstrates that irrespective of legal or societal prohibitions, same sex lovers continued to make a rich and varied contribution to artistic dialogue.

2002, July 14

Carter, Holland. "ART/ARCHITECTURE; Everything About Warhol But the Sex." New York Times, Sunday, July 14, 2002, Section 2, p. 1. Review of Andy Warhol Retrospective, a career survey on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, organized by the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, and previously seen at the Tate Modern in London."So what's missing? Sex. Not eroticism -- everything Warhol did feels erotic -- but representations of actual sex, physical sex."

Cotter also reviews: The Forbidden Eakins: The Sexual Politics of Thomas Eakins and his Circle, a forum held in New York in June 2002, to coincide with the opening of the Eakins retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; sponsored by the State University of New York, Stony Brook, not the Met. "Although the question of homosexuality and Eakins, who was the most important American artist of the second half of the 19th century, has been in the air for years, almost no one has tackled it head-on until now." Includes photos: Andy Warhol's Dick Tracy (1960) and James Dean (1955), in the Los Angeles retrospective. Warhol later revealed that Tracy had been an erotic turn-on for him in childhood. (Photographs courtesy of Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/Artists Rights Society [ARS], New York)(pg. 32); Self-Portrait, by Andy Warhol, age 14. (Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/Artists Rights Society [ARS])(pg. 1)

2002, June 24

Conference: "The Forbidden Eakins: The Sexual Politics of Thomas Eakins and His Circle. Stony Brook Manhattan. Panel Participants: Martin Berger, SUNY, Buffalo; Deborah Bright, Rhode Island School of Design; Jennifer Doyle, University of California, Riverside; Michael Hatt, University of Nottingham in England; Michael Moon, Johns Hopkins University; James Smalls, University of Maryland at Baltimore; Jonathan Weinberg, Senior Fellow in-residence, the Getty Museum; Moderator: Jonathan David Katz, Stony Brook University.

2002, June

Thomas Eakins exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

2002, October 11

Holland Carter, "ART REVIEW; Two Nods to Feminism, Long Snubbed by Curators." New York Times, Friday, October 11, 2002. Reviews Personal and Political: The Women's Art Movement, 1969-1975 at Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, Long Island, New York, organized by Simon Taylor and Natalie Ng, and Gloria: Another Look at Feminist Art in the 1970's, at White Columns, West Village, New York, curated by Catherine Morris and Ingrid Schaffner.

This review mentions Harmony Hammond's Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History (Rizzoli, 2000), and says: "Clearly here's a subject that needs a full-fledged museum survey of its own. So does the topic of the countless male artists, gay and straight, whose work has been influenced, if not directly shaped, by three decades of feminist art. I trust that alert young curators, critics and art historians are already on the case. And maybe, in the process of getting history told right, they can reconnect feminism to its revolutionary roots." Includes Photos: Works by Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Hannah Wilke and Martha Rosler at Gloria: Another Look at Feminist Art in the 1970's. (White Columns)

2001

Jonathan Weinberg. Ambition and Love in Modern Art (Yale Press 2001)

2001, September

Koestenbaum, Wayne. Andy Warhol. NY: Viking, 2001. Random House Audio. ISBN: 978-1-4159-1141-9 (1-4159-1141-X). October 23. 2001.

2000

Martin Berger. Man Made: Thomas Eakins and the Construction of Gilded Age Manhood (University of California Press, 2000).

2000

Harmony Hammond: "Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History," 2000

2000, August 3

Michael O'Sullivan. "Romaine Brooks: Sex and the Sitters. The Washington Post, August 3, 2000.

1998, June 5

Holland Carter. "ART REVIEW; The Streets of a Crumbling El Dorado, Paved With Poetry and Desire," curated by Dan Cameron, senior curator of the New Museum, and Barry Blinderman, director of the University Galleries of Illinois State University. New York Times, Friday, June 5, 1998, E 35. Reviews Sweet Oblivion: The Urban Landscapes of Martin Wong at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, 583 Broadway, near Prince Street, SoHo, New York City. Photo: Sweet Oblivion (1983), one of Martin Wong's Lower East Side paintings. (New Museum of Contemporary Art) "The flowering of art in the East Village in the mid-1980's was brief and uneven, but rich . . . . An explicitly gay art emerged in the work of figures like Arch Connelly, Keith Haring, Nicholas Moufarrege and David Wojnarnowicz," as well as Chinese-American artist Martin Wong.

1998

Deborah Bright, ed. The Passionate Camera: Photographies and Bodies of Desire (Routledge 1998).

1997

David Joselit, Identity Politics: Exhibiting Gender Art in America, January, 1997.

1996

Jennifer Doyle, co-editor. Pop Out: Queer Warhol. Duke University Press, 1996.

June 28 – August 23, 1996. Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, Washington. Gender, fucked. Group exhibition including works by Catherine Opie, Nicole Eisenman, Deborah Kass, Elise Dodeles, etc. Curated by Harmony Hammond and Catherine Lord. Exhibition catalog published by Center on Contemporary Art with support from Bay Press, Books on Contemporary Culture, Seattle, Washington. June 1996.

1995

In a Different Light: Visual Culture, Sexual Identity, Queer Practice. Exhibit at the University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, curated by Nayland Blake, Lawrence Rinder, Amy Scholder.

Catalog citation: Blake, Nayland, Lawrence Rinder, Amy Scholder, eds. In a Different Light: Visual Culture, Sexual Identity, Queer Practice. San Francisco: City Lights Books. (This sums up the history of LGBTQ art shows up to 1995 and documents this exhibit at the University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley. Works in this show were divided into themes headed with the following words: Void, Self, Drag, Other, Couple/Family, Orgy, World, Utopia)

1993

Jonathan Weinberg. Speaking for Vice: Homosexuality in the of Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley and the First American Avant-Garde (Yale Press, 1993).

1992

June 12 – July 28, 1992. Trial Balloon 2 Gallery, New York, NY. Part Fantasy. Including drawings by Nicole Eisenman, Daphne Fitzpatrick, G. B. Jones, Elise Dodeles, etc. Exhibition catalog with an essay by Faye Hirsch and an introduction by Nicola Tyson published in July, 1992.

1991, February

Visible for a Change: Contemporary Lesbian Artists, U.S.A., Harvard University.

The slide-show installation Visible for a Change was organized to display the diversity of work by women artists who identify as “lesbian artists.” The show was the second event in the Women’s Studies’ colloquium series, “Women, the Arts, and Politics.” Carrie Alyea, Jill H. Casid, María DeGuzmán, and Marti Hohmann collaboratively wrote the brochure, designed the installation, organized the slide show, facilitated discussions to explore important issues pertaining to the exhibit, and set up a permanent archive at the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, Harvard University of the slides and written materials which were submitted to form a permanent resource for students and researchers.

1991

November 2 – 29, 1991. ABC No Rio, New York, NY. Out and Exposed.

April 20 – May 19, 1991. District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington, D.C. Are you now, or have you ever been..., Group exhibition curated by Andrew J. Mellen.

Articles in the popular gay press concerning the above exhibitions--

David Hirsh, Out and Exposed, ABC No Rio Showcases the Next Generation of Artists, New York Native, October 28, 1991.

David Hirsh, Out Art Bears Fruit, San Francisco Bay Area Reporter, November 14, 1991.

1990

The Leslie Lohman Gay Art Foundation, named in honor of its two founders Fritz Lohman and Charles Leslie, is established as a non-profit arts cultural institution "to be a safe haven for that art which is often excluded from mainstream exhibitions and textbooks and looked upon as taboo or less than important . . ."

1989, June 12

The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., announces the cancelation of a retrospective of Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs because it did not want to "adversely affect the NEA's congressional appropriations. The Washington Project for the Arts later hosted the Mapplethorpe show. This action was highly criticized and in September, 1989, the Director of the gallery, Christina Orr-Cahall, issued a formal statement of apology.

1988

"Against Nature: A Group Show of Work by Homosexual Men." Los Angles Contempary Exhibitions.

1982, October 16-December 30

Extended sensibilities : homosexual presence in contemporary art. New Museum, New York City.

Artists: Charley Brown, Scott Burton, Craig Carver, Arch Connelly, Janet Cooling, Betsy Damon, Nancy Fried, Jedd Garet, Gilbert & George, Lee Gordon, Harmony Hammond, John Henninger, Jerry Janosco, Lili Lakich, Les petites bonbons, Ross Paxton, Jody Pinto, Carla Tardi, Fran Winant

Guest Curator: Daniel J. Cameron

Publication Data: Bib ID 2813372

Format Book

Description New York : The New Museum, c1982.

60 p. : ill. ; 21 x 23 cm.

Notes: Catalogue of the exhibition held at the New Museum, October 16-December 30, 1982. Includes bibliographical references.

Subjects: Homosexuality in art - Exhibitions. | Art, Modern - 20th century - United States - Exhibitions. Other authors/contributors Cameron, Daniel J | New Museum (New York, N.Y.)

1979, August-1980

The Great American Lesbian Art Show (GALAS), Women's Building, Los Angeles, and at venues across the United States.

1978, January 21-February 11

"A Lesbian Show," 112 Green Street Workshop, New York City.

1977, Fall

Heresies: "Lesbian Art and Artists," Fall 1977

1973, Summer

Louis Fulgoni designs poster for Jonathan Ned Katz's play "Coming Out!" in its revival in Chelsea, New York City.

1971, May 16-22

Private exhibition (by appointment only) in the Leslie-Lohman loft at 131 Prince Street, 4th floor. "Participants: Work by David Hockney, Fritz Andre Kracht, Paul Cadmus, Donald Bell, Avel de Knight, Miguel Valdesberea, Regis Dho, Ricardo Monroy."

Before the Stonewall Resistance

1969, May

Private exhibition (by appointment only) in the Leslie-Lohman loft at 131 Prince Street, 4th floor. "Charles Leslie & Fritz Lohman used their address books and simply called people telling them of the event. Due to the overwhelming response it was extended for an additional weekend." Accessed April 5, 2010, from Leslie Lohman Gay Art Foundation website: http://leslielohman.com/GalryHis/hist69.html

1968, May 3 - July 31

The First International Exhibition of Erotic Art was an erotic art expo held in Lund's Konsthall, Lund, Sweden and afterward in Arhus Kunstmuseum Arhus, Denmark September 7 - Oct 27, 1968. It was curated by Phyllis and Eberhard Kronhausen.

To be added to chronology:

Bibliography, listed in chrono order where dates are available.

Year month day? Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS). Conferences.

References

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