I Was Part of 303 Creative's Case. I Back Gay Marriage—but SCOTUS Is Right

Contents:

• I WAS PART OF 303 CREATIVE'S CASE. I BACK GAY MARRIAGE—BUT SCOTUS IS RIGHT
• SHOULD GAY PEOPLE SEEK TO BE SEEN AS ‘NORMAL’?
• ARE GAY MEN ARTISTIC? A REVIEW OF THE LERATURE
• GAY ART
• THE HOE OF GAY ART

I WAS PART OF 303 CREATIVE'S CASE. I BACK GAY MARRIAGE—BUT SCOTUS IS RIGHT

Alexanr Gay Artadm2021-06-09T20:31:18+01:00.

Homosexualy has, for most of history, been a taboo subject. It is only relatively recent tim that the subject of homoeroticism has been able to be addrsed wh any serns at all. Wh the growg acceptance of sexual diversy has e a rethkg of the role played by homosexualy art history.

Christiany disapproved of all erotic art, but particularly anythg that hted at homosexual attractn.

SHOULD GAY PEOPLE SEEK TO BE SEEN AS ‘NORMAL’?

It did not stop the great paters of the Renaissance, many of whom are today acknowledged as gay, om portrayg the sexual allure of famoly, the var versns of St Sebastian’s martyrdom, showg a spicly mcular torso punctured by arrows, achieved inic stat among homosexual admirers who rpond not only to his physil bety, but also to his plight as a tortured, yet steadfast, martyr. Homosexualy as a label, or a mo of inty, did not appear Europe until the 19th century.

ESTIMATE: £18, 000–25, took until the epochal social chang of the 1960s (and specifilly the crimalisatn act of 1967 the UK) for homosexualy to prise self out of the closet, and art acted as both talyst and rerr of the moment. Mapplethorpe picted the sado-masochistic trop of gay sex, not primarily as attempts to outrage the public, but as ntral, if betifully shot, rerds of homosexual activy. By the time of his ath om an AIDS-related illns 1989, the alarmg spread of the disease had bee a clarn-ll for gay artists, rultg the explicly polil art of Keh Harg and the Gran Fury llective.

ESTIMATE: £3, 000–5, the ol gaze of Andy Warhol, meanwhile, the cliched hyper-masculy of gay p-ups was gently ironised: his starkly-l, tightly-cropped Body Builr of 1982 is absurdly out of proportn, an afont to classil ials of manly 21st century has seen a growg acceptance of homosexualy, but only up to a pot. Artists ntue to challenge those who would ny their right to exprs and mentate on their own sexual orientatn, most recently 2010’s "Hi/Seek: Difference and Dire Amerin Portraure” exhibn at the Smhsonian’s Natnal Portra Gallery Washgton DC, which provoked lls for a ngrsnal review of the Smhsonian’s the subject of homoeroticism ntu to make s prence felt the cultural mastream: wns the Brish Mm’s A Ltle Gay History gui, explicly drawg attentn to objects wh homosexual them the llectn.

ARE GAY MEN ARTISTIC? A REVIEW OF THE LERATURE

In the last 50 years alone, Keh Harg’s drawgs have raised awarens for the AIDS crisis of the ’80s; Nan Gold’s hntg photographs of New York’s unrbelly has shed light on the queer muny; Robert Mapplethorpe shocked the public wh his graphic imag of gay sex acts, promptg a revaluatn of bety and propriety.

GAY ART

Thk Ryan McGley’s gay kissg photographs, Juliana Huxtable‘s provotive multi-media work and Wu Tsang’s vio and performance art, to say nothg of J. In the meantime, we’re takg you on a big gay art history tour through bohemian f, funky studs and dty mm basements to retroduce you to some well-known nam that you might not have known were queer. David might not be homosexual, but he’s fely not heteronormative.

There’s murky homoeroticism  the background of an artist’s work, and then there’s “wh the ck your asshole. But he was also bold enough to pat homoerotic and homosocial scen, like Dancg Sailors. It’s a potent and necsary remr that gay love is jt about sex, pecially nsirg how lbian upl have appeared throughout Wtern art history: eroticized, fallen, impure, wchy and bched.

When Robert Rschenberg died 2008, both the New York Tim and the Los Angel Tim “fot” to mentn one mor tail of his life their obuari: he was gay. Pavg the way for Pop, Rschenberg’s work might not openly reference his sexualy like some other artists’, but cric Robert Hugh lled Monogram “one of the few great ins of male homosexual love morn culture.

THE HOE OF GAY ART

And wh that, we’re roundg up our big, gay art world tour. All artwork ©WillGay and ©Disney 2020. AdvertisementSKIP Hamja/The New York TimTo the Edor:Re “As a Gay Man, I’ll Never Be Normal, ” by Richard Man (Opn gut say,, June 25):Mr.

Whether that means walkg a para, or never dog ; whether obvly or imperceptibly genr fluid; whether , out or through the back closet to Narnia; whether normal, abnormal, homogenized or wildly unique. Everyone belongs, and we should have a wi open SenrMarquette, the Edor:Richard Man mak the mistake that untls dividuals have ma equatg heterosexualy wh normaly and beg gay wh … somethg else.

Man, as gay folks, you and I are a distct mory.