8/19/2019 Queer Artists in Modern and Contemporary Art

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TOPIC: Queer artists in modern and contemporary art.PURPOSE: To enlighten my audience about how LGBTQ people shaped art andpushed its boundaries.CENTRAL IDEA: Queer artists were at the forefront of modern andcontemporary art movements, and their queerness denitely in!uenced theadvancements they made.

INTRODUCTION:

• "#$ of you said that you had a close friend or family member who

identied as LGBTQ% &'d be willing to bet that many of those people areinvolved in the arts in some way. The arts have often been places ofrefuge for people who don't t within society's boundaries, giving themthe chance to be themselves and embrace who they are, as well asserving as a safe space. (odern and contemporary art are no e)ceptionto this.

MAIN POINT 1: Queer artists were leaders of the modern and contemporary

art movements.

SUBPOINT 1: *ndy +arhol

• ioneer of pop art, also delved into avant garde video and performance

art -*rt and Queer ulture, p. /0"1

• +ell23nown gure, many outside the community were shoc3ed to nd

out he was gay.

SUBPOINT 2: 4ean2(ichel Basquiat

• &nformal gra5ti artist% was e)hibiting his wor3 in galleries and museums

internationally by the 6"0#'s. Basquiat used social commentary in his

paintings as well as attac3s on power structures and systems of racism,

while his poetics were acutely political and direct in their criticism

of colonialism and support for class struggle

• Basquiat was never one to advertise his private life, but his friends and

those close to him have suggested constantly that he was bise)ual. The

suggestive dichotomies -wealth versus poverty, integration versus

segregation1 of his wor3 support this, as does the company he 3ept

-+arhol and 7aring1.

MAIN POINT 2: Their queerness in!uenced their wor3

SUBPOINT 1: Being queer is in itself pushing the boundary, therefore so wastheir art

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_commentaryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(social_and_political)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_criticismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_conflicthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(social_and_political)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_criticismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_conflicthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_commentary

8/19/2019 Queer Artists in Modern and Contemporary Art

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• 8obert (applethorpe's homoerotic wor3 fuelled a national debate over

the public funding of controversial artwor3

•  * museum retrospective of his wor3 was cancelled by the orcoran

Gallery of *rt under pressure from religious and political conservatives in6"0" -*rt and Queer ulture, p. /091

SUBPOINT 2: &f their art gets into the mainstream it can incite huge change

• *lison Bechdel's autobiographical graphic novel un 7ome received

mainstream national attention when it was adapted into a musical andwon the Tony for Best (usical

CONCLUSION:

•  The arts as a safe space for queer people to embrace who they are andtheir struggles is so important and can be an important impetus forsocial change.

http:;;www.theartstory.org;artist2basquiat2