The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts

edited by Claude J. Summers

 

The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts

Claude J. Summers, ed.

Cleis Press Inc.

 

 

A distinctly queer presence permeates the history of the visual arts - from Michelangelo’s “David” and homoerotic images on ancient Greek vases to Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits and the photography of Claude Cahun and Robert Mapplethorpe. From the editors of www.glbtq.com, The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts, edited by Claude J. Summers, showcases the enormous contribution of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer artists to painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, sculpture and architecture.

The easy-to-use, 373-paged, culturally-inclusive, illustrated volume, provides 200 in-depth, critical analyses of major figures, as well as bibliographies to guide further study.

Did you know F. Holland Day (1864-1933) was “an American intellectual, publisher and aesthete and belonged to a small, international group of early gay photographers of the male nude?”

What about Donatelle (1386 or 1387-1466), who was “the most inventive, prolific sculptor of the early Renaissance. ... His varied oeuvre includes figures of beautiful male youths imbued with homoerotic sensuality.”

Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989) “became one of the most important black photographers of the late 20th century, exploring in his work themes of racial and sexual identity.”

British artist Dorothy Hepworth (1898-1978) may have produced most of the art sold under the name of her partner and collaborator Patricia Preece (1900-1971), which received major attention between the World Wars.

The artists who are still with us, are included, as well. For example,

Della Grace (b. 1957) “is one of the instigators of polymorphous perverse queer culture. Her work questions the performance of gender on several levels, especially the performance of masculinity by lesbians.”

Philip Johnson (b. 1906) is “known both for promoting the International Style in the United States and for helping to define postmodern architecture ... he has had an uncanny ability to sense new trends and to adapt his style to those trends. ... While never completely hiding his long-term relationship with curator David Whitney, which began in 1960. Johnson did not publicly come out as gay until 1994 ...”

In addition to biographies, this encyclopedia provides short essays on many topics, including Subjects of the Visual Arts, from Androgyny to Vampires; AIDS Activism in the Arts; Artistic Movements; Cross Dressing; Censorship; Erotica; Transsexualism, and Photography.

The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts, called “Encyclopedia Britanniqueer,” by The Advocate magazine, is a meal of a book. Dine on it soon.

(as published by Family & Friends Magazine, September 2004, by Anita Moyt, editor)