spotlight LGBT
HISTORY OF ARTS 101
THE THINGS THEY MISSED
We are fortunate to live in a time when there are more and more current, prominent LGBT artists. Whereas the list of “out” musicians, actors, writers and photographers in the past were often brief, now they are gleefully numerous…In fact, with the numbers of Tony Award- winners thanking their life partners (and now, spouses), many have now come to call the Tony’s the “LGBT Awards.” We are positively blessed with the necessity, of reminding ourselves that our current batch of LGBT artists, had predecessors from generations before them…iconic, influential LGBT artists that affected, mentored and paved the way for the abundant crop of current artists. As a part of those rich traditions, modern LGBT historians are finally beginning to develop lengthy syllabi for gay studies courses. Here are a just a few examples of dream classes we’d like to see that pair teachers with subjects for courses you may have missed when you ditched that day of “LGBT arts school.”
by david rudenberg 20 RAGE monthly | APRIL 2016
Teacher: Annie Leibovitz A self-identified lesbian, is inarguably the current reigning
queen of all photography. Talented and erudite, her recentVogue cover of Caitlyn Jenner will clearly be singled out for recogni- tion for this year’s photographs of the year.
Subject: Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989) The list of the most important and influential LGBT photographers would probably have to start and end with Robert Mapplethorpe. What made him so influential? Despite his stunning and often “detached” way of capturing flowers, still lives and celebrities (Andy Warhol, Richard Gere, Peter Gabriel, Grace Jones and Patti Smith), the primary source of Mapplethorpe’s notoriety came from a collection of sexually explicit photographs of New York’s gay community during the 1970s. Never one to shy away from controversy or provocation, Mapplethorpe’s genius was sometimes described as his stark ability to teeter upon, but not overtly moralize about, the duality between what is respectable and what is perverse. For example, in one of his self-portraits, Mapplethorpe depicts one of his hands wearing a dress shirt and watch and the other wearing a black glove with studded bracelet, both writing the word “pictures.” Despite, or because of this stance, his work often led to great controversy, coming to a most notable peak at the posthumous 1989 exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati (The Perfect Moment) that was challenged by local police, created a heated dialogue about art and pornography and, with the help of Senator Jesse Helms, came to drive an important wedge in the argument of government funding of the arts. As controversial after death as he was during his lifetime, Mapplethorpe has become a symbol for artistic freedom. But for many, the controversy has occluded the breadth and nature of his work. A current Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art exhibit (through July 31 of this year) allows viewers 27 years later, the chance to once again wrestle with these challenges. Also, be on the lookout for a studio film version of Mappletho- rpe’s life starring Matt Smith of Doctor Who fame.
PHOTOGRAPHY 101
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