LGBTQ+ Artists to Check Out!
by Christine Kinori
Some of the best artists to ever set foot on this earth are proud LGBTQ+ members. Faced with so much judgment, prejudice and hate, gay and queer artists are keener than their contemporaries to express themselves to the world. Often LGBTQ+ artists look to show love, light and kindness to a world filled with hate and darkness; the result is a collection of art masterpieces and world famous painters. The following list presents some notable LGBTQ+ artists.
David Hockney
Born in 1937, Hockney has been very expressive of gay love throughout his career. He is an Englishman and one of the most prominent artists of the Pop era. Aside from painting, Hockney has also had notable works in photography, printmaking and drawings. Hockney’s subject matter ranges from still figures to portraits of friends and family and landscape. Hockney is undoubtedly one of the greatest LGBTQ+ artists of all time.
Deborah Kass
American artist Kass boasts knowledge and expertise in various fields. As a contemporary artist, she specialises in mimicking and ridiculing the mainstream representation of women by male artists. Kass aims to address the rights of women to be viewed as more than objects of pleasure in a highly patriarchal society.
Patricia Cronin
Cronin is a fierce LGBTQ+ artist and activist. Her works seek to portray the importance of having a society more tolerant to lesbians and queers in general. She accentuates the essence of feminism in her paintings, sculptures and installations. Her paintings raise valid questions over the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people by a heteronormative society. Cronin further points out the lack of understanding perpetuated by society through traditional gender roles and institutions like marriage.
Mickalene Thomas
Thomas is a renowned African American artist from New York. She creates paintings, collages, photographs and videos using material such as rhinestones and enamel. Thomas uses complex artworks to encapsulate female empowerment, sexuality and gender fluidity. She has won several accolades for her outstanding artistry that accentuates feminism and shuns traditional roles assigned to women. Thomas drew inspiration from modernists like Picasso and Henri Matisse but her style is that of the 60s through to the 80s. Notable events in this socio-politically turbulent era include the Civil Rights Movement and the return of feminism. Thomas’s work has helped shape the direction of the LGBTQ+ movement by questioning and debunking traditional gender roles in society.
Juliana Huxtable
Juliana is a transgender artist. Born as an intersex to a white father and a black mother, she grew up as a boy in the conservative state of Texas. Growing up, Huxtable faced violence and bullying both at home and in school. Her father left her and her mother after they divorced. She struggled with her body as she grew breasts which really left her confused and depressed. Currently, Huxtable is a trans icon in New York with several accomplishments to her name. Her present glorified state juxtaposes her difficult childhood all thanks to the courage she mustered to come out.
About the Author:
Christine Siamanta Kinori grew up in a little village in Kenya known as Loitoktok near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. All she wanted to do when she grew up was to explore the world. Her curiosity led her to join Nairobi University to pursue a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. She later got a job with an amazing travel magazine Nomad Africa which gave her the opportunity to explore Africa. She also writes for numerous travel websites about Africa and tries to create a new narrative in the media about our aesthetic continent.
Christine claims to have somewhat unhealthy addiction to TV and reading, as it is a fun way to keep herself occupied during the long journeys for her travel writing. She is also a believer of letting people be their beautiful selves. To her, love is love and it is the greatest gift we have as humans.
