Queer Art Exhibitions: Diverse Inclusion or White, Gay Canon
Session Title
Inclusion and Diversity Across Disciplines
College
College of Visual and Performing Arts
Department
Fine Arts
Faculty Mentor
Brandon Ranallo-Benavidez, Ph.D.; Cheryl Fortner-Wood, Ph.D
Abstract
Are the queer art exhibitions held at major contemporary and modern art museums in the United States truly diverse in their inclusion of queer identified artists or are they simply perpetuating the hegemony of the white, gay, male? The question warrants research as it illuminates gaps in the western art world's attempts of showing progressive, inclusive, and comprehensive standards, practices, and ideals. An intensive survey of ten major U.S. contemporary and modern art museums, their “queer” art exhibitions, the artists represented within each exhibition, and the cumulative intersectional axes attributed to the artists were examined via archival studies and inductive analysis. Within the contexts of this research, “queer” is related to people who do not fall within the white, cisgender, and heterosexual normatives. The findings prove to be anything but progressive or ideal, as analyses reveal marketability, viability, and profitability greatly influence the curatorial practices of inclusion regarding non-normative, non-binary, queer artists. The white, cisgender, gay, male as the emblematic “queer” artist remains the default tokenized attempt of progressive representation by contemporary and modern art institutions. Along with curatorial practices being challenged, a larger theoretical inquiry into who are the gatekeepers of the art world and what established systems within it need to be deconstructed are merited.
Course Assignment
MCNR 300 - Fortner-Wood
Other Presentations/Performances
College Art Association (CAA) 109th Annual Conference, Virtual, February 2021 and National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Virtual, April 2021
Type of Presentation
Oral presentation
Grant Support?
The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program
Queer Art Exhibitions: Diverse Inclusion or White, Gay Canon
Are the queer art exhibitions held at major contemporary and modern art museums in the United States truly diverse in their inclusion of queer identified artists or are they simply perpetuating the hegemony of the white, gay, male? The question warrants research as it illuminates gaps in the western art world's attempts of showing progressive, inclusive, and comprehensive standards, practices, and ideals. An intensive survey of ten major U.S. contemporary and modern art museums, their “queer” art exhibitions, the artists represented within each exhibition, and the cumulative intersectional axes attributed to the artists were examined via archival studies and inductive analysis. Within the contexts of this research, “queer” is related to people who do not fall within the white, cisgender, and heterosexual normatives. The findings prove to be anything but progressive or ideal, as analyses reveal marketability, viability, and profitability greatly influence the curatorial practices of inclusion regarding non-normative, non-binary, queer artists. The white, cisgender, gay, male as the emblematic “queer” artist remains the default tokenized attempt of progressive representation by contemporary and modern art institutions. Along with curatorial practices being challenged, a larger theoretical inquiry into who are the gatekeepers of the art world and what established systems within it need to be deconstructed are merited.
