TOPIC: Queer artists in modern and contemporary art.

PURPOSE: To enlighten my audience about how LGBTQ people shaped art and
pushed its boundaries.
CENTRAL IDEA: Queer artists were at the forefront of modern and
contemporary art movements, and their queerness definitely influenced the
advancements they made.
INTRODUCTION:
90% of you said that you had a close friend or family member who
identified as LGBTQ; Id be willing to bet that many of those people are
involved in the arts in some way. The arts have often been places of
refuge for people who dont fit within societys boundaries, giving them
the chance to be themselves and embrace who they are, as well as
serving as a safe space. Modern and contemporary art are no exception
to this.
MAIN POINT 1: Queer artists were leaders of the modern and contemporary
art movements.
SUBPOINT 1: Andy Warhol
Pioneer of pop art, also delved into avant garde video and performance
art (Art and Queer Culture, p. 389)
Well-known figure, many outside the community were shocked to find
out he was gay.
SUBPOINT 2: Jean-Michel Basquiat

Informal graffiti artist; was exhibiting his work in galleries and museums
internationally by the 1980s. Basquiat used social commentary in his
paintings as well as attacks 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 bisexual. The
suggestive dichotomies (wealth versus poverty, integration versus
segregation) of his work support this, as does the company he kept
(Warhol and Haring).

MAIN POINT 2: Their queerness influenced their work

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

Robert Mapplethorpes homoerotic work fuelled a national debate over

the public funding of controversial artwork
A museum retrospective of his work was cancelled by the Corcoran
Gallery of Art under pressure from religious and political conservatives in
1989 (Art and Queer Culture, p. 386)

SUBPOINT 2: If their art gets into the mainstream it can incite huge change
Alison Bechdels autobiographical graphic novel Fun Home received
mainstream national attention when it was adapted into a musical and
won the Tony for Best Musical
CONCLUSION:
The arts as a safe space for queer people to embrace who they are and
their struggles is so important and can be an important impetus for
social change.

http://www.theartstory.org/artist-basquiat-jean-michel.htm
Art and Queer Culture, Phaidon Press