Queer Lives and Art

Highlights
Artworks
Artists
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Highlights

5 LGBTQ Art Stories

Join Olly Pike as he explores LGBTQ+ artists, their wonderful worlds and artworks
Sin Wai Kin: 'I want people to exist in my world'

Get to know the artist who uses science fiction, drag and fantasy to deconstruct binary social narratives
Five Stories of Queer Artists

Discover five important stories of queer love and relationships told through art

Artworks

Duncan Grant Bathing

1911

On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art
Lubaina Himid CBE RA Ankledeep

1991
Sunil Gupta Untitled from the series Reflections of the Black Experience

1986, printed 2010

View by appointment
Zanele Muholi ID Crisis

2003

View by appointment
Cy Twombly Untitled (Bacchus)

2008
Robert Mapplethorpe Smutty

1982
Nan Goldin Misty and Jimmy Paulette in a taxi, NYC

1991
Gilbert & George Thirst

1982
Derek Jarman Ataxia - Aids is Fun

1993
Gwen John Nude Girl

1909–10
Brassaï Young Lesbian at Monocle

1932, printed later

View by appointment
Marie Laurencin The Fan

c.1919
Marlow Moss Composition in Yellow, Black and White

1949

Artists

Claude Cahun

1894–1954
Gwen John

1876–1939
Dora Carrington

1893–1932
David Hockney

born 1937
Cy Twombly

1928–2011
Robert Mapplethorpe

1946–1989

Quotes on the Queer Experience

If I have to change my lifestyle, I don't want to live.

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe
*Self Portrait* (1988)
ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland

© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation

Zanele Muholi
*Flesh II* (2005)
Tate

© Zanele Muholi

If I wait for someone else to validate my existence, it will mean that I’m shortchanging myself.

Zanele Muholi

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol
*Self-Portrait* (1986)
Tate

© 2023 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by DACS, London

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Queer Cornwall

Discover the stories of Marlow Moss, Gluck and Ithell Colquhoun, three LGBTQIA+ trailblazers who made their home on the Cornish coast
A Queer Little History of Art: Bathing

Discover a queer reading of art history through Duncan Grant’s Bathing
Susan Calman on queer role models, art and progress

The Scottish comedian discusses why the gay rights movement is still so important today
Sunil Gupta: 'Being in the dark room is healing’

The photographer talks about how his work in the dark room helped him deal with his HIV positive diagnosis
Sorry, no image available

Rotimi Fani-Kayode – Desire In Exile

Mark Sealy

Rotimi Fani-Kayode arrived in Brighton aged 11 in 1966, having fled Nigeria’s civil war. After coming out as gay, he left the UK and studied fine art and photography at New York’s Pratt Institute. Returning to the UK in the mid 1980s, he began exhibiting his complex and emotionally raw work
Audio Description: Everything Else Has Failed! Don't You Think It's Time For Love?

Listen to and watch an in-depth visual description of this artwork by Sharon Hayes
Queer Lives: Channel 4 Random Acts

Watch six films, each providing glimpses into the lived experience of six individuals
Thinking about gender and bodies

Find ways to structure discussions and activities to explore identity and gender
BBZ x Abondance Matanda

Hear BBZ, a collective for queer people of colour, in discussion with the up and comer they most admire
Zanele Muholi: ‘In My World, Every Human is Beautiful’

Hear how the power of images can show LGBTQIA+ people worldwide that they are not alone
How Muholi is affirming beauty

Explore this visual-activist's practice through three photographic series

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Black Identities and Art

Discover Black art and artists in Tate's collection
Wellbeing and Art

Explore mindfulness through the art and artists within Tate's collection
Women and Art

Explore the stories and achievements of women artists and their contributions to the art world
Disability and Art

Explore how artists have portrayed the range of human ability through their art
Migration and Art

Explore how artists reflect on moving to new places

Discover LGBTQ+ artists and art

Highlights

Artworks

Duncan Grant Bathing

Lubaina Himid CBE RA Ankledeep

Sunil Gupta Untitled from the series Reflections of the Black Experience

Zanele Muholi ID Crisis

Cy Twombly Untitled (Bacchus)

Robert Mapplethorpe Smutty

Nan Goldin Misty and Jimmy Paulette in a taxi, NYC

Gilbert & George Thirst

Derek Jarman Ataxia - Aids is Fun

Gwen John Nude Girl

Brassaï Young Lesbian at Monocle

Marie Laurencin The Fan

Marlow Moss Composition in Yellow, Black and White

Artists

Quotes on the Queer Experience

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