This same year, the UK passes the Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalises homosexual acts in England and Wales, after the publication of the Wolfenden Report, which declared: ‘It is not, in our view, the function of the law to intervene in the private life of citizens.’ Cavafy, which boldly celebrate homosexual love and lust.
Yves Saint-Laurent, one of the first fashion designers of such power he didn’t have to deny his sexuality, democratises fashion with the launch of his ready-to-wear collection, Rive Gauche.ĭavid Hockney publishes a series of prints entitled Illustrations For Fourteen Poems By C.P. After having an affair with theatre director Vivica Bandler, she ‘went over to the spook side’, as she put it, and from then on only had relationships with women. This same year, Susan Sontag publishes her influential essay Notes on ‘Camp’.įinnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson receives the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her contribution to children’s literature, which included the wildly popular Moomins series. While few make it through the whole film, it is a poignant work and significant for its place in the oeuvre of a man who was long considered to be asexual. Arbus, who was bisexual, spent her life documenting marginalised groups - including drag queens - and forging a new relationship between photographer and subject.Īndy Warhol makes the film Sleep, featuring his lover, John Giorno, sleeping naked for five hours and 20 minutes. The first lesbian rights organisation, the Daughters of Bilitis, is founded in San Francisco by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, among others.ĭiane Arbus’s photographs start to be published in leading magazines such as Artforum. Claude Cahun, an artist often associated with the Surrealist movement who played constantly with gender in her work, also dies in 1954. She was extremely open about her sexuality and had multiple affairs with women while at the same time challenging gender stereotypes in her life and work. Despite having married Diego Rivera twice, Kahlo is an important figure for queer art history.
This enables her to receive a new birth certificate and be officially recognised as a woman.Īrtist Robert Rauschenberg divorces his wife and has a brief fling with Cy Twombly before embarking on a relationship with his long-term collaborator Jasper Johns, which would last until 1961.įrida Kahlo dies at the age of 47. Roberta Cowell becomes the first (known) British trans woman to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Gay rights activist Harry Hay establishes America’s first national gay rights organisation, calling it the Mattachine Society. Here we take a look at the last 70 years of queer history and the artists who helped shape it. Artists want to empower fellow creatives who might still struggle with finding acceptance and they want to share a message of hope, love, and support.From Stonewall to Ballrooms, Rauschenberg to RuPaul, the LGBTQ+ community has always played an important role in contemporary art. With this collection, we want to celebrate pride and all the colors of the rainbow that exist in this world. In line with our Magazine Article, you can browse the works of creatives, who shared their personal stories and artworks with us.Įnabling and empowering artists is SINGULART's mission. In this collection, SINGULART wants to highlight artists on our platform who identify with the LGBTQ+ community as well as artworks celebrating pride. Often these creative minds can transform their personal stories or emotional involvement into something bigger, something that will be understood universally. Artists are masters in giving shape to their ideas, dreams, and impressions of the world. Art is often used to express thoughts, feelings, longings, criticism, or emotions.