Newly opened Kim & Gupta Gallery in the Lower East Side in New York, came out the gates with its Oh! You assemblageurs show. Curator and artist Anthony Cudahy offers a compelling answer: the artist is an accumulator and a connector. Rather than forcing strict order onto an irrational world, queer art practices often rely on assembly—gathering forgotten fragments, memories, and physical objects to construct new meaning.
Few contemporary practices capture this spirit of queer art and archiving as intimately as Bobby Walsh.
Working at the intersection of ceramic sculpture and visual archiving, Walsh’s work isn’t about rigid historical preservation. It’s about intuition, tender curation, and the deep-seated impulse to hold onto things that others have discarded.
The Instinct to Collect and Connect
While traditional collecting focuses on market value or rarity, Walsh’s process centers on emotional resonance and kinship. Sourcing discarded snapshots from photo fairs and eBay, he chooses images based purely on personal pull: forgotten portraits, historical medical documentation, and quiet domestic moments. By rescuing these lost artifacts, he performs a vital act of queer lineage-making, giving anonymous figures a permanent, celebrated space to be remembered.
On view at Kim & Gupta Gallery until September 5. Link
Featuring Tyler Akers, Amanda Barker, Jenna Beasley, Hannah Beerman, E.E. Ikeler, Ian Lewandowski, Miguel Martinez, Steven Thompson, Bobby Walsh, and Lily Wong.
Photography by our queertographer David Buritica @david__buri.
Support Pride all 365 days: want your queer art event or exhibition featured by QUeer Art Hub? Submit your news to make a public posting on our Community Classifieds here!
Redefining Hospitality: Hotel Park Avenue x Lore Group Commission
In June, Queer Art Hub partnered with international design and hospitality group Lore Group for an exclusive commission at Hotel Park Avenue. Pride Month this year proved that unconventional spaces can serve as powerful, inclusive ways to access and share queer art.
The collaboration resulted in a public art piece created by multidisciplinary queer creator Kimm Topping. ‘Hopeful Horizon’ (2026, digital) is a colorful illustration that combines the colors of the rainbow with a golden sunset, offering a compelling visual for both pedestrians and hotel guests.
The commission was on view until mid-July at 444 Park Ave S, New York, NY.
Kimm Topping (they/them) is a Brooklyn-based collage and illustration artist bridging historic places, faces, and events with contemporary ideas, currently serving as the artist-in-residence at the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center.
Kimm is also an educator, writer, and historian dedicated to preserving LGBTQIA+ history through their book, Generation Queer (Lee & Low Books, 2025), and as a guide for feminist and queer history tours. Their work has been recognized by the Publishing Triangle, the Curve Power List (2025), Queer History Boston, and the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.
As corporate Pride Month winds down, Queer Art Hub is issuing a critical call-to-action to corporate partners, businesses and institutions to invest in queer artists and queer art 365 days a year.
Support Pride all 365 days: reach out to discuss any upcoming campaigns, events, commissions and collaboration opportunities with queer artists by partnering with us. See Dear Queer Artists’ services here.
Brooklyn Pride just reached a massive milestone, celebrating 30 incredible years of love, resistance, and community. To kick off this historic anniversary season in true style, the Queer Art Hub team rolled out to Bushwick’s neon retro haven,Xanadu Roller Arts, for a skate and dance party.
As part of a curated partnership for the 30th-anniversary celebration, we had the distinct privilege of selecting and featuring Brooklyn’s own artistic force Luis Martin (@artengineer) as our official spotlit artist for the event.
If you couldn’t make it to the rink, Queer Art Hub’s team caught the electric, fast-moving energy of the celebration perfectly in a new video interviewing Luis Martin:
During the event, we caught up with the artist to chat about his philosophy on creativity, community, and what tracks keep his studio moving. Here are the top takeaways from our exclusive chat with the “Art Engineer” himself:
Advice for Emerging Queer Artists: When it comes to building or finding your people, Martin’s message is simple: start where you are. Community rarely looks like what you expect, so stay open to who shows up—the creative medicine you are serving might just be exactly what someone else needs.
Engineering a Beautiful Life: The title “Art Engineer” is entirely self-made. Martin adopted it because engineering commands respect, recognizing that through his art process, he could actively architect a beautiful life for himself in New York City and beyond.
The Soundtrack of the Studio: If his creative studio were transposed onto a roller rink, the vibe would pivot between the atmospheric blues of Mazzy Star’s Fade into You or Sade, balanced out by switching gears into Madonna’s Into the Groove to keep the energy high.
Whether he’s hosting his Collage Dream workshops, publishing the visually stunning Divine Queer Skin zine, Martin’s platform proves that LGBTQ artists are the cultural archivists of our community.
Roll on over to LuisMartinArt.com to dive into his incredible catalog of physical and digital collages, and follow our page for more artist spotlights rewriting the rules of contemporary art.
Support Pride all 365 days: reach out to discuss any upcoming campaigns, events, commissions and collaboration opportunities with queer artists by partnering with us. See Dear Queer Artists’ services here.
For Trans History Week, Queer AF commissioned to mentor trans+ creatives to produce stories, illustrations and podcasts that tell trans+ history stories, with a unique blend of talent development and high-quality journalism. History is often written by those in power, leaving the stories and lives experiences of trans and gender-nonconforming ancestors in the shadows. Through the lenses of seven incredible artists, Queer Art Hub is spotlighting how Queer AF explores the “in-between” spaces of identity, the weight of colonial silence, and the transformative power of the trans imagination with both writers and queer artists this past week.
The clinical symposium where cisgender doctors formed the UK’s gender identity clinic (CAELAN OKYERE @akancae)
“This illustration responds to the 1969 Gender Identity Symposium, where trans people were discussed as case studies, with their voices absent from the conversation. The central figure, dressed in “neat dark suit”, reflects the narrow image of “acceptable” transness that medical institutions were willing to recognise.
The figure is at the head of the table and surrounded by the doctors, they are observed, analysed, and spoken about, rather than heard. Cracks within the suit reveal light rays in trans pride colours beneath, portraying a more complex and expansive identity that exists beyond the constraints. These rays symbolise the tension between visibility and survival, while at the same time expressing resilience and the persistence of trans identity beyond institutional control.” Full article here.
The not-so-hidden gender diversity of Little Women author Louisa May Alcott (RIOTBONES @riotb0nes)
A digital illustration about LM Alcott’s relationship with masculinity, both through the character of Jo March from Little Women and his other writings. The portrait of LM Alcott is shrouded in darkness, as a representation of how that image of him doesn’t provide a full picture of the complexities of his identity. Instead, the focus is on Jo, and more so on the sheets of paper flying around, which represents Alcott’s imaginings of himself, such as “enjoyed the attention he received when he dressed as a Monk at a costume party (page 73, The selected letters of Louisa May Alcott,
1987), and wished to fight in the Civil War as a man”. Thus, the illustration seeks to capture not only his experiences with gender, but also the transformative power of imagination in reshaping all of our lives. Full article here.
Before the binary: Reclaiming erased Trans+ histories in the Philippines (JUNIPER SEPHADI @junsjoys)
An illustration depicting the solidarity and parallels of trans women in the Philippines, both in the colonial past and present time. The illustration uses colours inspired by the Philippino flag and is divided in two. The left side features an Asog Babaylan, a spiritual leader and medium described as effeminate men or transgender women. She wears traditional Visayan attire, with her mouth covered, scarf pulled back and crosses impaled on her back, symbolising the silencing and violence inflicted during colonialism. The right side features a modern trans woman from the Philippines. Unlike the Babaylan, her mouth is uncovered – she looks toward the Babaylan with determination and love, representing the activism of trans women today reclaiming pre-colonial roots. Full article here.
From Star Wars to Watership Down, the Trans+ composer scoring the sound of hope (DAVID WOODS MELAND @versim_art)
The artwork depicts a woman with sandy curls glancing her cheeks as she sweeps forward with a glowing green baton. Spiralling around and under the billowing fabric of her dress, a stream of rabbits march, aglow and shifting shape, as if compelled to embody the very themes orchestrator and composer Angela Morley conducted. Like Morley’s own scores, we hoped to create an image reminiscent of the dynamicism and presence of her work. Not unlike the lilt of sweeping strings rising into a grand cacophony of strutting horns, this piece moves through a shifting cycle of motifs. The contrast between the ethereal Angela and the imposing fleet of ships passing overhead provoke a scene that is, in some ways, at odds with itself, but hopeful and resolute as the accomplished conductor ushers in the harmonising light of a new dawn. Full article here.
To burn out or to fade away? Trans+ romance throughout history (ELI DIBITONTO @heliantusannuus)
For this digital illustration, I was inspired by the classic aesthetic associated with romantic love and correspondence, weaving it together with the real lives of trans historical figures discussed in the article like Chevalier d’Eon and Roberta Cowell.
The scattered and messy composition in the piece suggests the idea of secret and forgotten histories being rediscovered and pieced back together. The textures, colors and pencil strokes are soft, beckoning the viewer in, encouraging them to take up space in this shared history, with the focal point of the image being a locket left blank. This element of leaving space for the viewer to identify themselves in the piece wasn’t intentional at the beginning, but it became more relevant the more we worked together on the scheme. Full article here.
Geocities: a cautionary tale of how Trans+ history can be deleted with one click (ELLE MAKEM @ellymakes)
A digital illustration, inspired by the article’s look at Geocities and how it’s pioneering model led to the social internet age of today. From Myspace and Bebo, to Facebook and Google and the shift from floppy disk to USB stick, archiving has always changed throughout human history, right back to the Egyptians, of which the imagery from this piece is inspired by. Full article here.
Sexy, smart and creative: The Jewish Trans+ zine TimTum (AARAN SIAN @aarancyan)
Aaran’s illustration draws on the many visual references, zines and writing which has inspired the article, exploring the evolving rituals of Trans Jewish identity through the act of Mikveh. At its centre, the illustration shows a trans-masculine, gender-fluid body immersed in water, where the boundaries between body and ritual dissolve. The water flows through and becomes part of them, speaking to the fluidity of gender across lineage and the in-betweenness of Timtum identities. Within the figure, rivers, routes and landscapes reference the idea of Jewish people as ‘always transitioning’, honouring movement, diaspora and transformation together. The work reflects the power of rituals as a space of reclamation, connection and self-definition. Full article here.
In today’s landscape, opportunities and funding for queer art and artists are shrinking—we need to counter that with systems and infrastructure that builds up the ecosystem for queer art. Much like how Queer Art Hub is a legacy project, this initiative is another way to help queer artists thrive while building presence and visibility for them.
Check out Queer Art Hub’s newest major founding partnership to launch Artists In Demand, a booking platform offering businesses a streamlined way to source and work with LGBTQ+ painters, photographers, muralists, illustrators, designers, sculptors and videographers year-round.
Interested parties are welcomed to reach out to discuss any upcoming campaigns, events, commissions and collaboration opportunities with queer artists by filling out a project form here.
For LGBTQI+ artists looking for booking representation and be part of Artists in Demand, please fill out an application here.
Keith Haring didn’t just paint on walls; he drew a roadmap for queer resistance. Now, the Brant Foundation is bringing his most electric early works (1980–1983) back to the very streets where they were born.
Keith Haring (American, b. 1958, d. 1990) remains one of the most celebrated and influential figures in American art, renowned for breaking traditional art world boundaries and transferring the energy of the East Village’s streets to galleries.
If you’re a fan of queer art history, this isn’t just an exhibit—it’s a homecoming.
Photography by David Buritica
The Homecoming: Art in the Heart of the East Village
Located in a former substation just blocks from Haring’s old stomping grounds, the Brant Foundation feels less like a gallery and more like a time machine. This isn’t “sanitized” pop art; it’s a raw look at a queer artist reclaiming public space before he was a global icon.
3 Reasons to Visit the Brant Foundation Haring Show:
The Iconic Blacklight Room: Step into a recreation of Haring’s legendary 1982 show at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery, a neon installation lit by UV light. It’s a tribute to the 80s underground club scene—a safe haven where artists ant the LGBTQ+ community found their family and their voice.
Original Subway Drawings: See the rare chalk-on-black-paper works existed beyond galleries. Haring brought high-concept art to the marginalized, proving that queer visibility belongs to the people, not just the elite.
Art as Activism: Before “Silence = Death” became a global rallying cry, Haring was using his radiant baby and dancing figures to bridge the gap between street culture and political urgency, which you’ll get to see up close.
Untitled (1982)
Why Haring Matters for Queer Artists Today
In a world that has tried to dim our light in the 80s during the AIDS crisis to a similar agents of oppression today, Haring’s work is a masterclass in vibrancy as defiance. He used every line to pulse with life, love, and a refusal to be ignored. For modern queer artists, this show is a reminder that your art is a weapon, a shield, and a celebration.
Untitled (1982)
Location: The Brant Foundation, 421 East 6th Street, NYC
Dates: Now through May 31, 2026
Pro Tip: Tickets are required in advance. Book yours at BrantFoundation.org.
Want us to cover an upcoming queer art event on our blog? Anyone can publish queer art events, open calls, exhibits or calls for collaborations all year round on queerarthub.com/community-post. 🌈
The queer art community celebrates a landmark exhibition in 2026 as Gladstone Gallery presents a transformative exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe’s work from March 5 to April 18, 2026 in New York. The show fulfills a longtime wish of the artist: seeing his iconic photography on a monumental scale.
Proclaimed the enfant terrible of the 70s and 80s contemporary art, Robert Mapplethorpe (1946–1989) remains a revolutionary force who blends classical aesthetics with daring documentation. While he mastered the physical craft of photography during his life, he constantly sought larger formats to amplify the impact of his imagery. As he stated, “To make pictures big is to make them more powerful”.
In collaboration with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Gladstone Gallery debuts 16 large-scale, limited-edition photographs. Most works appear in a 60×60 inch format, including the following iconic images:
Deborah Harry, 1978
Self Portrait, 1980
Leather Crotch, 1980
Alistair Butler, 1980
Mapplethorpe’s work stands as a cornerstone of queer history, capturing a period of intense creativity and transition. By presenting these images at a massive scale, the exhibition highlights the formal beauty and obsession with perfection that define his enduring legacy.
Exhibition Details:
Dates: March 5 – April 18, 2026
Location: 530 West 24th Street, New York, NY
Want us to cover an upcoming queer art event on our blog? 🌈 Anyone can publish queer art events, open calls, exhibits or calls for collaborations all year round on queerarthub.com 🌈
At The FLAG Art Foundation, the new group exhibition S-Curve proves that the human body is less a fixed structure and more a fluid playground of “surprise and invention.”
Spanning from the 18th century to the cutting edge of the present day, S-Curve reimagines the art historical trope of the body in repose. For art lovers, the exhibition moves beyond codified and “standardized” figures found in old textbooks, and highlights queer artists who treat the body as a gateway to surreal forms and gender-fluid subjectivities.
From the classic reclining nude to contemporary works that blur the line between motion and stasis, S-Curve underscores the elasticity of identity. It’s a vivid reminder that queer bodies have always resisted being “fixed” in time, and offers a bold, new geometry for the future of figurative art. This comes to life through the artwork of Frank Benson (b. 1976), Adriel Visoto (b. 1987), Samuel Fosso (b. 1962), Sadao Hasegawa (1945-1999), Paul Cadmus (1904-1999) and more.
Why S-Curve is a must-see for the queer art community:
FrankBenson – Juliana, 2015
A Brooklyn-based contemporary sculptor renowned for blending classical figurative traditions with cutting-edge 3D scanning and digital modeling, Benson earned his BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (1998) and his MFA from UCLA (2003), where he studied under artist Charles Ray. The sculpture Juliana is a life-sized, hyper-real portrait of the artist, poet, and DJ Juliana Huxtable. It gained widespread international attention when it was featured in the 2015 New Museum Triennial, Surround Audience.
Adriel Visoto is a Brazilian artist known for his small-scale, confessional oil paintings. His work often translates private, autobiographical moments into cinematic vignettes that feel both deeply personal and universally relatable. Part of his ongoing exploration of domesticity and the Sunday blues, this work captures a solitary figure in a state of rest.
Samuel Fosso – Memoire d’un Ami (Memory of a friend), 2000
Samuel Fosso is a prominent photographer born in Cameroon and raised in Nigeria before settling in Bangui, Central African Republic. He began his career at age 13 as a commercial studio photographer. To finish leftover rolls of film, he started taking “irreverent and off-the-cuff” self-portraits, a practice that evolved into a globally recognized career in performative self-portraiture. Mémoire d’un ami (Memory of a Friend) represents a deeply personal shift in Fosso’s practice. The series is a rumination on the murder of a friend and neighbor who was killed by armed militia outside Fosso’s studio in Bangui in 1997. Unlike his highly stylized or satirical series (such as Tati or African Spirits), this body of work is noted for its vulnerability and quietude.
Paul Cadmus – Male Nude NM16, 1965
Paul Cadmus (d. 1999) was a pioneer of 20th-century figurative art, known for his social commentary and mastery of the Renaissance medium of egg tempera.
Cadmus is associated with a case of government censorship in American art history with works deeply coded with queer iconography. In The Fleet’s In! (1934), Cadmus emphasized the male physique through tight uniforms and included a figure of a blond man in a red tie offering a sailor a light, a known signal for same-sex solicitation at the time.
Cadmus’s ability to blend the idealized male form of the Old Masters with a satirical, queer perspective paved the way for modern queer artists to treat the body as a site of both political resistance and possibility.
S-Curve runs from February 12 to April 25, 2026 at The FLAG Art Foundation at 545 West 25th Street, 9th Floor, New York. (Installation photography provided by The FLAG Art Foundation and Steven Probert Studio)
Interested in being featured? Sign up to www.queerarthub.com/sign-up today to be part of our growing platform dedicated to queer artists and their work.
As the art world moves into 2026, queer art is getting more individualized and exciting. We’re keeping an eye on Diedrick Brackens, who uses weaving to tell stories about nature and softness, with a 2026 exhibition at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in March. We’re also big fans of P. Staff and their dream-like videos.
If you love contemporary queer art, 2026 is the year to follow queer voices, perspectives, stories, lived experiences and imagined ideas and how queer artists are creating and responding to shifting worldviews and realities.
On Queer Art Hub, here are 5 most trending queer artists on our platform, and our team’s picks to watch out for in 2026:
Hortensia Mi Kafchin (Germany)
Hortensia Mi Kafchin, a Berlin-based artist who creates work about the contemporary trans experience using figurative painting. Currently represented by PPOW, she has exhibited Paintings Made for Aliens Above in 2025 and Years of Bad Hair in 2023. In 2026, Kafchin will be showingThrough Different Eyesat Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York from February 20, 2026 – April 12, 2026. This exhibition will use a multidisciplinary approach with a transfixing three-channel synchronized video.
Gabriel Bennett Lovejoy is a multimedia artist based in Scotland. Lovejoy explores transgender joy within his creative practice using colors and iconography, with the aim to challenge audiences on their preconceived opinions of queerness. In 2025, he exhibited at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow as part of its GoMA Youth Group 2024/2025. Lovejoy also launched Man* Made//Made Man* in 2025, a quarterly digital zine by trans mascs, for trans mascs.
Venus Gonzalez is a multidisciplinary artist and painter based in New Jersey. Her artwork aims to immortalize the women who inspire her and honor those who are forgotten. Only 23 years old, Gonzalez is a rising painter with a hauntingly beautiful imagination combined with precise brushwork and technique. Having shown at Art for Pride in Ria Gallery during Montclair Pride, her career is destined to reach new heights in 2026.
Matthew Walton is a Toronto-based artist. His mixed-media work (acrylic, watercolour, pastel and pencil on paper) highlights the quiet charm of everyday queerness, reimagining mundane moments through a vibrant technicolour lens. Since exhibiting at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair in 2024 and winning Best of 2D Works Award, Walton has since shown at the Artist Project 2025, in THE INVISIBLE STRING as part of a group show at Gagné Contemporary, and his own FROOT LOOPS at Sixteen Eleven Studios in Toronto, which is also published as a limited edition art book under the same name.
Kayleigh Efird is a multidisciplinary artist with a sensitivity towards color and performance. Her work examines the intersections between girlhood, history, and fantasy and investigates how we connect ourselves to the past, present and future through images. She is a represented illustrator with Astound Us Agency, having been chosen to illustrate 40 interior images and the cover for the A Field Guide to Fairies and Magical Beings (2025) book. Efird has exhibited previous as part of group shows, Unity at Helm Gallery in 2024 and Reflections at Royal Blue Gallery in 2023.
Interested in being featured? Sign up to www.queerarthub.com/sign-up today to be part of our growing platform dedicated to queer artists and their work.
As 2025 comes to an end, Queer Art Hub is celebrating a milestone with over 50 events posted this year! The Community Classifieds pages is Queer Art Hub’s way to truly build an ecosystem for queer artists and their artwork.
Explore, search, post – whether it’s to promote queer art show openings, event, exhibit or more. For those looking for queer artists and artworks – use Community to publish your call for art, open calls, exhibits and collaborations.
Here are our team’s 5 favorite queer art exhibitions, shows and events of 2025:
Contemporary Queer: A Love Letter, Gallery 263 – Cambridge, MA
Contemporary Queer: A Love Letter at Gallery 263 was on view June 5 to 29, and highlighted how artists explore and express queer identities through themes of intersectionality and visibility within and beyond the LGBTQIA2S+ community. This exhibition is a platform for art that challenges binaries, disrupts norms, and affirms the vibrancy of queer existence today.
The national group exhibition was juried by Gallery 263 co-presidents Laura Kathrein and Lucy Yan. This exhibition came together in response to the rise of anti-LGBTQ politics in the United States. Website (Shown: Spitshine, Rowan Raskin, 2025, photo provided by Gallery 263)
Unseen Boundaries, Loom + Ten Gallery – San Francisco, CA
Loom + Ten is a commercial art gallery that newly opened this year in the Castro district in San Francisco. The gallery represents emerging and established queer artists from across the world, challenging the idea that queer art belongs only in activist or philanthropic spaces.
Unseen Boundaries, was a solo exhibition from Berlin-based Chinese, Musk Ming, who carved out his own way of combining traditional Chinese art with contemporary techniques and Western aesthetics.
The exhibition was an invitation into that space of in-betweenness: where identity is both constructed and dismantled, where desire is layered with history, and where tradition and rebellion meet in the body. Read all about Loom + Ten on our blog here.
Exhibit With Pride, St Martins Lane – London, UK
Exhibit With Pride featuring Davey Powell at St Martins Lane LondonExhibit With Pride featuring Davey Powell at St Martins Lane LondonExhibit With Pride featuring Davey Powell at St Martins Lane London
St Martins Lane partnered with Dear Queer Artist for an artistic collaboration, Exhibit With Pride, to feature brilliant queer textile artist Davey Powell during Pride Month this past June. A heartfelt and visually striking celebration of queer identity, the exhibit transformed the hotel’s lobby spaces into a vibrant gallery that featured four of Powell’s banner and quilt-style textile pieces: Don’t Be Shy (2024), Hold On Tight (2024), Yeah (2025), and Try Your Luck (2025). Each work carries a rich narrative of joy, resilience, and self-expression, mirroring Powell’s lived experience as a queer artist from the Traveller community, raised among the colour and chaos of a North East fairground. Read our blog post on Exhibit With Pride here.
QueeriositiesArt & Makers Fair, Copeland Gallery – London, UK
Founded and led by independent curator Davy Pittoors, Queeriosities is a travelling platform that elevates LGBTQIA+ creatives expressing their identities through art, craft, and design. Ranging from intimate exhibitions to full-scale art and makers fairs, its initiatives highlight those who have been historically sidelined and serve as a platform to knit communities together and connect them with new audiences.
Queeriosities returned to London for its 2025 edition from September 26 to 28, showcasing the work of more than 60 LGBTQIA+ artists, makers and small businesses at Copeland Gallery in Peckham.
Alongside a vibrant marketplace of vendors, this year’s edition also featured a weekend of cultural programming and a special group exhibition, We Come to This Place for Magic, which explored queer world-building and showcased the work of queer artists Devynn Barnes, Lawrence Cuevas, Theo Dunne, Paul Majek, Krzysztof Strzelecki, and Marf Summers. Website
IMMORTAL Queer Art Fair, Dia de Muertos – Mexico City, MX
IMMORTAL Queer Art Fair
IMMORTAL was not a typical art fair. It was a bold, curated showcase of queer and allied contemporary artists from Mexico and beyond—brought to life through an innovative model that puts artists first.
From CDMX and across international borders, IMMORTAL brought powerful work into view with professional presentation, inclusive storytelling, and dynamic visibility.
Produced by The Bureau of Queer Art, IMMORTAL brought together a curated cohort of contemporary artists in including Micheal Swank, Miguel Casco and Vicki Khuzami whose work resonates with identity, memory, and transformation. Website
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The Hotel Chelsea isn’t just a historic landmark in NYC, it’s an incubator for culture. Last month, that legendary energy exploded when TheChelsea Art Fair (November 15-16, 2025), co-hosted by Platform, turned the building into a showcase of contemporary art.
For queer art enthusiasts and collectors, one name stood out: Kye Christensen-Knowles, presented by Lomex Gallery.
Must-Know Artist: Kye Christensen-Knowles
Kye Christensen-Knowles (b. 1993) is an American painter is tackling myth, history, and allegory with gorgeous, unsettling queer sensibility.
Working primarily with oil on linen, Christensen-Knowles employs the visual language of the Old Masters—classical compositions, dramatic lighting, and symbolic imagery—to confront modern socio-political realities. This deliberate use of traditional technique creates a powerful contrast, inserting contemporary queer narratives into aesthetic spaces previously dominated by heterosexual canons.
Queer Allegories: Christensen-Knowles’ work reclaims grand, historical painting for queer figures and stories. He weaves complex symbolism into his scenes, challenging fixed, traditional viewpoints and asserting our place in the continuum of epic human drama. His paintings are visual arguments for queer visibility and timelessness.
Ancient Look, Modern Edge: Christensen-Knowles masterfully uses classical techniques to build dense, dramatic, and often massive canvases. His style directly references the Old Masters, but his narratives are undeniably about the “now“.
Self Portrait, Age 32, 2025 / oil on linen / 48 x 48 inches
His figures often appear as archetypes and mythical beings, blurring gender binaries and presenting fluid identities with an epic, unsettling grandeur. The artist offers an expansive vision where queer visibility is not a footnote, but the central subject of profound, timeless drama. Lomex Gallery champions this work, having presented his work at Frieze New York in 2022 and more.
Herein at Lomex from November 9, 2024 to January 18, 2025
The Chelsea Art Fair’s boutique presentation also featured just five galleries—56 Henry, CASTLE, Lomex, Matthew Brown, and Ramiken. The event drew over 3,000 curious attendees eager to experience this fresh, accessible take on the art fair model.
The Other Art Fair Brooklyn Fall 2025, presented by Saatchi Art, returned this fall to ZeroSpace, proving to be an extraordinary showcase of global independent talent and an inclusive art experience. Dubbed as the “antidote to gallery-centric art fairs,” this 16th edition, which ran from November 6–9, 2025, delivered on its commitment to making art accessible for both burgeoning collectors and emerging artists.
Spotlight on Queer Artists and Inclusive Initiatives
For the Queer Art Hub team, a major highlight of the fair was the official charity partner Black Trans Femme Collective (BTFA)‘s showcase. The BTFA, a powerful force in the LGBTQ+ arts scene, works to create safe spaces and opportunities for Black trans femmes in the arts, amplifying their voices and expanding visibility through creative platforms.
BTFA CollectiveBTFA Collective
Visitors to The Other Art Fair this fall were able to connect with a diverse range of queer independent artists whose work reflects contemporary perspectives and unique experiences:
Nikolaos SchizasAdam RoseRichard Hoffman’s Subversive Post Office
A New Era of Accessible Art Collecting
This edition highlighted a curated selection of 130 independent artists from around the world, championed accessibility through transparent pricing—with original works starting at just $100. This model fosters direct connections between artists and art lovers, giving visitors a unique chance to meet the creators behind the works and support the independent art market, much like Queer Art Hub’s mission to lower barriers, create models of professional success and build a queer art community for queer artists around the world.
The Other Art Fair Brooklyn truly connected us and collectors alike directly with the independent artists shaping the global and queer art scene. Check out these links:
The Affordable Art Fair NYC Fall 2025 edition returned to the Starrett-Lehigh Building from September 17–21. The spectacular event hosted 85 local, national, and international galleries, and presented thousands of contemporary artworks priced for every budget, from a wallet-friendly $100 to $12,000.
A clear thread throughout many of this year’s gallery presentations is a commitment to amplifying diverse perspectives, whether through cultural identity, gender, or neurodiversity. Many of the artists showcasing work engage deeply with personal and collective narratives, exploring memory, home, displacement, resilience, and social issues – very much aligned with Queer Art Hub’s mission of widening access to art and the diversity of artists’ perspectives.
A major highlight for us was engaging with the stunning workof renowned gay painter Patrick Webb from LA’s SAB Gallery. Webb is celebrated for his representational narrative paintings, particularly his exploration of gay life, identity, and the enduring effects of the AIDS crisis.
The Fall 2025 fair showcased some of his profound explorations of the self and community from his “Burdens of Punchinello” series. We were particularly drawn to pieces that tackled issues of visibility and societal structures, such as the companion pieces Observing(2010-12) and Observed(surfer)(2010-12).
And Nuclear Family (2010-12) is reminiscint of his 1983 with the same title, which offers a historical and often ironic counter-narrative to the mid-century ideal. By presenting a queer perspective on domestic life early in his career, Webb challenged monolithic definitions of “family” this year and offered a profound statement on forging one’s own path—a key tenet of LGBTQ+ art.
Beyond the highlight of Patrick Webb’s work, the fair also continued its commitment to emerging talent through the Fellowship Program, supporting Harsh Collective and Warnes Contemporary as new New York arts organization fellows.
Other key programming and partner highlights included:
CITYarts: Pieces for Peace: The project featured artworks by youth and professional artists, successfully generating reflection on the meaning of peace.
We Belong by Arts Gowanus: This powerful exhibition, Celebrating Brooklyn’s Diverse Roots, successfully reflected the rich cultural heritage that shapes the borough.
Known for bold lines, whimsical figures, and vibrant colors, NYC-based queer, trans pop artist JJ Quinn‘s art celebrates queer identity, expression, and desire.
JJ has exhibited work solo and in several group shows, such as The Tom of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles, and Art Gaysel in junction with Art Basel Miami.
Queer Art Hub’s queer marketplace showcase at Industry Cityfeaturing JJ Quinn
“Fruitcake”. “Fruity”. “Zesty. “He’s got a little sugar in the tank” — JJ’s fruit series reclaims historically coded language used to describe queerness, using fruit as a vibrant visual metaphor for identity.
“I wanted to take these words back with a sense of humor, levity, and playfulness. Having fun while exploring what it means to own and celebrate my own queer identity, in a colorful, albeit unconventional way.“
JJ went to school for costume design and earned a BFA. The journey brought him to New York in 2019, where he worked on Broadway. When the pandemic hit, JJ started exploring painting.
Missing NYC nightlife during that time, his artwork was expressed as a reminder of what used to be. Then, over the next couple years, he used this theme to grow and evolve his work.
JJ found that few artists present trans and non-binary work and themes in New York, and is especially underrepresented in the LGBTQI+ community. So, his work is first intended for other trans people to feel seen, and have work in their home that reflects their own experience.
JJ’s pop art is bold, vibrant and is eye catching, no matter what the subject is. While he doesn’t focus on too conceptual or abstract techniques, the outcome is something that has heavy saturation and is fun and bright.
For inspiration, the artist draws on Keith Haring, and a variety of real people, models, photo references, collected images and friends for his bodies focused art.
In his last exhibition Claiming Space at Studio Lacombe in Provincetown, MA, his works reflect his personal journey of self acceptance, playful defiance and sexual liberation as he claims space as a gay trans man in the cis-male dominated bars, clubs and parties of queer NYC nightlife.
JJ’s work is a celebration of his own masculinity and urge to be seen in spaces where he long-felt he did not belong. Through this series of self-portraits, we see him challenge the weight of feeling othered, embracing these spaces, and the people there with a sense of joyful exhibitionism.
Dear Queer Artist is on a mission to help queer artists thrive. This blog series regularly features a queer artist in the disciplines of painting, sculpture, photography, music, and more, with a selection of their vibrant works and the stories behind them.
To make an artist profile on Queer Art Hub, sign up here, or anyone can publish events, open calls, exhibits or calls for collaborations on the Community classifieds, by filling out a form here.
Follow @queerarthub for most up to date news and features.🎨
Queer Art Hub’s Pride Month blog feature is UK Whitley Bay-based textile artist Davey Powell.
Born into the Traveller community, Davey’s early years were spent living on a fairground in the North East of England, surrounded by the rich traditions of Showman culture. Being queer and a Traveller was complex to say the least, but those experiences were intrinsic in shaping his creative voice.
Davey’s colourful textile creations showcase the beauty, tension and resilience that exist at the intersection of culture, identity and belonging. The messages displayed in the lettering in his work symbolise his own story of hope and motivation in his journey as a queer artist.
Queer Art Hub’s Pride Month partnership, Exhibit With Pride, at St Martins Lane LondonHotel
As part of its mission to profile queer artists on its platform, Queer Art Hub partnered with St Martins Lane London for a new show, Exhibit With Pride, during Pride Month 2025. The exhibition spotlights four of Davey Powell’s pieces, from quilts to banners: Don’t Be Shy (2024), Hold On Tight (2024), Yeah (2025), andTry Your Luck (2025).
Each work carries a rich narrative of joy, resilience, and self-expression, mirroring Davey’s lived experience.
“I hope my works spark joy and excitement, just like a fairground does,” says Davey Powell. “I want viewers to feel inspired to find the strength within to do whatever it is they want to do.”
A heartfelt and visually striking celebration of queer identity, the exhibit transforms the hotel’s lobby spaces into a vibrant gallery. Exhibit With Pride is part of a wider commitment by St Martins Lane London to celebrate and support LGBTQI+ communities – not just during Pride, but year-round. Visitors can explore Powell’s works in the hotel lobby or even purchase a piece to take home.
Dear Queer Artist is on a mission to help queer artists thrive. This blog series regularly features a queer artist in the disciplines of painting, sculpture, photography, music, and more, with a selection of their vibrant works and the stories behind them.
To make an artist profile on Queer Art Hub, sign up here, or anyone can publish events, open calls, exhibits or calls for collaborations on the Community classifieds, by filling out a form here.
Follow @queerarthub for most up to date news and features.🎨
Adiba Ndiwe is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, and arts diversification advocate of Welsh/ Nigerian heritage, based in the UK.
In her work, she aims to challenge the colonial and capitalist influences in art academia and the art world through socially- and politically-charged art. Combining visual storytelling with satire, she explores intersectional concepts relating to race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic disparities.
Her upbringing on a Welsh council estate and academic journey have greatly influenced her commitment to dismantling these systems and making art more accessible to marginalized communities. Here is her exclusive Q&A:
How can emerging queer artists build support around their work? And how can they effectively advocate for themselves and their work in today’s art world and art market?
Putting yourself out there is the first step towards garnering support. You’ll be surprised who and how many people express a genuine interest in your practice. Regarding advocacy, be so confident in what you do that other people’s opinions can’t knock it.
What are some ways for queer artists to navigate the intersection of their identity and their art practice?
Through authenticity – art doesn’t have a specific look. In life, we have created a lot of unnecessary rules and restrictions for ourselves, for how we should be. Sometimes people might feel like they must express their creativity in particular ways. There are techniques and styles that you may wish to adopt, but the rest is entirely your choice.
How important is it for queer artists to engage with LGBTQ+ history and legacy in their work?
Like any identity, you have to know where you came from. It’s important for sure, but the present is also just as important as it’s where we reside. But educate yourself.
What are ways for queer artists to network and collaborate within the LGBTQ+ art community?
There are so many queer artists, writers, musicians, dancers, actors, poets. We exist in basically any creative profession you can think of, so be open to human connection and conversation. Though the idea of talking to a complete stranger is daunting, you only ever get anywhere in life through discomfort. In-person events are a way to immerse yourself in a space that attracts people with the same interests as you, in a way that feels intentional. I’ve met a lot of other artists by attending poetry events, exhibitions etc… and through social media.
What unique challenges do queer artists face in your medium(s), and how can they overcome them?
I don’t intend on creating overtly queer work, I’m just an artist that happens to be queer and there’s nothing inappropriate about me sharing my truth. After I created Ode to Amelia, I remember feeling anxious about the thought of sharing it publicly. Unfortunately, I think that every queer person can relate to that feeling at least once in their life, that their queerness is inappropriate or requires censorship. I soon realized I was experiencing internalized homophobia, because expressions of heterosexuality don’t carry the same controversy.
Taking into account the tumultuous landscape for the queer community, how can queer artists use their work to address social issues?
Through boldness and authenticity. A strong example of when this has been done is “Untitled” (Perfect Lovers) by Félix González-Torres. For those who’re unfamiliar with this work, it’s two visually identical but unsynchronized clocks next to each other. The work is a poignant statement on human mortality as the clocks represent the lives of the artist and his lover, who passed away from AIDS five years before González-Torres eventually succumbed to the same fate. It’s a perfectly executed response to arguably the most devastating social issue of the queer experience, the AIDS epidemic, an issue that was deeply personal to the artist. Death is one of the only events that doesn’t discriminate, but that fear is uniquely inexpressible for the queer community. That fear to love, because of the likelihood of loss. The work was created in the 80’s and due to the advancement of HIV treatment, queer people from this generation may not resonate with the work as deeply. But to me, this shift supports the idea that queerness is both a collective and individual experience. There are intersectionalities. I think queer artists addressing the social and political nuances of queerness in their practice, should do it in a way that feels authentic and raw to them, and how these issues relate to life on a wider scale.
Looking ahead to 2025, how can queer artists protect and maintain their mental health and well-being this year and beyond?
By gaining enough self-awareness to accept that unfortunately the world doesn’t change overnight, and by educating ourselves on the systems that exist to cause division. Of course we should fight against the injustices that exist, but they will unfortunately always exist (to us at least) because our lifetimes are finite and societal progression is painfully slow. I think that education and developing an unwavering sense of self by watering the plant that is you, makes it almost impossible for whatever people do or say to consume you. Practice honesty, integrity, and kindness in your life and work.
Dear Queer Artist is on a mission to help queer artists thrive. This blog series regularly features a queer artist in the disciplines of painting, sculpture, photography, music, and more, with a selection of their vibrant works and the stories behind them.
Share Queer Art Hub as a resource for all queer artists as we build this safe space – sign up to our queer artist’s directory today. 🎨
Queer Art Hub is kicking off 2025 interviewing Berlin-based artist, Andrew Putschoegl on his journey as a queer artist.
Silver & Gelatin is the photographic alter ego of filmmaker Andrew Putschoegl, who was born and raised in the United States. Currently, he lives in Berlin with his husband and their two cats.
What is your journey as an artist? What led you to pursue art and your chosen medium?
Photography has fascinated me for most of my life, largely due to its parallels with filmmaking, which is my primary artistic focus. A few years ago, I began exploring portrait photography, asking friends to model for me. This led to the kind of work I’m creating today. Moving to Berlin from the United States over three years ago was a pivotal moment. Being in a new country without my established community of artists and friends encouraged me to seek out collaborators to build my portfolio and grow as an artist.
Attending artist residencies, especially my first at the incredible Chateau Orquevaux in France, gave me a safe space to explore vulnerability and gain confidence in identifying as an artist. I am self-taught in photography, and my practice revolves around discovery and experimentation. Photography allows me to balance immediacy with the joy of unearthing unexpected elements.
What is the inspiration behind your creative and how does your identity as a queer individual influence your artistic process?
Queer art has an enduring legacy—artists have explored the male form and queer themes for centuries, from sculpture to photography. My work is deeply inspired by this lineage, as well as by contemporary queer artists like Jonathan Kent Adams, Maxwell Poth, Erwin Olaf, Oat Montien, Slava Mogutin, George Platt Lynes, Mary Katharine Tramontana, Nigel Grimmer and many others. I also have a collection of queer-focused photography and art books, which constantly inform my practice (despite my husband’s objections to my ever-expanding library).
Whenever I encounter a striking image—whether in a book, magazine, or online—I save it in an inspiration folder. This serves as a creative archive I revisit when brainstorming new ideas. Queerness fuels my creativity by connecting me to a rich history of artistic expression while motivating me to add my voice to this ongoing narrative.
How do themes of queerness, identity and representation show up in your art? Are there any specific messages or narratives you aim to convey?
Queer themes and identity appear in varying degrees in my work, but one series that stands out is Second Skin. It symbolizes how queer people often develop a “second skin” as protection from societal judgment, and the act of shedding it represents both bravery and vulnerability. The process of creating Second Skin reinforced the emotional and physical intimacy required in my work—and also taught me that glue sticks to body hair more than anticipated, requiring my subject’s incredible patience!
How do you hope your work contributes to queer communities, (and if applicable) inclusivity and representation within the art world?
Winning an emerging artist award for my triptych of two nude Mexican non-binary individuals was a deeply validating moment. The piece features a quiet, intimate scene of the subjects relaxing at home and contrasts with the rougher, more macho aesthetic typically celebrated by the awarding organization. This recognition encouraged me to continue exploring and expanding queer representation in my work.
Ultimately, I hope my art offers visibility to underrepresented stories and fosters connection within the queer community. By contributing to an ever-growing body of queer art, I aim to inspire others to embrace their identities and experiences with confidence.
Dear Queer Artist is on a mission to help queer artists thrive. This blog series regularly features a queer artist in the disciplines of painting, sculpture, photography, music, and more, with a selection of their vibrant works and the stories behind them.
Share Queer Art Hub as a resource for all queer artists as we build this safe space – sign up to our queer artist’s directory today. 🎨
Queeriosities, the vibrant Art and Makers Fair for LGBTQIA+ artists, has officially kicked off its 2024 edition at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham, London! Following a successful evening preview, the organizers are excited to invite the public to join for the remaining general admission days of this extraordinary event, which showcases the work of over 50 LGBTQIA+ artists, makers, and small businesses.
Event Highlights
Cultural Programming: This weekend is packed with engaging activities, including creative workshops and housing mixers. Attendees will not want to miss the special feature exhibition titled Wendy Houses, curated by Davy Pittoors, which highlights miniature and dollhouse works by talented artists such as Anka Dabrowska and Daisy Blower.
Schedule:
Saturday, November 2: General Admission (11 AM – 6 PM) – Free entry.
Sunday, November 3: General Admission (11 AM – 5 PM) – Free entry.
Gemma Rose-Bentley Book Signing: Visitors can meet author and art historian Gemma Rose-Bentley as she signs her book Queer Art: From Canvas to Club. This event, in collaboration with Common Press CIC, dives into the intersections of queer culture and creative expression.
Buddy Up! Queer Housemate Mixers: In partnership with Buddy Up!, these mixers are designed to connect queer individuals seeking housing, fostering community and collaboration.
Badge Cafe Hangouts: Artist Ben Walters will host the Badge Cafe, providing a relaxing space for attendees to create unique badges from old books and magazines throughout the fair.
About Queeriosities
Founded by curator Davy Pittoors, Queeriosities is a platform dedicated to elevating LGBTQIA+ creatives through various initiatives that blend art, craft, and design. The fair not only highlights underrepresented voices but also aims to create connections within the community while challenging traditional boundaries between art forms. Everyone is encouraged to join at Copeland Gallery (133 Copeland Road, London, SE15 3SN) for an inspiring weekend filled with creativity and connection.
The art world is undergoing a transformative shift toward inclusivity, with many institutions actively celebrating queer art and LGBTQ+ artists. This change is especially noticeable in art schools, where creativity and self-expression are not just encouraged but celebrated as vital aspects of queer identity.
LGBTQ+ students passionate about visual arts are on the lookout for inclusive colleges that nurture creativity while embracing diverse identities. Here’s a guide to some of the top LGBTQ+ friendly art schools across the United States, Canada and Europe.
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Valencia: CalArts is celebrated for its queer art collectives and gender-inclusive housing, offering courses focused on LGBTQ+ themes in art theory.
Canada Art Schools
Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD U), Toronto: Known for its inclusive policies, OCAD U offers queer-centered art courses, along with annual Pride art exhibitions.
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), Halifax: NSCAD features LGBTQ+ artist-in-residence programs, fostering a supportive environment for queer artists.
UK and Europe Art Schools
Royal College of Art, London, UK: RCA supports LGBTQ+ artists through research groups and exhibitions, providing mentorship opportunities with queer alumni.
Universität der Künste Berlin, Germany: UdK Berlin offers courses on queer aesthetics and collaborates with local queer art organizations, creating a vibrant artistic community.
Art schools tend to be more accepting than traditional educational settings for several reasons:
Creative communities often embrace diversity and challenge conventional norms.
There is a strong emphasis on celebrating individuality and unique perspectives.
Art education fosters freedom of expression, allowing students to explore their identities.
Shaping the Future of Queer Art
As we look to the future, it’s evident that the most innovative art schools will be those that fully embrace queer art and LGBTQ+ artists. By nurturing these creators, these institutions are not only changing individual lives but also shaping the future of the art world.
The rise of LGBTQ-friendly art schools is paving the way for a more colorful and inclusive future. As these schools continue to support queer artists, we can expect to see groundbreaking art that challenges perceptions and pushes boundaries, enriching the cultural landscape for everyone.
🎨 Check out emerging queer artists on Queer Art Hub here. If you’re an artist, build a profile with us today to feature your artwork to a global audience.
Pride doesn’t end after Pride Month. Queer art and artists’ expression, statements and work continue conversations and dialogue around freedom, equality, rights, perspectives and more.
Queer Art Hub has chosen 3 queer artists from around the world to feature their pieces that the LGBTQI+ community should know about:
Jonathon Beaver (Liverpool, UK)
Originally from Southport, close to the seemingly camp, fun, freedom and expressive Blackpool, Jonathon never felt a sense of belonging in their hometown, with its politically conservative and narrow-minded attitudes. Thinking of a common motif to represent both towns and physically connect them, on a map, in an albeit queer-straight line!
“I thought of a stick of rock: masculine, rigid and linear in appearance but colourful, flamboyant and sweet in taste. I then begin to think of manipulating the object and making it more ‘bent’-like, as reclaiming the negativity in terms of the gesture/action (of a limp) wrist equalling weakness or less manly but decided to keep it ironically, vertical; to fit our normative society.”
Meg Wolensky (Philadelphia, PA)
Originally from West Chester, Pennsylvania, Meg Wolensky is a queer nonbinary visual artist based in Philadelphia. Meg performs painting as a healing practice for queer community as they recover from C-PTSD, translating colorful fragments of experiences, memories, and dreams into a cohesive whole that is reflective of queer identity, history, and resistance. These investigative collage-like paintings layer cross-sections of colorful personal narrative, trompe-l’oeil objects, and indicators of time as it whips by. Wolensky’s work has been exhibited in venues across the country, including Drexel University, Kutztown University, University of Southern Mississippi, Moore College of Art & Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), Woodmere Art Museum, InLiquid Gallery, Seraphin Gallery, Rodger LaPelle Galleries, William Way LGBT Community Center, Democratic National Convention, Painted Bride Art Center, Abington Art Center, the Banana Factory Arts & Education Center and many more. in 2023, Wolensky was the recipient of InLiquid’s Dina Wind Fellowship by a jury of outstanding curators, artists, and arts leaders from around the Greater Philadelphia area.
“Inspired by Fragments of Sappho, this work reveals some, but not all, displaying fragments of archival queer literature and resistance publications woven amongst personal narratives, memories, myths, dreams, and relationships. Assembled through chromatic cross-sections and color chasms, I portray affirming ephemera and analyze the contrasting systemic violence beneath the surface. Through this language of cultural lineage and self-preservation, I rebuild a home where my whole identity is welcome and celebrated. Through these multi-year observations, I show that queer people are here now. We have been here throughout all of time.”
Humberto, originally from San Miguel el Alto, is a visual artist creating around the need to redefine and reimagine what democracy looks like, and how we need a new constitution. Exhibited at All Eyes Gallery in Downtown San Bernardino, “With Liberty and Justice For Some” is made of oversized porcelain penises to reference its history of power and its relationship to fragility.
“I’m tired of pledging allegiance to the flag of the United States in the American Continent because of the republic for which it stands; a Divided Nation, under a Christian God, with Liberty and Justice for Some.“
Queer Art Hub supports LGBTQ+ artists from all backgrounds across the world. Our mission is to forward the diversity of queer art in all forms. Contact us or DM on @queerarthub to submit your art! 🌈
This year, these unmissable Pride art exhibitions and festivals around the world are vital spaces celebrating queer creativity, identity, and space for artists.
Four celebrations of LGBTQ+ Artists and Art This Pride Month
Mirroring Queer Art and Identity in Detroit Mighty Real/Queer Detroit is presenting its second biennial exhibition “I’ll Be Your Mirror—Reflections of the Contemporary Queer” from May 31 to June 30, 2024. This month-long event celebrates LGBTQ+ art, featuring over 170 artists and 800+ works across 12 galleries in Detroit. Curated by Patrick Burton, the exhibition explores the mirroring relationship between art, self, and communities, highlighting the role of art in achieving personal visibility and social connection for the LGBTQ+ community.
Uncompromising Queer Artistry in Toronto The Toronto community hub at Neilson Park Creative Centre will proudly showcase “Be Creative” with both Canadian queer youth and adult artists, juried by Toronto-based gay, Jewish, sculptor, painter, and ceramicist Jonah Strub. Runs May 28 to June 27, 2024 at Parkview Gallery, Neilson Park Creative Centre.
A Radical Safe Haven at Vancouver Queer Arts Festival The festival’s “The Ties That Bind” theme this year examines the many ways in which family manifests itself in queer communities. This will be a safe haven all June for chosen families, with LGBTQ+ visual art exhibitions, performances, and more in multiple venues across Vancouver, including Roundhouse Community Centre, Malaspina Printmakers, SUM gallery, The James Black Gallery, Or Gallery and Fortune Sound Club. Free events happening from June 1 to June 30.
Uplifting Contemporary Queer Makers in NYC Don’t miss “OUT of the Jewelry Box” – a provocative showcase of 78 subversive jewelry works redefining gender and sexuality through adornment art at Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. Featuring 56 works from The Porter Price Collection by queer artists and their allies, and 22 pieces by queer artists already represented in MAD’s permanent collection. Ongoing with general admission at the Museum of Arts and Design.
Plus, MAD’s immersive Pride workshops, Fashioning Queer Pride and Protection, led by genderqueer fiber artist Sylvan Robinson on June 20th and 27th provide a space for queer creative expression and community-building with art activism, transforming fear into action.
Immerse yourself in these unmissable Pride 2024 art events – bold acts of creative resistance providing spaces for LGBTQ+ expression, joy, and community.
Are you a local artist, gallery, museum, community group or organizer with a Pride art event or exhibit happening this Pride Month? Let us know and we’ll spread the news on Queer Art Hub!
Queer Art Hub recently had the exclusive opportunity to interview Dutch artist, Rik Versteeg, on his queer artist journey.
Read on to find out his story: Born and raised in Drunen, Versteeg discovered his passion for art at a young age. Being brought up in safe surroundings and with a family who’s always accepted him for who he is, Versteeg had the space to develop his creativity as a queer artist. After graduation, Versteeg began his own studio in Rotterdam.
As a queer artist, Versteeg often found solace and empowerment in artistic expression. Using his creative journey as a platform for personal and collective transformation, he explores a multitude of mediums, from make-up, film, photography, and costume design. Versteeg pushes the boundaries of conventional artistic forms, transforming his work into an all-round practice. With each creation, he conveys the nuances of queer experiences, addressing themes of self-acceptance, identity, love, and the struggle for equality.
What is your artist journey? What led you to pursue art and your chosen medium? When I was little I always had a big imagination and internal fantasy. Growing up with an uncle and a grandfather who are photographers I came in contact with photography at an early age. My grandfather always showed me and my sister, Dia, slides of trips with my grandma.
After a while, I decided to pursue photography and enrolled at Art Academy. During the academy, I mainly focused on fashion photography, but during graduation, I decided to graduate with a conceptual photography series. Since then, I have been working as an artist and photographer, creating autonomous series and commissioned work for other creatives and cultural institutes. Around 2018, I decided to also broaden my skills as a photographer by doing set design, make-up, and film as well. The main reason for this was that I wanted to be able to create pieces myself without the necessary help of others. Creating sets, pieces, and masks is now one of the most time-consuming parts of doing my art. But I’ve always loved to work with my hands and create things in real life.
What is the inspiration behind your creativity and how does your identity as a queer individual influence your artistic process? My inspiration comes from a lot of different things: this can be a flower in the forest, a painting on the wall, or a person walking by. Inspiration is everywhere if you know how to look for it.
My autonomous projects are always made using an internal motivation to speak up about something and show people another way of approaching life and problems. This can be the environment, political crisis, the influence of social media, and AR.
Since I identify as queer, all of my projects therefore have a queer perspective. We as queer people are wired differently than the heteronormative society since our rights are not the same, and we experience discrimination almost every single day.
Through my work, I speak up about these struggles and show a queer perspective.
(Top row, from left to right): “A lady devoured, but not consumed” (2019), subject: Xiang Yu Yeung; “A love letter to fat bellies everywhere” (2019), subject: Roberto Angels; “Arcadia“, model: Manfattan, makeup: Sylvia Mercera, hair: Afif Shafit, designers: Studio Hiem, Studio Rik Versteeg, Afif Shafit
(Bottom row, from left to right): “Suspension” (2019); “Felt Cute Might Delete Later” (2022)
How do themes of queerness, identity, and representation show up in your art? Are there any specific messages or narratives you aim to convey? I began to view my creative journey as a platform for personal and collective transformation. With each creation, I skillfully convey the nuances of queer experiences, addressing themes of self-acceptance, identity, love, and the struggle for equality.
At the core of my artistic vision is the celebration of queer identity. My works often feature diverse representations of queer individuals, breaking stereotypes and challenging societal constructs. By portraying a spectrum of genders, sexualities, and expressions, I aim to amplify the voices of marginalized communities and spark conversations surrounding the complexities of queerness. I use my platform to advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, foster inclusivity, and empower others to embrace their true selves.
How do you hope your work contributes to queer communities, inclusivity and representation within the art world? I hope when people view my work they see themselves, represented in all various shapes, forms, gender identities, gender expressions, and sexualities.
I want to show the queer community that they are beautiful, just the way they are, no matter what race, the color of their skin, body type, and mental health struggles.
By conveying their experiences as a queer person, and making them look fierce and HOT while doing so I want to amplify their voices, and also my voice.
By showing these kinds of works at exhibitions, articles, and fashion blogs people will see a different view on queer identities, than more documentary-style work.
Versteeg also recently released a new photo book, Mind Mirage, a serenade to his imagination. The glossy, 192-paged hardcover illuminates and sheds light on lingering darkness—a love letter to the beautiful and wicked thoughts passing through his mind. Nab a copy here!
Each month, we will feature a queer artist in the disciplinaries of painting, sculpture, photography, music, and more, and a selection of their vibrant works and the stories behind them.
This February, it’s trending North – Canadian art, that is. See below for this month’s picks, all hailing from queer artists in Canada:
Sylvain Rolando (Montreal, Canada)
Sylvain created the artistic project “Oh Mon Doux” to celebrate positive and tender representations of love between GBTQ+ men, which were missing for him during his childhood. This initiative allows him to be more involved in promoting the well-being of the LGBTQ+ community through socially engaged projects that depict a tender, playful, and happy sexuality. / https://www.ohmondoux.com/
Matthew Walton is a painter and mixed-media artist based in Toronto, Canada. His work primarily focuses on the human form, queer intimacy, and queer joy. mwaltonartworks.com
Mikael Gravelle is a multidisciplinary artist from Canada. As a writer, illustrator, graphic designer and painter, his work is a meeting of the textual and the visual. In his artistic practice, Mikael draws from his vulnerability in order to transform it into poignant and transgressive images, giving rise to stories that combine intimacy and marginal experience. Mikael has exhibited several times in Montreal and Gatineau, has often collaborated with collectives, and has published two poetry books. Finally, he has a diploma in infographics, has a bachelor’s degree in Arts and Design from the University of Quebec in Outaouais, and has been a member of the Association of Authors of Outaouais since 2020.
Queer Art Hub supports LGBTQ+ artists from all backgrounds across the world. Our mission is to forward the diversity of queer art in all forms. Contact us or DM on @queerarthub to submit your art! 🌈
Queer art and queer artists is essential for fostering diversity, inclusivity, and authentic representation. At Queer Art Hub, we see the significance of supporting queer visual artists and how individuals and communities can contribute to promoting queer art within the world of visual art.
Supporting Queer Visual Artists in the Art Community Ensuring the livelihood and continued visibility of queer visual artists involves recognizing and valuing their unique perspectives and contributions. By attending exhibitions, galleries, and art fairs showcasing queer visual art, we can show support and appreciation. Additionally, purchasing artworks from queer visual artists directly or through galleries not only provides financial support but also helps to amplify their voices and visibility within the art world.
Some notable queer visual artists in the fine art world include:
Catherine Opie – Known for her powerful and thought-provoking photography exploring themes of identity, community, and visibility within the LGBTQ+ community.
Felix Gonzalez-Torres – Renowned for his conceptual art exploring themes of love, loss, and queerness, often through minimalist installations and sculptures.
Mickalene Thomas – Celebrated for her vibrant and dynamic paintings and collages that challenge traditional representations of gender, race, and sexuality.
Wider Community Support In addition to individual support, the LGBTQI+ community can contribute to promoting queer art and artists by advocating for increased representation and visibility. This can involve encouraging galleries, museums, and cultural institutions to include queer artists in their exhibitions and collections. Furthermore, supporting organizations and initiatives dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusivity in the arts, such as the Queer Britain museum project, the arts, culture and social action charity Queercircle, and QUEER|ART, a non-profit arts organization serving a diverse and vibrant community of LGBTQ+ artists across generations and disciplines, helps to create more opportunities and platforms for queer visual artists to thrive.
Supporting queer visual art within the fine art community is a collective effort that requires both individual action and community support. By recognizing and valuing the contributions of queer visual artists, attending exhibitions, and advocating for increased representation, we can create a more inclusive and diverse artistic landscape where queer voices are celebrated and valued. Together, we can continue to amplify queer narratives and challenge societal norms through visual art in the fine art world.
This January, queer art and artists were trending hot 🔥! We saw the most popular LGBTQI+ themed art on our platform trend sensual, sexual and focused on the beauty of the human body. See below for this month’s picks:
BOBBY ABATE (Brooklyn, NY)
Bobby is a Queer artist, filmmaker and editor. His work has been featured at prestigious venues such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the New York Film Festival, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, the San Francisco Cinematheque, and the ICA in London and most recently at International Objects in NYC. In 2023, Bobby was an artist-in-residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Art Space on Governor’s Island and was awarded the DVAA artist fellowship. Bobby holds an MFA degree from Bard College. As an editor, Bobby worked on seasons 3 and 4 of the Queer docuseries We’re Here on HBO, which recently won Peabody and Television Academy awards, in addition to creating animations for the renowned drag performer Sasha Velour. In 2021, Bobby self-published The Outsider Tarot featuring 80 original artworks that reimagine the traditional Tarot in a modern, queer context. This deck and 200-page guidebook were presented at the Whitney Museum, Participant INC., and Miami MoCA, sold at Artbook in PS1 MoMA Queens, and are part of the permanent collection at the Fine Arts Library of Harvard University. www.sweetkitty.com
Since 2016 Brandy has been running the gayest lil’ gift shop in all the land. Her collection of art includes over 350 pieces aiming to bring representation to the LGBTQIA+ community. Her artwork has been in Vogue, Vanity Fair, World Of Interiors, Netflix’s Snowpiercer Season 3, The Toronto Star, Vancouver Is Awesome, Georgia Straight, and an LGBTQ TV show shot in Los Angeles.
The product line has extended to home goods, clothing, as well as posters, canvas prints, sassy sapphic candy, and greeting cards. She has also written and illustrated 2 children’s books. June 2022 was her first solo art exhibit in Vancouver, Canada.
Find Brandy at many local community events including Vancouver Pride, The East Vancouver Dyke March, East Side Pride, and various community art shows including the curated Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival, the curated Next show at the Cultch, Out Of Control at The Pendulum, and as a vendor at the 2022 Vancouver Mural Festival.
Previously, Brandy was a fashion designer for many major brands and graduated from The Fashion Institute Of Design And Merchandising in Los Angeles. She worked in Los Angeles, New York, London England, and many other places before becoming a costumer in the film industry. Now she is out of the closet and runs The Gayest Lil’ Gift Shop In All The Land! https://brandymarsdesigns.com/
Taurus is an artist born in Buenos Aires Argentina. His illustrations are a reflection of his imagination, all made by hand. He eroticizes the insinuation, which is why the bodies he draws are never completely naked. As a Tom of Finland fan, he also believes he only knows a drawing turned out well if it gave him a boner.
Marco is Italian born, London based. After graduating in Fashion Studies, he pursued a career in the fashion industry. He started studying and practising art in 2017, and moved to the UK in 2019. His interests include queer history, philosophy and literature. marcopiccari.com
Bastiaan is a Dutch painting artist/ illustrator based in Rotterdam. He already drawed and painted all of his life but his art educatief he got at the Academie of Antwerp, Belgium (1986-1991, Illustration Design). For many years his art came second next to the job that paid the bills.
From 2016 on, he painted daily and from that time, his website went live, and he began to hold exhibitions more regularly. Bastiaan works with live models but is also inspired by existing photos. Bastiaan’s painting in various subject, but the male figure is absolutely the largest part and that is also what the world knows of him. He will get to be 70 this year! www.bastiaanmol-art.com
Make sure you also check out our first Queer Artist Feature, featuring Montreal-based artist Osvaldo Uribe. Our series will continue regularly to spotlight queer art and showcase the faces, minds and souls of queer artists and creatives.
Queer Art Hub supports LGBTQ+ artists from all backgrounds across the world. Our mission is to forward the diversity of queer art in all forms. Contact us or DM on @queerarthub to submit your art! 🌈
For the first of our monthly queer artist feature series, we are shining a spotlight on Montreal-based artist, Osvaldo Uribe! Queer Art Hub had the chance to ask him a few exclusive questions about his most recent artwork – read on to find out more:
Growing up in Valparaiso, Chile, Osvaldo focused on Greek history in school, and went on to study Graphic Design. Now residing in Montreal, Canada, he builds digital products during the day and dedicates his time to painting.
Osvaldo’s art has a Fauvist touch, and focuses on men and their personal growth.
What is one thing you want people to know about your art?
I want people to understand that my art is about accepting ourselves as we are, and it is not necessarily erotic, as many may assume due to the inclusion of nudity in my work.
(From left to right): “Control Your Fire” (2024), digital – Procreate, Mexico; “Thank You” (2023) digital – Procreate, Mexico; “Broken Heart” (2024) digital – Procreate, Mexico
What is the story and/or the inspiration behind creating these pieces?
These pieces are part of a story I’m writing. The story is set in a world where women have been extinguished from our world, but they rule it from the sky as gods. Men are trying to find balance in their way of living and behaving.
I truly believe that in this day and age, many men are broken. They carry too much trauma, face excessive judgement, lack love, and most importantly, lack self-love.
These pieces have an educational purpose. I aim to showcase that bodies are not something negative. We are all different, and we should embrace our uniqueness. I want men to appreciate nature, to love flowers, to learn to express gratitude, and to control their emotions, or fire (as depicted in “Control Your Fire”).
What are the themes or messages that tie your pieces together in this series?
They all live inside the same world that I’m creating. In the future, I would love for other artists to contribute to this world, where men live in the nude, connect with nature, and provide support and respect to each other.
Osvaldo Uribe’s artwork has caught the attention of queer art collectors by storm. This collection had already been sold before he finished the paintings. However, he informed us that he is continuing to produce to ensure that he can meet demand. In any case, interested buyers can find previous collections on his Gallea page.
Each month, we will feature a queer artist in the disciplinaries of painting, sculpture, photography, music, and more, and a selection of their vibrant works and the stories behind them.
In 2024, we hope that doors for queer artists will continue to open, to occupy more spaces and newfound opportunities.
Based on current trends, these are our predictions:
Queer art will continue to flourish with dynamic trends that redefine boundaries and celebrate diversity. Queer artists and creatives will explore fluid identities, integrate technology into their expressions, and champion intersectionality.
And as uncertainty continues to rattle all corners of the world, themes of activism will resonate strongly, further emphasizing the transformative power of queer and LGBTQI+ voices in fostering social change through art.
Queer artist run not-for-profit Pink Ember Studio (Melbourne) held a letter writing and banner painting event to protest the continuing genocide of Palestinian people in January.
Adding to that, nostalgia intertwines with resiliency as queer communities reflect on the past while envisioning inclusive futures.
Carving queer spaces, both physical and digital, will become focal points for artistic exploration.
This year at the 2024 London Art Fair, guest curator Gemma Rolls-Bentley presented ‘A Million Candles, Illuminating Queer Love and Life‘, showcasing artwork and artists from QUEERCIRCLE, Guts Gallery, TIN MAN and more.
Additionally, the emergence of ecoqueer art reflects a growing commitment to environmentalism within the queer creative community. These trends collectively contribute to a new, vibrant and evolving landscape not just in the queer art world, but offer a rich tapestry of experiences for global audiences and fellow creatives alike.
