The United States has entered an unprecedented time of uncertainty. For queer and trans Americans, finding joy and reprieve from the onslaught of negative news may be what keeps many of us going.
However, nothing brings people together like art. Nothing inspires action and emotion like art. That’s why, in these uncertain times, it is more important than ever to focus on creativity and expression. A wonderful work of creativity will outlast all of us, and it will continue to leave impacts on generations to come.
This is certainly the case for some classic queer and trans artists. Their work has remained timeless, and they have inspired countless other artists to follow along the same path while also sparking hope for many in the community.
It’s inevitable Keith Haring is mentioned in any list of queer artists. Up until his death in 1990 from AIDS-related complications, Haring was a pioneer in queer activism and art. His highly recognizable style is present in murals, clothing and architecture around the world, not just in the United States.
As an openly gay artist, Haring used his platform to advocate for safe sex and awareness around the AIDS epidemic in the late 1980s. His work was made more commercialized once he opened his Pop Shop in 1986, and by then, he was more immersed in political commentary. He founded the Keith Haring Foundation in 1989 to provide funding to nonprofits, which would then go on to educate the public about HIV. His work had an immense impact on public awareness around AIDS and homosexual rights.
Another artist who was vital to the queer community around this time was Felix González-Torres. His art took on a variety of mediums, and he tended to be more minimalist than Haring’s colorful, graffiti-like style. While most of his works are untitled to leave them more open to interpretation, many audiences agree that he often tackled political and social themes in his art.
One of González-Torres’s most famous pieces is “Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.).” The piece is named after his partner Ross Laycock, who died of AIDS-related complications in 1991. This piece can be replicated in many museums at one time, and takes the form of a massive pile of wrapped candy with an ideal weight of 175 pounds.
In each exhibition with this piece, the amount of candy varies, but visitors are always encouraged to take pieces of candy from the pile. While the true meaning hasn’t been confirmed, the name suggests that the piece is meant to portray Laycock’s deterioration from AIDS. According to the Art Story Foundation, the piece may also be meant to symbolize the way society is complicit in the destruction of the queer community, shown by unwrapping and eating the candy.
While Haring and González-Torres worked to raise political awareness, Greer Lankton was an artist who worked to express herself. After coming out as transgender and undergoing surgery at the age of 21, Lankton became very interested with the human physique, body and shape. She had been making dolls since she was a child, and that interest only expanded the older she got.
Lankton’s work often explored gender and sexuality in the most literal sense, as she crafted many surreal and lifelike dolls of various body types. She focused on the unorthodox figure, which drew attention to those in society who may have felt like outcasts. Throughout the 1980s, she used her creations to express the way she felt about her own body and sex change.
Lankton was a unique and bold transgender artist who paved the way for many artists like her to keep exploring their own gender and sexuality in their art. Though Lankton passed in 1996 at the age of 38 from a drug overdose, her work lives on in permanent installations — the most notable being in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The impact these artists, among many others, have had on current society cannot be understated. Whether it be for social, political or sexual awareness, they all were part of a larger social movement that opened doors for many other queer artists. They served as examples and inspirations for queer people, and they spread awareness and acceptance among non-queer audiences.
This article appeared in print on Page 11 of Vol. LIX Issue X, published Feb. 10, 2025.
