"The history of queer culture is punctuated by dustbins and bonfires - much has been deliberately destroyed or simply unpreserved... photograph albums rescued from junk shops, drawings and negatives smuggled out of the house of a dying lover - before a family can arrive to scour away any evidence of a life that was less than fully heterosexual." (Barlow 2017:17).
Because of the "dustbins and bonfires" the history of Queer culture is patchy and often suppressed or ignored by historians. This exhibition brings to one place a number of works by British LGBTQ (Queer) artists, spanning the period 1861 to 1967; from the abolition of the death penalty for sodomy (the death penalty! for having sex!) to homosexuality being decriminalised in the United Kingdom.
Coded Desires
Against a backdrop of oppression, secrecy and victimisation, Queer artists have made their art. The first part of the exhibition is arranged around "Coded Desires". Although many Queer artists were accepted in bohemian circles they still had to be very careful when making art for public consumption - being too overt was generally frowned upon. Earlier works from the period tended to concentrate on the male nude using the aesthetic style of Greek and Roman antiquity or from religious stories. There was already an established tradition of male and female nudes in painting so "coded desires" often went unnoticed by the general viewing public although sometimes critics from the newspapers would place knowingly barbed comments in their reviews:
"In style there is something seductive, but it is not masculine."
"That repulsive sentiment that too frequently marks Solomon's compositions."
The Bride, Bridegroom and Sad Love - Simeon Solomon, 1865.
It is stated in the exhibition catalogue that Solomon's "The Bride, Bridegroom and Sad Love" depicts the relegation of the bridegroom's male lover to the shadows. The groom's hand is touching the groin and stroking the palm of the angel figure. According to the catalogue a palm being scratched is an indication of lust - although I've not heard of this before symbol. To me this composition indicates that while the groom appears to show affection for his new wife his hand indicates where his sexual desire is really focused.
Crafted objects were also displayed alongside paintings and sculpture. This cup made by Charles Robert Ashbee for his homosexual friend James Headlam bears the inscription "To the ancient, from CRA, on the mournful occasion of his transition into matrimony." The handle and stem appear to show stylised balls and a penis.
Twin handled cup - Charles Robert Ashbee, 1893
Public Decency:
This section holds some of the artifacts relating to the trial and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde in 1895. His cell door from Reading Gaol hangs on the gallery wall and is a striking object. To take such a banal item and change its use; to make it an artistic statement of oppression for LGBTQ people is really quite powerful. This object has actually solved some visual problems that I've been thinking about in regards to an upcoming assignment in my body of work. The famous calling card that the 9th Marquis of Queensberry left, accusing Wilde of being a "sodomite" is also on show - along with photographs and letters between Wilde and his young lover Alfred Bruce Douglas.
These artifacts are pertinent to the exhibition as they show that although LGBTQ artists are given a certain free reign in bohemian circles, they can easily overstep the bounds and end up as targets for blackmail and victimisation.
Cell door, Reading Gaol - National Justice Museum, Nottingham.
Bloomsbury and Beyond
The Bloomsbury group of artists and writers famously "lived in squares and loved in triangles". In 1911 Duncan Grant was commissioned to create a mural for the dining room of Borough polytechnic. The naked swimmers are shown diving into the Serpentine, a well known hangout for homosexual men. The mural of a muscular naked man as he dives, swims, and climbs into a boat made some critics uncomfortable. "The National Review described the dining room as a 'nightmare' which would have a degenerative effect on the polytechnic's working -class students." (Jones 2017:99)
Duncan Grant lived with Vanessa Bell at Charleston in East Sussex and had a number of homosexual lovers; one of them, Paul Roche, who Vanessa Bell did not approve of was forced to camp on the South Downs and wasn't allowed inside Charleston. The famous economist John Maynard Keynes, bought a house with his wife adjoining the Charleston farm to be close to Grant.
Bathing - Duncan Grant, 1911.
Defying Convention
Claude Cahun's photographs depict the interaction between the body and the natural world. Her self portraits are staged, often made on the coast or in the grounds of the home that she shared with her life partner, Suzanne Malherbe. Cahun's explorations can be seen as a way to work out issues of gender identity. Originally named Lucy, Cahun swapped to the masculine Claude and published a book on the themes of gender identity in the form of poems and montage. Cahun continued to use feminine pronouns and indications of her ambiguous gender-fluid identity are further noted when she states that "Neuter is the only gender that always suits me". (Young 2017:130).
I Extend My Arms - Claude Cahun, 1931-2.
Physique and Photography
Gay culture was still underground in the 1950s and 60s. Police attempts to stamp out homosexual behaviour meant that body building magazines were often extremely popular under the guise of health and fitness. Many of the photographers were themselves homosexual and the small ads in such magazines often enticed readers with the option to buy full frontal nudes and 'action' shots of the same models. Using the public postal system to send illegal images was often highly risky and photographers and recipients were sometimes caught and jailed. This practice almost completely died out when magazines specialising in Gay porn became more readily available in the 1970s.
Physique Photograph - unknown photographer, c1950s.
Queer British Art 1861 - 1967 is an extensive show and features work from artist's too numerous to mention here; the paintings of Francis Bacon and David Hockney; Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell's subversive art practice of doctoring book covers from the public library before returning them to stock. There are also categories dealing with LGBTQ input into the world of theatre and female impersonation. This show and its accompanying catalogue will be a useful reference point for me when researching hidden history and LGBTQ artists that are often sidelined or pushed into the shadows.
References:
Barlow, C. (2017) Queer British Art 1861 - 1967. Tate Publishing: London.
Jones, E (2017) Queer British Art 1861 - 1967. Tate Publishing: London.
Young, L (2017) Queer British Art 1861 - 1967. Tate Publishing: London.
