“Post queer?: gender, sexuality and subversion of legibility”
While the Republican and Democratic national platforms both advocate sexual censorship, mainstream television (“Will and Grace” won the Emmy) and fashion advertising (leather, leather, leather) suggest a general loosening of social restrictions. In an age when gender play marks national advertising campaigns and sexuality constantly leaks through normative barriers, even on prime time television, this panel interrogates what is to become of queerness. Once identical with the emergence of a dangerously disruptive desire along numerous axis -- gendered, erotic, even familial to name but a few -- queerness is increasingly revealed as a category with its own limitations and codes. Indeed, in some quarters queerness is assaulted by a “post queer” generation as almost reactionary, merely seeding the re-inscription of heteronormativity as the sole dominant field of social contestation. When, how and why did this draining of queerness -- disruptive potential -- at least in certain circles -- occur? Are we queerer today, which is to say capable of issuing a powerful social challenge, when heterosexuals adopt the once exclusive properties of queerness then when queer do? Has queerness been co-opted and thus enervated or has it mainstreamed and thus made all the more powerful?
This panel will present an opportunity for an in-depth examination of the artists’ role in forging the ever-changing discourse around disruptive desires. Premised on an expansive view of queerness, it will consider both the production and reception of what a post-queer politics could look like. Papers are welcome that examine individual artists and their works, collective artistic production, performance as well as film, Internet and electronic media.
Another accepted session was proposed by Tee Corinne (tcorinne@magick.net) and Sherman Clarke (sherman.clarke@nyu.edu). This panel will address “How do lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered artists address the nude?”
The nude as a subject of works of art conveys and reflects multiple meanings. Along with the love of form, there may be a love of the specific person(s) portrayed. Content may be coded or transparent. New scholarship on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered artists expands the options for understanding the human body in their work. Also open for consideration is the use of the nude as a signifier of sexuality. This panel will examine nude imagery thorugh the lens of same-sex desire and/or self-presentation in order to gain a more inclusive understanding of how a traditional subject is handled by artists with differing queer sensibilities.
The official call for participation will come out from CAA headquarters soon and potential participants should contact the session chairs.
Small works exhibit on the theme of “Gay and lesbian marriage (weddings, commitment ceremonies, etc.)” will be held at the Barbara Ann Levy Gallery, Cherry Grove, NY from May 24-June 17, 2001. All media will be accepted. Sculptors must supply their own pedestals if needed. Entry fee: $25 per artist; $5 per slide over 2-slide limit. Include a SASE for notification of acceptance. Deadline for entries: 1 January 2001. More info from Barbara Ann Levy Gallery, 453 West 17th St., New York 10011 212-645-7810 levyb@excite.com
Art Group for Lesbian + Gay Artists organizes shows, has a newsletter and slide registry, meets monthly, etc. $20 for artist/general membership. More info from the group at P.O. Box 1486, Old Chelsea Station, New York, NY 10113-1486 or artgroup_nyc@yahoo.com or http://www.artgroupnyc.com
Call for Papers: “The state of feminism in visual culture” is the theme of the Ninth Front Range Art Symposium, sponsored by the Denver Art Museum’s College Advisory Committee, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, to be held at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center on September 28 & 29, 2001. The College Advisory Committee invites proposals from art historians, artists, and performative arts scholars for 20-minute papers/presentations that address the current and future condition of feminism in visual culture. We desire proposals that look critically at feminist visual culture, whether through analyzing existing practices or proposing new directions. Concurrent with the symposium, two related exhibitions will be opening at the museum, Judy Chicago’s ”Trials and tributes,” a traveling exhibition of Chicago’s drawings and Senga Nengudi’s site-specific installation/performance, “Masking it.” Nengudi is an African-American performance artist active since the 1970s in Los Angeles and New York. Send a one-page abstract and short c.v. by May 1, 2001 to Joanna Roche, Program Chair, Ninth Front Range Symposium, Dept. of Visual and Performing Arts, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, 80933. Email questions to jroche@mail.uccs.edu
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