Getty to Survey Queer Photography
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| W. & D. Downey, Portrait of Oscar Wilde, 1889. Getty Museum |
Two upcoming exhibitions at the Getty Center will take a historical approach to gay and lesbian art. "Queer Lens: A History of Photography" (June 17–Sep. 28, 2025) will span the 19th century to the present day. A companion exhibition at the Getty Research Institute, "$3 Bill: Evidence of Queer Lives" (June 10, 2025–TBA) will draw from archives of gay artists and organizations. "Queer Lens" will have a catalog, edited by Paul Martineau of the Getty and Ryan Linkof of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
The Getty Museum's photography department has recently been acquiring works by LGTBQ+ artists, including Laura Aguilar, Jess T. Dugan, Lola Flash, Duane Michals, Pierre et Giles, and Arthur Tress. Shown is an 1889 portrait of Oscar Wilde by the Victorian studio of William and Daniel Downey, purchased in 2023.
Comments
Not too different from LACMA placing the works of contemporary artists based outside of the US or Europe not in the Broad gallery but in the former Ahmanson-Hammer-Anderson (or Art of Americas) galleries. Or an oddly condescending way of doing things: "Asian-black-Latino artists shouldn't be lumped together with contemporary artists from Europe and North America! Non-whites are way too different. They're so strange and inscrutable!"
I put a letter to The New York Times in 2023 on the topic. I append it, below:
To the Editor:
Re “In October, Johnson Said U.S. Culture Is ‘Depraved’” (news article, Nov. 18):
Mike Johnson, the new House speaker, publicly lamented last month that this country’s culture was “so dark and depraved it almost seems irredeemable,” casting blame for this largely on the L.G.B.T.Q. community.
Moreover, Mr. Johnson then “choked up” as he led a call in prayer, beseeching, “We repent for our sins individually and collectively.”
Omit me and my proudly queer ilk from your collective flagellations, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker!
Hate under the cloak of religious piety can only lead to depraved violence, a far greater sin.
Ted Gallagher
New York