Project: PRIDE • 50th Anniversary of Stonewall • 2019
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Stonewall Uprising, which are often referred to as the watershed of the gay liberation movement, I created a series of artworks.
In contrast to the rainbow bright branding of our community, I took a darker approach to recognize the struggles that our people had to go through in order to achieve freedom from oppression and recognition as equal citizens.
Though not the first time that LGBTQIA+ people organized politically in response to being attached, The Stonewall Riot was a 6 day protest that inspired the formation of many gay rights groups across the United States.
Click on the images below to enter into ‘a closer look’ gallery page.
Q&A
How did these works impact your art practice?
A connection to the past has always been important to my understanding of my self and my community. These two works inspired me to paint gay men who felt like lost mentors and kindred spirits from before my time. With hindsight, I see that these works were the spring board that would eventually lead me to my current LGBT Legacy artworks.
Who are some of the figures in these subsequent portraits?
Harry Hay, Yukio Mishima, Quentin Crisp, Christopher Isherwood, Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III), Lennie Dale, and Steven Arnold to name a few.
