2017 Art Essay
“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!”
– Robert Burns
Guided at first by Robert Burns’ wish for a gift “to see ourselves as others see us,” we have moved through existential needs for what Malreaux termed “images powerful enough to deny our own nothingness,” and arrive in a new age. Summarizing the modern point of view neatly in his powerful Masters thesis for OCAD University, Henrique Alves de Assis sees the phenomenon of the ‘gay selfie’ as, among many other things, “a type of positive image-construction.”
As I have warned in a recent Op-Ed piece for Gay City News, how we construct this image is of profound importance in our “America Made Great Again – where bullying has made new inroads into what is acceptable behavior, and a great dumbing-down of the populace is accepted as pleasing to the masses.” Never easy, the problems of self image for LGBT people have suddenly become critical. To all who grapple with these questions we dedicate this season’s topic:
PERSONAL VISIONS – In a time of crisis
– Louis Lopardi, Executive Director
This is a FREE service by All Out Arts, made possible through the generosity of New York City and the New York City Council. There are no fees to the artist or to viewers. There are no commissions due on sales. Please contact artists directly via the Visit The Artist tag.
The Exhibition is open to individual artists making an activist statement, as well as non-profit organizations of service to LGBT artists in their activism. To SUBMIT ART to this Exhibit click > HERE <
Visit the 2017 Gallery: PERSONAL VISIONS – In a time of crisis
"You Don't Want Kids?"
An Homage: Two Great Women: Kitty Tsui & Honey Lee Cottrell
She Aint A Child No More -2015
Three Graces
Multiplicity - Seth Fornea
alyssa anne - Evening Harvest, and others
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"You Don't Want Kids?"
- Rora Blue. From her feminist project: Handle With Care. "The photos aim to capture modern day sexism and some of the pressures that women face in society today. . . This series explores sexist comments that have affected me personally. I want to open up this series and incorporate other people's experiences into new photos!” -
An Homage: Two Great Women: Kitty Tsui & Honey Lee Cottrell
FOR a profile of Kitty Tsui in the APIQWTC magazine: http://www.apiqwtc.org/phoenix-award-honoree/kitty-tsui/ "Kitty Tsui is the quintessential Renaissance woman: author, activist, artist, actor, athlete. Her 1983 groundbreaking WORDS OF A WOMAN WHO BREATHES FIRE was the first book by a Chinese American lesbian; her second BREATHLESS – EROTICA won the Firecracker Alternative Book Award; her third, SPARKS FLY was penned by her alter ego Eric Norton, a gay leatherman." (APIQWTC provides opportunities for Asian & Pacific Islander queer women and transgender people) ;/ FOR a profile of the photographer/activist Honey Lee Cottrell: http://www.curvemag.com/News/Honey-Lee-Cottrell-Dies-659/ -
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She Aint A Child No More -2015
- Mick Thomas. "New York based artist Mickalene Thomas is admired for putting a female spin on same sex relationships within the African American community. Her large-scale canvases are dominated by black, female subjects coated in wild colours and costumes. . . Thomas introduces a complex vision of what it means to be a woman and expands common definitions of beauty. Her work stems from her long study of art history and the classical genres of portraiture, landscape, and still life." -
Three Graces
- Mick Thomas. "New York based artist Mickalene Thomas is admired for putting a female spin on same sex relationships within the African American community. Her large-scale canvases are dominated by black, female subjects coated in wild colours and costumes. . . Thomas introduces a complex vision of what it means to be a woman and expands common definitions of beauty. Her work stems from her long study of art history and the classical genres of portraiture, landscape, and still life." -
Multiplicity - Seth Fornea
Multiplicity series, - Roberto Araujo. "What would your younger-self think about you today? Sometimes we tend to make judgements about others without considering their circumstances. Relationships. Fashion. Political views. Faith. Can we look back at where we were 20 years ago and say with certainty that we are currently where we thought we were going to be?" - Roberto Araujo -
alyssa anne - Evening Harvest, and others
Evening Harvest, -by Alyssa Anne "alyssa anne is a self and community-taught artist whose creations are influenced by her daily social work and nightly dreams. As a child, she fell in love with portraits of all mediums by watching her grandmother paint and draw people in her Brooklyn studio. On canvas, her love for portraits and realism is combined with the surreal worlds that exist within her imagination ... Inspired by space and queerness, alyssa’s work aims to reclaim the body in a world that tries to dictate how our bodies should be ... " -
