Disciplines
American Art and Architecture | Arts and Humanities | Contemporary Art | History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Death is something that everyone, regardless of any arbitrary divisions, will inevitably have to experience. For a variety of reasons, queer mourning is not practiced the same way that straight society does - it manifests as raw anger at the society around them. Deconstruction and queer theory perspectives reveals political, social, and artistic strategies that inform recent visual art practice. Examinations of the work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres and John Boskovich, informed by queer theory perspectives, highlight similarities in the process of queer mourning in the late 20th century. In addition, discussion of the tale of Achilles and Patroclus recorded in the Iliad will demonstrate the persistence of these characteristics in queer art since antiquity. Art has been made to reflect grief for millenia. Queer art made for mourning is filled with a white-hot rage, one that is not easily abated by tears and condolences. Queer mourning art stings, often because it is explicitly meant to.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
COTA - Art and Design
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Diana McClintock
Included in
American Art and Architecture Commons, Contemporary Art Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons
But What is Troy: Art in Queer Mourning
Death is something that everyone, regardless of any arbitrary divisions, will inevitably have to experience. For a variety of reasons, queer mourning is not practiced the same way that straight society does - it manifests as raw anger at the society around them. Deconstruction and queer theory perspectives reveals political, social, and artistic strategies that inform recent visual art practice. Examinations of the work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres and John Boskovich, informed by queer theory perspectives, highlight similarities in the process of queer mourning in the late 20th century. In addition, discussion of the tale of Achilles and Patroclus recorded in the Iliad will demonstrate the persistence of these characteristics in queer art since antiquity. Art has been made to reflect grief for millenia. Queer art made for mourning is filled with a white-hot rage, one that is not easily abated by tears and condolences. Queer mourning art stings, often because it is explicitly meant to.