Queer-Ish Art Exhibition
Queer-ish: Photography and the LGBTQ+ Imaginary
Photographic Celebration of LGBTQ+ Identity and Expression
Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College
Oct 28, 2023 – December 15, 2023
Curated by interdisciplinary artist and Scripps College Fletcher Jones Chair in Art Ken Gonzales-Day, Queer-ish showcases historic vernacular photographs—snapshots of everyday life and subjects—highlighting moments of same-sex affection alongside contemporary photographs by LGBTQ+ artists. These images encourage viewers to consider the link between photography, representation, and LGBTQ+ communities, as well as the role of the photograph in shaping notions of queer identity.
This exhibition focuses on the role of photography in the queer movement and queer art history. Professor Gonzalez-Day curated this event largely from his private collection, a series of works found on eBay, in vintage stores and flea markets, and collected from friends through the last twenty-plus years he has been collecting. This exhibition is a remarkable display of queer history captured in a way that is rarely seen, queer moments from a time before queerness was explicitly documented, and queerness in spaces that we don’t always see them in.
The exhibition includes works by Laura Aguilar, Ohan Breiding (SC ’06), Bruce of Los Angeles (Bruce Bellas), Rick Castro, Claude Cahun (w/ Marcel Moore), Tammy Rae Carland, Zackary Drucker & Rhys Ernst, Ken Gonzales-Day, John K. Hillers, Taizo Kato, Molly Landreth (SC ’01), Bob Mizer, Pierre Molinier, Catherine Opie, Pau S. Pescador, Marcel Pardo Ariza, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Pacifico Silano, Annie Sprinkle, Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden, and Austin Young.