Queer Remembrance

and Perseverance

Alastair Friedrichsen

Art 4900: Contemporary Art History

Dr. Duran

March 1, 2023
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Exhibition: Queer Remembrance and Perseverance

Queer existence has been challenged and threatened by external forces like erasure and
disease, as well as the silencing of queer voices. This exhibition seeks to explore how queer
people have existed and suffered while finding strength and empowerment in their identities.
There is a small fraction of queer history presented here, but nonetheless, they are expressions
that have brought multiple communities together. Being queer means to experience powerful
losses that may not have happened yet. For some, being queer is another challenge they must
face on top of all their other identities. This is a documentation of people who have existed, and
they cannot be erased, even if some people in the world fight for the eradication of the queer
community. These works serve as a symbol of perseverance and solidarity among different
groups, and they fight against what is considered normal in a cis-heteronormative and white
society. The goal is to never let history repeat itself, and it’s a way to encourage people to uplift
and understand others, even when they are different. Each work represents a struggle, but the
viewer is allowed to participate in the pieces even if they may not relate (through interaction and
learning).
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Felix Gonzalez-Torres, “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), 1991

Gonzalez-Torres utilized common and unbranded candy to make his piece easily
reconstructed in gallery spaces. Each pile of candy from this particular piece weighs around 175
pounds. Viewers are allowed to take a candy, however, there are several meanings behind taking
from the pile. The viewer first takes the place of the AIDS virus as it attacks Gonzalez-Torres’
lover, Ross Laycock; the weight of the pile was his “ideal weight” before his illness.1 As candy
disappears, so does the weight and existence of the person it represents. Even though the pile
represents the effects of AIDS on a patient’s body, the candy represents the love and support that
is exchanged between the person afflicted and the person/people who stay by their side.2 It is a
silent way to say that the love between parties will always be there, even if the person succumbs.
The work also can be replenished.3 Candy can be added to the pile, but the cycle of depletion will
continue. This is what happened during the AIDS crisis with no way to slow down the disease as
politicians moved to cover up what was happening. The viewer is reminded of the suffering of
those who died, the love of those who took care of them, and the people who wanted to hide the
disease.

1
“’Untitled’ (Portrait of Ross in L.A.),” Art Institute of Chicago, accessed February, 28, 2023,
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/152961/untitled-portrait-of-ross-in-l-a.
2
"Why Did Félix González-Torres Put Free Candy In A Museum?," Publicdelivery.org, accessed February, 28,
2023, https://publicdelivery.org/felix-gonzalez-torres-untitled-portrait-of-ross-in-l-a-1991/.
3
“’Untitled’ (Portrait of Ross in L.A.).”
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Kent Monkman, mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People): Welcoming the Newcomers, 2019
In this Kent Monkman piece, he represents himself as his alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle
Testickle. He is following the style of traditional painting while bringing in modern themes. Miss
Chief Eagle Testickle is seen on the edge of a body of water, and she is welcoming European
colonizers onto land. She is a representation of the strength of Indigenous people as well as the
queer identities that have existed in Indigenous communities before European colonizers brought
religion and slavery to Indigenous lands.4 Monkman uses Miss Chief Eagle Testickle to express
himself as well as try to make his works more uplifting to viewers because of their dark themes. 5
His alter ego is meant to be a sense of empowerment, and the representation displays how the
gender binary and expressions of sexuality were different before Europeans came to the
Americas. The word “mistikôsiwak” is Cree for “wooden boat people,” and was once a term to
refer to French settlers; here, Monkman uses it to refer to all European colonizers. 6 Miss Chief
Eagle Testickle is a beacon of light and a hero in Monkman’s narrative as he creates a bridge
between past atrocities and how he works today to reestablish Indigenous perspectives in art.

4
“mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People): Welcoming the Newcomers,” The Met, accessed February 28, 2023,
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/830024.
5
Kent Monkman, "Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, Kent Monkman’s Alter Ego," last modified December 23, 2019,
https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles/2019/12/kent-monkman-miss-chief-eagle-testickle.
6
“mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People): Welcoming the Newcomers.”
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Lucas
LaRochelle, Queering the Map, 2017
LaRochelle’s goal with this website project was to create a space for queer people to
recall their experiences and track memories. Any queer person can anonymously drop a pin onto
a location and leave a comment about their lives. The goal is to document and leave a record of
how people feel; any visitor to the site can see a range of recollections from fear to hope. There
is a trace that other queer people have existed, and queer people who may feel lost are not alone
as they walk their path in life. There is a sense of community created on a digital platform, and
comments are posted by moderators as long as no personal information like names or addresses
are listed.7 LaRochelle also expresses that this project is to track queer space and geographies;
queer spaces break down the structures that are white, cisgender, heterosexual, colonial, classist,
and ableist.8 By building up this space and community, queer voices are amplified in a way they
cannot be silenced. Queer people who may not be able to express themselves openly where they
are can find a place here to share who they are and feel safe doing so. The map itself acts as a
queer space, much like “real-world” queer spaces.9

7
Lucas LaRochelle, “Queering the Map: On designing digital queer space,” in Queer Sites in Global Contexts, eds.
Regner Ramos and Sharif Mowlabocus (London: Routledge, 2020), 135.
8
LaRochelle, “Queering the Map: On designing digital queer space,” 137.
9
LaRochelle, “Queering the Map: On designing digital queer space,” 142.
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David Wojnarowicz, Fuck

You Faggot Fucker, 1984
Wojnarowicz, in this title, is repurposing a homophobic comic of the same name. Instead
of acknowledging the hatred that was spewed in the comic, the images shown here emphasize
queer experiences. The original homophobic comic focused on stereotypes. He shows an
example of queer reclamation of slurs through the title. The maps are a representation of the
queer spaces that queer people wish for; they are safe “utopias.”10 Yet, if the maps are
reconstructed as they are in the background, it can represent the hostile world that queer people
must face every day. It is a symbol of hope in a world that isn’t completely accepting of queer
identities; it represents a world that is still filled with danger. The men in the middle exist in their
own space and time, they celebrate their love away from the prying eyes of other people. The
images in the corners show that queer people have existed for many years, even if they have been
attacked and ridiculed for who they are. Wojnarowicz, being an AIDS victim himself, 11 created
this work after the epidemic in 1981; the celebration of queer love displayed here is a stark
contrast to the fearmongering that was present during the AIDS crisis.

10
Zachary Small, “A Torch Song for David Wojnarowicz, Who Powerfully Documented the AIDS Crisis,”
last modified July 13, 2018, https://hyperallergic.com/451092/david-wojnarowicz-history-keeps-me-
awake-at-night-whitney-museum/.
11
Small, “A Torch Song for David Wojnarowicz, Who Powerfully Documented the AIDS Crisis.”
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Zanele Muholi, ID Crisis, 2003

This work, from Muholi’s photo series called Only Half the Picture represents the
struggles of the black queer community in South Africa. In many places, being queer is still
considered a taboo subject. In this photo, a woman is seen binding down her chest; Muholi
captures the beauty of representation, but they also capture the harsh reality of needing to hide. 12
Through their photos, Muholi is combating the way that others show images of queer people in
public spaces; they don’t want to be the subject of debate, which is a topic in the queer
community. Queer identities are discussed among people that don’t understand them, and their
voices are drowned out by opinions. Muholi presents black queer bodies and black lesbians in
their photos to push back against the ways that queer people are represented. This work can
represent black lesbians needing to fit into heteronormative contexts, but it can double as a
transgender person trying to explore their identity and feel comfortable in their own skin. The
rest of the photos in the series are careful about respecting the privacy of the person being
photographed,13 something that many queer people don’t have the luxury of when they’re being
discussed.

12
Kerryn Greenberg, “Zanele Muholi: ID Crisis,” last modified March 2019,
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/muholi-id-crisis-p81289.
13
Greenberg, “Zanele Muholi: ID Crisis.”
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Cleve Jones and volunteers, Aids Memorial Quilt, 1985

Starting off as signs on the San Francisco Federal Building, Cleve Jones and other
helpers gathered the names of the people lost during the AIDS epidemic.14 This memorial served
as a way for people to mourn those who died and as an educational tool. It’s a visual
representation of the queer lives that were forever changed by the disease, and it’s a way to make
sure that this much queer loss never happens again. People advocate for equality in health with
each panel. With almost 50,000 panels, 110,000 people are forever memorialized in a display of
love and grief.15 There is not one single artist of the quilt; Cleve Jones originally came up with
the idea, however, the project has grown into a queer space of community as volunteers send in
their panels to add to it. It brings awareness to a disease that once had little information about it;
AIDS/HIV is not as stigmatized as it once was. People can receive medication for it now, but in
2018, it was reported that black gay and bisexual men have the highest number of new
diagnoses16, and those statistics reveal the lack of support still seen in marginalized communities.
As of 2020, 700,000+ people have lost their lives to the disease.17

14
"The History of the Quilt," National AIDS Memorial, accessed March 1, 2023,
https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt-history.
15
“The History of the Quilt.”
16
“The History of the Quilt.”
17
“The History of the Quilt.”
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Exhibition Summary
In an attempt to capture a few experiences of the queer community, there are still many
subjects and events that are missing as parts of queer history. Pushback against the queer
community happens to this day, so it is important to document history now in fear that it may be
erased or covered. The queer community has been built up by people who are apart of other
marginalized communities, and the community still feels the rippling effects and loss of the
AIDS crisis. Even though the community has suffered, they find peace among one another, and
there’s always a way to find other people who have similar stories of loss, grief, hope, and
persistence. People will band together and be there for one another, despite all of the threats
against queer people. Now, more than ever, this exhibition seeks to motivate people to stay
together with the continuous introduction of anti-queer legislation trying to suppress and harm
members of the community. Learning and being open are the first steps towards change, and
these pieces are a way to educate others who may not know about queer artists who have worked
tirelessly to be represented in digital and print media. Without education, the future of queer
spaces is uncertain.
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Bibliography

Art Institute of Chicago. "’Untitled’ (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)." Accessed February, 28, 2023.

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/152961/untitled-portrait-of-ross-in-l-a.

Greenberg, Kerryn. "Zanele Muholi: ID Crisis." Tate. Last modified March 2019.

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/muholi-id-crisis-p81289.

LaRochelle, Lucas. “Queering the Map: On designing digital queer space.” In Queer Sites in

Global Contexts, edited by Regner Ramos and Sharif Mowlabocus, 133-147. London:

Routledge, 2020.

Monkman, Kent. "Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, Kent Monkman’s Alter Ego." The Met. Last

modified December 23, 2019.

https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles/2019/12/kent-monkman-miss-chief-

eagle-testickle.

National Aids Memorial. "The History of the Quilt." Accessed March 1, 2023.

https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt-history.

Publicdelivery.org. "Why Did Félix González-Torres Put Free Candy In A Museum?." Accessed

February, 28, 2023. https://publicdelivery.org/felix-gonzalez-torres-untitled-portrait-of-

ross-in-l-a-1991/.

Small, Zachary. "A Torch Song for David Wojnarowicz, Who Powerfully Documented the AIDS

Crisis." Hyperallergic. Last modified July 13, 2018.

https://hyperallergic.com/451092/david-wojnarowicz-history-keeps-me-awake-at-night-

whitney-museum/.

The Met. “mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People): Welcoming the Newcomers.” Accessed

February 28, 2023. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/830024.