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Artworks that explore sexual identiy may include the experiences, sociopolitical struggles, and ideas associated with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender identities. While homosexuality was embraced in Classical Greece, as evident in the era’s philosophy and artwork, throughout most of history it has been rejected and persecuted. Artworks that explore non-heterosexual identities have consequently often done so implicitly, such as Marsden Hartley's Portrait of a German Officer, in which the artist depicts his lover using abstract insignia. Later, subtle references to homosexuality appeared in the works of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg—who were lovers and collaborators—and the gay icon Andy Warhol developed a signature camp aesthetic. With the arrival of the AIDS crisis in the 1970s and ‘80s, numerous members of the art community lost their lives, and homosexuality became an overt, politicized theme; Nan GoldinFelix Gonzalez-TorresKeith Haring, and David Wojnarowiczfound unique means of expressing the tragedies and struggles of this period. While political activism is still a central practice among many queer artists, others have addressed these issues in terms of theory or self-identity.

hannah HÖCH

Hannah Hoch was a lesbian who explored gender and androgyny in her photomontages, some of which combine images of males and females.

hoch

agnes MARTIN

Agnes Martin created artworks that seemingly removed her own identity - however, she was exploring her own feelings and self with a Zen Buddhist approach.

Martin

david HOCKNEY

Hockney was open with expressing his sexual identity in his paintings and drawings. 

hockney

IDENTITY

gilbert & george

They object to their work being described as homo-erotic, claiming it is just "erotic". "Sex is just sex. When you ask for a steak in a restaurant you don't ask whether it is a girl or a boy."

gilbert &george

keith HARING

Haring infused his identities as a gay man and an activist for his community in his artwork. He did so in a street graffiti style, further linking his art to his identity.

haring

robert MAPPLETHORPE

Robert Mapplethorpe explored sexual identity in explicit ways through his photography and gender identity in his cross-dressing portraits.

mapplethorpe

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