I want to share this here and start a conversation about whether or not there is a 'gay Aesthetic' and if so, what does it look like? Strange Fruits: Bille, Bessie, Bayard, Baldwin and Basquiat - Art, Anger and the Search for a Black Gay Aesthetic by Max Gordon Sapience Magazine August 2005 In a 1983 interview, Basquiat was asked about anger in his work. “It’s about 80% anger,” he replied. The interviewer pressed him: “But there’s also humor.” Basquiat answered, “People laugh when you fall on your ass. What’s humor?” Noticing this kind of shadow rage creeping up in more of Basquiat’s art as the exhibit progressed, and enjoying the sarcasm, irony and bitter wit in his work, I also thought to myself, “I feel I am looking at the art of a black gay man.” http://artatsapience.blogspot.com
Now there's meat for an argument! I think it's possible to see something in art, such as sarcasm, irony and bitter wit, that would lead a person in the know to realize it is the art of a black gay man. The black experience is not mine, so I'm not going to address that part of it. However, gay men tend to share the experience of being alone, of being an outsider. We experience rage as a result of our isolation and the way so many people seem to hate gay people. We often spend much of our lives feeling like nobody gets us. To the degree that gay men share a common experience, I suppose it is possible for there to be art that reflects this experience. There will be some commonalities with lesbians to a lesser degree, and I think it's best to leave it up to lesbians on this board to address that side of the issue; they know what it's like to be a lesbian in a way I can't.
Southern trees bear a strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh I think, as a gay boy, it's this sense of the blues that draws me to Civil Rights movements of the sixties in America. James Baldwin appeals to me immensely as a writer. I see the blues as a bitter optimism - not as anger, but as solidity against the powerless that is felt as a minority. Worse, as an oppressed minority. Judging from the freedom of expression gay people have these days many people laugh if we claim to be oppressed. There's no doubting we've come a long way. But even in a liberal country like New Zealand my life is seriously negatively affected by my sexuality - the legalities of gaining and raising a family are still ridiculously complex - the issues of childhood education about sexuality are still ridiculously taboo. Progress is happening, but slowly. It is always slow. So here it is, this sense of mediocre emancipation. We are free, but only enough to be told we shouldn't complain.
