LGBTQIA+ Art : Home

Papi by Rodriguez, Oli "In Papi, I am revisiting the 1980s and 90s era of the AIDS epidemic. To reframe, reclaim and retell the history of so many queer men lost, the families of children that were affected and the queer spaces. This book incorporates photography, video performance and dialogues between queer, Latino communities and those ravaged by the AIDS pandemic, which is arguably everyone, considering the absence of the potential teacher, father, lover and friend. AIDS devastated these potential connections and these non-relationships are part of our daily mourning. Delving between constructs of queerness and familial relations, these visualizations are depictions of working class, mostly queer men and trans* people of color, who were devastated by the AIDS pandemic in Chicago. These visualizations are rooted in feminism, race/class/queer studies and the history of gender and sexuality. This artist book is integral because it reflects an era within the AIDS pandemic, specifically in Chicago and in the POC communities/neighborhoods that were affected. This is an invaluable worldview and provides a historical shift focusing on queerness within a familial framework. This book explores the multifaceted term queer, which constantly writhes and pushes boundaries, conversing with both historical movements and contemporary discourses. This project parallels time frames pivotal in existence, roughly pushing ideas of consent through incorporating the public as a collaborator. Papi includes writing, performance, installation, video and photography. It started as a performance where I sought out men who had sex with my Papi (dad). These encounters exist as video and text through emails, which are then printed as photographs. The landscapes are Public Cruising Spots that depict locations of previous cruising spaces, which were symptomatically reduced then lost with the rise of the Internet and the concurrent generational loss of queer/gay men to the AIDS epidemic. This project explores the affect and effect of technology on gay/queer hook up culture as well as a simultaneous conceptualization of generational loss in the era of the AIDS epidemic. I am interested in the present loaded contemporary landscape of these photographic sites and exploring the remnants, the changes, the barrenness and the historically lost subtext. These are green spaces no longer identifiable nor connected to their historical cruising roots. The rise of technology shifted the intimacies of these spaces. The photographic landscapes are evidence, they initially began with my Papi but ultimately begin a dialogue of the mass devastation of queer men during the AIDS epidemic. These are contemporary remains of 70s, 80s, and 90s public hookup spots in cities, Chicago, NYC, LA, Key West and Miami, these locations found through my Papi's archival images. These landscapes were documented with 110 film, a tourist film camera, a popular 80s medium in the reconstruction of this era. In addition to reshooting these landscapes, there is an archival component where I curated from thousands of his photographs that depict growing up in a gay disco with queers, kids and cats."--Oli Rodriguez, Candor Arts website. http://www.candorarts.com/goods/papi

We used to move through the city like doves in the wind : a short story by Hernández, Andrés "On March 20th, 2020, the US-Mexican border, the most heavily trafficked land port of entry in the world, was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unable to quarantine in the same household, families, friends & lovers were indefinitely separated."--Unnumbered page [11] "This book was risograph printed at Oddities Prints in Kansas City, MO. All digital pre-production was performed by Kelsey Borch."--Page [3] of cover. "'We used to move through the city like doves in the wind' delves into the narrator's experiences as a non-binary Mexican artist living at the border city of Tijuana during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking directly from personal journal entries, text messages, voice notes, and FaceTime conversations, this book poetically documents and explores displacement, confinement, loneliness, and the importance of love as a symbol of hope in the middle of chaos"--Women's Studio Workshop website, viewed December 7, 2021. "Printer: Golnar Adili, Aurora Brush, and Chris Petrone"--Women's Studio Workshop website.

I wish I never saw the sunshine by Silano, Pacifico American conceptual artist Pacifico Silano's practice is rooted in excavating the printed ephemera of gay culture to create new images that comment on loss, longing and queer melancholy. In particular, Silano uses the gestures of framing, cropping and layering vintage gay erotica to comment on the HIV/AIDS crisis and its reverberations on queer lives, which included the loss of the artist's uncle at the height of the epidemic. 'I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine' is Silano's first artists' book, and engages with an ambitious accordion-folded format that references Silano's photo-based installations: two twenty-panel long sequences that can be read as both one continuous collage and a sequence of individual images. Included in the book is an interview with the artist by José Diaz, Chief Curator of The Andy Warhol Museum. Publisher.

El Muro by Eduardo Hernandes Santo (Artist, Photographer) El Muro is a collection of ten offset triptych photographs and two bilingual essays by the artist and the Cuban ethnographer Abel Sierra. Eduardo Hernández Santos made these photographs of homosexuals, transgenders, and crossdressers in the summer of 2005 at Havana, Cuba¿s seafront wall. Taken together, the pictures in this book tell a remarkable story of human endurance and triumph. Hernández Santos presents his subjects not as passive players but as people who struggle (though more quietly than not) against discrimination even though such struggle is very risky. Working only at night, Hernández Santos developed his film with expired chemistry; he printed his images on outdated photo paper, then developed them with exhausted chemistry. His darkroom was his darkroom. He did this not out of choice but out of necessity. Once Hernández Santos made his prints, he used transfer lettering to literally press onto his images the words of the late, gay, Cuban poet and playwright, Virgilio Pinera. Late one night at 4:00am, on his way home from El Muro (The Wall), Hernández Santos was beaten and robbed of his camera. His project ended then and there. Born in 1966, Eduardo Hernández Santos graduated in printmaking from Academia Nacional de Artes He has made numerous series of photographic and mixed media collages, most notably Strong 2005 and Corpus-Frágile 2002 that address issues of gay identity. His work has been exhibited in the United States, Germany, Japan, Canada, Portugal, Spain and Cuba. He lives, works and teaches in Havana, Cuba.

Top : a comic about gender and surgery by Bloodgood, Rainer "In clear, evocative, down-to-earth comics, Rainer walks us through their medical path to top surgery, and offers wisdom for others who are considering the same procedure. They come out to their therapist, doctor, family, and cat, and walk us through some scripts for those conversations. They talk about hormones, binders, and all the various decisions and indecisions as they figured out what path they wanted to take. They give detailed accounts of their conversations with the surgeon and other medical professionals along the way, how they prepared for surgery, how they recovered, how loved ones provided support, and how it felt every step of the way. A seriously excellent resource and story--if you're transgender or nonbinary and contemplating a medical transition, this is like a detailed conversation with a friend who's been through it all. And if you're wondering how best to support the trans folks in your life, there's lots of good guidance and info in here, too."--Publisher's description. https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/1012 "This is comics at its finest. Not only does Bloodgood have an adorable art style, this comic zine discusses the realities of gender-affirming surgery. "Top surgery" refers to the removal of breasts often as a way of addressing gender dysmorphia. Bloodgood shares their experience of beginning testosterone, the process of being approved for top surgery, and the post-surgery care those who undergo this procedure require. This zine is full of helpful tips and encouragement from Bloodgood."--Community Radio Distro description. https://www.communityradiodistro.com/product/BLOODGOOD_001/7

Saving Seeds: Metaphors of Lesbian Growth by Weston, Jennifer.; Larned, Emily K. Originally published in 1987, Saving Seeds: Metaphors of Lesbian Growth, a special issue of Maize: A Lesbian Country Magazine, was created by artist and writer Jenna Weston as a tribute to "magical female-oriented gardens." From her Introduction: "I have found that, generally speaking, lesbian gardens are works of art. We make intricate designs with twine between sapling posts. Later, these weavings support tomato vines. Bright colored ribbons flutter from the tops of tall bean poles. Raised vegetable beds are sculpted into various graceful shapes. The winding paths are edged in pieces of broken pottery and stones we've found. We build altars in the centers of our gardens, and hold rituals between the onions and the lettuce." "I asked wimmin to send me drawings and photos and descriptions of their magical female-oriented gardens. The replies came from near and far, and make up a part of this book. The rest of the book contains poems and prose that came directly from my experiences as a gardener and a lesbian."

Mother Nature is a lesbian by Oakley, Be 3rd edition of Our Mother Nature is a Lesbian zine with essays and images initially created in 2018. From the zine: "The unique quality of hand-lettered signage reflects the urgency by which the objects were created for protest. Each protest sign photographed was crystallized to become emblematic of a precise moment. I wished to use the vernacular type extracted from the signs to expand upon that particular moment of protest." This project includes reprinting 12 works created using Mother Nature a Lesbian font. Each work becomes an ethical statement inspired by contemporary protest for queer and trans livelihood.

Radical visibility. Collective issue by Cubacub, Sky Lyrics book to the Radical Visibility Collective album, along with a photo spread for each model that the lyrics are about! The zine and collective are aimed at transgender, queer and disabled people, providing a non-mainstream fashion experience.

Transpire : transgender cancer patient anthology. by Transgender Cancer Patient Project Not alone / Van Binfa -- Vulnerable / Chelsea Brickham -- Transitioning thru cancer / Beau Kirkpatrick -- Nebulous & collaborative art and the therapy of creation from devastation / Elizabeth Kennedy -- Love, Sky / Sky Michelle -- First words / Montdsigns -- Breast cancer: a non-binary perspective & not courage, but survival / Angie Beckles -- Fill in the blank / Charlie Manzano -- The year it took to call it amputation & soft masc trans boy breast cancer blues / Eli Reynolds -- All my pieces / Roman Ruddick -- No future / Klera Moore.

Tenderness : a Black queer meditation on softness and rage by Hansteen-Izora, Annika, "What would it mean if tenderness could hold a simultaneous existence of joy and rage? How to call on tenderness as a practice of love, rather than a regurgitation of white supremacy? Author and writer Annika Hansteen-Izora explores answers in Tenderness: A Black Queer Meditation on Softness and Rage. A meditation, critical inquiry, and invitation to expand our imaginations on meanings of tenderness, this piece calls into question conceptions of tenderness that are rooted in desirability, anti-Blackness and white supremacy, and instead unfolds the potentials of tenderness as a tool, a balm, a healing agent, and a question to lean into"--Publisher's website.

The god within : Black queerness across the diaspora by Golden "A philosophical commonplace zine about Black queerness throughout the diaspora including anti-colonial/precolonial thinking on queer genders and sexualities."--Printed Matter, Inc., website

About Face by Jonathan D. Katz; Amelia Jones (Text by); Joshua Chambers-Letson (Text by); Dagmawi Woubshet (Text by) A unique survey of 350 artworks by a global and diverse array of LGBTQ+ artists - many underrecognized and overlooked - from the last 50 years Though the Stonewall Riots might now be shorthand for the start of the gay rights movement, so much of art and culture has been 'queer' since the beginning of time. In About Face, art historian and curator Jonathan D. Katz explores this concept head-on, curating a tapestry of works that connect historical threads and reveal how gender and sexual identity have been interwoven by artists contemporaneous to and since Stonewall. With more than 350 artworks by over 40 LGBTQ+ artists across nationalities and generations, and original texts by artists and scholars, About Faceis as stunning as it is important.

Anderson Zaca: Fire Island Invasion by Anderson Zaca (By (photographer)); Thom (Panzi) Hansen (Introduction by) Zaca's black & white pictures capture the joyous spirit of the event from start to finish, and also the effort that goes into it, the camaraderie and the decadence of the day. - Black & White Photography The 'Invasion', rooted in the rebellious spirit of the '70s gay liberation movement, represents a unique fusion of rebellion, glamour, and defiance of societal norms. Invasion of the Pines is an annual event that takes place on July 4th in Fire Island, New York. The inaugural invasion took place in 1976 when a drag queen was denied entry into a restaurant in The Pines and a group of her friends, also dressed in drag, stormed the island in protest. Since then, The Invasion has been repeated every year, with hundreds of drag queens descending on The Pines to commemorate and celebrate this original act of protest. Fire Island Invasion: Day of Independence by Anderson Zaca marks the 50th anniversary of this historic and cultural phenomenon. New York-based photographer Anderson Zaca (born 1976) began documenting The Invasion in 2007. Embraced by the community, he has experienced the evolution of this event year after year and honors the magic of this powerful spectacle. Shot using black-and-white film and a medium format camera, Zaca's work combines traditional and contemporary elements, showcasing the intricate details of each scene and capturing the beautifully contradictory nature of the individuals involved. With over three thousand images spanning almost two decades, Zaca's photographs serve as both an archive and a tribute to the transformative power of the art of drag during this iconic annual celebration.

David Wojnarowicz: Dear Jean Pierre by David Wojnarowicz (Editor); James Hoff (Editor); Cynthia Carr (Text by) An epistolary portrait of Wojnarowicz's formation as an artist and writer through his tender letters to his Parisian lover--with artwork, photographs and ephemera This volume collects David Wojnarowicz's transatlantic correspondence to his Parisian lover Jean Pierre Delage between 1979 and 1982. Capturing a truly foundational moment for Wojnarowicz's artistic and literary practice, these letters not only reveal his captivating personality--and its concomitant compassion, neuroses and tenderness--but also index the development of the visual language that would go on to codify him as one of the preeminent artists of his generation. Through this collection, readers are introduced to Wojnarowicz's Rimbaud series, his band 3 Teens Kill 4, the publication of his first photographs, his early friendship with Peter Hujar, his participation in the then-emerging East Village art and music scenes, and the preparations for the publication of his first book. Included with these writings are postcards, drawings, xeroxes, photo-graphs, collages, flyers, ephemera and contact sheets that showcase some of the artist's iconic images and work, such as the Burning House motif and Untitled (Genet, after Brassai). Beyond these milestones, the book offers a striking portrayal of Wojnarowicz as a 20-something detailing his day-to-day life with the type of unbridled earnestness that comes with his age and the softness of love and longing. This disarming tenderness provides a picture of a young man who is just beginning to find his voice in the world and the love he has discovered in it. Although the two exchanged letters in equal measure, Delage's correspondences have largely been lost, leaving us with only a revelatory glimpse into the internal world of Wojnarowicz during what turned out to be his formative years. Painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, songwriter and activist, David Wojnarowicz was born in Redbank, New Jersey, in 1954 and died of AIDS in New York in 1992. He authored five books, most famously Close to the Knives. Wojnarowicz attained national prominence as a writer and advocate for AIDS awareness and for his stance against censorship. His work is in numerous private and public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, among other institutions.

Deeply Human by Dominic Hauser; Martin J. V. Müller This carefully edited book offers a culturally and thematically unusual spectrum of photographic positions and perspectives that transcend established norms, codes, and visual imageries. Launched in 2009 as the first festival of its kind in Germany, Queer Festival Heidelberg has evolved into a notable fixture in the queer scene (and well beyond). As a platform for queer culture celebrating sexual and gender diversity, its mix of concerts, art shows, performances, readings, film screenings, and panel discussions attracts more than 10,000 visitors from across Germany and Europe every year. Since 2021, Germany's largest and oldest queer festival has enjoyed the support of the city of Heidelberg in the context of its membership in the Rainbow Cities Network. A comprehensive book on the annual photo competition that is held alongside the festival will be published this year to mark the event's 15th anniversary. It includes an extensive range of pictures and brief portraits representing a selection of the best entries of recent years. Thanks to the competition's changing focus and international appeal, the book offers a culturally and thematically unusual spectrum of photographic positions and perspectives that transcend established norms, codes, and visual imageries.

Little Joe : a book about queers and cinema, mostly by Ashby, Sam "The cult periodical 'Little Joe', published as a limited-edition zine from 2010 to 2021, challenged the mainstream narrative of film history with a rebellious, queer perspective. Rather than reviewing new releases, it explored forgotten and overlooked films and celebrated a diverse spectrum of cinema--from obscure art films to porn to Hollywood classics--as worthy of critical debate. Stubbornly print-only, 'Little Joe' was notoriously hard to find, privileging word-of-mouth distribution akin to the films it championed. This volume, compiled by editor-in-chief Sam Ashby, brings together the best of its previously elusive texts and proposes a new, alternative cinematic canon drawn from the fringes of taste and style."--Back cover.

Millie Wilson: the Museum of Lesbian Dreams by Millie Willson (Artist); David Evans Frantz (Editor, Text by); Amy L. Powell (Editor); Jill H. Casid (Text by) The first retrospective monograph for a legendary feminist artist and pedagogue who taught generations of artists at CalArts Accompanying the first retrospective exhibition showcasing three decades of work from Millie Wilson (born 1948), this publication delves into the influential, yet under-recognized, artist and educator whose work has deftly examined feminism, queerness and their historical erasure from art institutions. Her work joins 1980s postmodernism with the personally and politically charged conceptualism of the 1990s, reflecting a particularly unruly conception of queerness that emerged in California during these decades. The catalog highlights Wilson's appropriation of museum display practices and institutional authority, her art historical references to Dada and Surrealism, her sharp attention to gendered portrayals of sexual deviance in early 20th-century psychoanalysis and sexology, and her long-standing interest in bodies as contested sites. It also features newly commissioned scholarly essays by curator David Evans Frantz and scholar Jill H. Casid, a conversation among artists who studied with Wilson, and extensive new photographic documentation of Wilson's work. This book was published in conjunction with Krannert Art Museum

Nina Chanel Abney: Big Butch Energy/Synergy by Nina Chanel Abney (Artist); Alex Gartenfeld (Editor); Lauren Leving (Foreword by); Megan Lykins Reich (Foreword by); Cheryl Clarke (Text by) Combining representation and abstraction, Abney's vibrant works reference gender, sexuality and pop culture Committed to sharing social realities through fantastic, expansive forms, Nina Chanel Abney is an artist possessed of an iconic style and wit. Through stylized, cubistic and highly charged painterly symbols, she references radical traditions of graphic design and street art to communicate urgent political and cultural realities with immediacy to the largest possible audience. Abney's paintings and collages use dynamic color and form to draw viewers into complex narratives. Big Butch Energy/Synergy features Abney's recent exhibitions at ICA Miami and moCa Cleveland. In these works, Abney mines cinematic and media representations of student Greek life to explore how gender perception and performance is inspired by the legacies of social ritual and visual culture. The complex compositions reference scenes from popular slapstick comedy films such as National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and Porky's (1981), while citing traditions of Baroque portraiture and fraternity composites. Inspired by her experience as a masculine-of-center woman, with this body of work Abney asks how viewers gender a figure in a work of art. Nina Chanel Abney was born in 1982 in Harvey, Illinois, and is based in New York, where she attended Parsons School of Design. Abney's work is held in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Bronx Museum, New York; the Nasher Museum of Art, North Carolina; and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, among others. This book was published in conjunction with Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami/Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland

Portrait of a Body by Julie Delporte; Helge Dascher (Translator); Karen Houle (Translator) A portrait of flourishing desire in a body ever-changing As she examines her life experience and traumas with great care, Delporte faces the questions about gender and sexuality that both haunt and entice her. Deeply informed by her personal relationships as much as queer art and theory, Portrait of a Body is both a joyous and at times hard meditation on embodiment--a journey to be reunited with the self in an attempt to heal pain and live more authentically. Delporte's idyllic colored pencil drawings contrast with the near urgency that structures her confessional memoir. Each page is laden with revelation and enveloped in organic, natural shapes--rocks, flowers, intertwined bodies, women's hair blowing in the wind--captured with devotion. The vitality of these forms interspersed with Delporte's flowing handwriting hold space for her vivid and affecting observations. Skillfully translated by Helge Dascher and Karen Houle, Portrait of a Body provokes us to remain open to the lessons our bodies have on offer.

Queer Contemporary Art of Southwest Asia North Africa by Anne Marie Butler (Editor); Sascha Crasnow (Editor) New perspectives on queer visual culture in the SWANA region. With contributions from scholars and artists, this volume demonstrates that queer visual culture in Southwest Asia and the North Africa region is entering an era of exciting growth in its versatility and consciousness. The volume focuses on artworks produced in the contemporary era while recognizing historical and contextual connections to Islamic art and culture within localities and regions from the pre-modern and modern eras.

Queer Exhibition Histories by Bas Hendrikx (Editor); Aaron Betsky (Text by); Övül Durmusoglu (Text by); Aleksandra Gajowy (Text by); Halyna Gleba (Text by) Queer Exhibition Histories highlights the countless efforts, both large and small, of LGBTQIA+ artists and curators in Europe, with connections all over the globe. The book comprises case studies centring on queer art exhibitions and their modes of documentation and archiving. Often, the legacy of these projects largely depends on personal archives, memories, and paraphernalia, with the overriding notion, or need, for public display. In these contexts, 'public' is relative in events that were either short-lived, held under the veil of domestic spaces, or kept exclusive for those 'in the know'. Therefore, they were not only artistic, but could equally be discursive, activist, educational, or serve as a tool for community building. At the intersection of queerness and contemporary art, this volume considers how the efforts of LGBTQIA+ artists have advanced their public presence in museums and society alike.

Tender by Carla Williams "TBW Books is pleased to present Tender, the first monograph by artist Carla Williams. Made in private between 1984 and 1999 and kept mostly to herself for more than thirty years, the images in Tender comprise a complete, personal self-portrait of a young, queer, Black woman intimately exploring the realm of her own possibility. When Williams was eighteen and studying photography at Princeton, she began making the black and white and color portraits in Tender to create pictures in her own image. Her mind was filled equally with the canonical images of the medium's male-driven history and the posing women discovered during her youth in her father's pornography collection. Using her own body, Williams created the portraits she had never seen before. Made with instant Polaroid 35mm and 4x5 type 55 film formats, Williams profited from the near instant result to continuously play with her own expression and form. An act of tender commune with herself, these are every version of the artist on full display: provocative, playful, sensual, gentle, powerful, mean, glamorous, forlorn, funny. The photographs in Tender are ignited with the raw energy of a young artist on the cusp of adulthood and her own burgeoning sexual identity. Included in the book are essays by the artist and scholar Mireille Miller-Young." -- Publisher's website.

There's a Disco Ball Between Us by Jafari Sinclaire Allen In There's a Disco Ball Between Us, Jafari S. Allen offers a sweeping and lively ethnographic and intellectual history of what he calls "Black gay habits of mind." In conversational and lyrical language, Allen locates this sensibility as it emerged from radical Black lesbian activism and writing during the long 1980s. He traverses multiple temporalities and locations, drawing on research and fieldwork conducted across the globe, from Nairobi, London, and Paris to Toronto, Miami, and Trinidad and Tobago. In these locations and archives, Allen traces the genealogies of Black gay politics and cultures in the visual art, poetry, film, Black feminist theory, historiography, and activism of thinkers and artists such as Audre Lorde, Marsha P. Johnson, Essex Hemphill, Colin Robinson, Marlon Riggs, Pat Parker, and Joseph Beam. Throughout, Allen renarrates Black queer history while cultivating a Black gay method of thinking and writing. In so doing, he speaks to the urgent contemporary struggles for social justice while calling on Black studies to pursue scholarship, art, and policy derived from the lived experience and fantasies of Black people throughout the world.

Thing by Robert Ford (Editor); Trent Adkins (Editor); Lawrence Warren (Editor) Thing magazine was the voice of the queer Black music and art scene in the early 1990s. As house music thrived, THING showcased the work of top DJs and musicians alongside poetry, fiction, art, and gossip. Its pages merged the cultural with the political, offering vital information about HIV/AIDS treatment resources alongside features on trailblazing icons like Vaginal Davis, Larry Heard, Essex Hemphill, and RuPaul. Created by and for its community, THING captured a fleeting yet pivotal moment in underground queer culture. To revisit this groundbreaking work today is to recognize the Black voices that played a central role in AIDS activism and queer culture at the time, but were often sidelined by queer white discourse. Founded in Chicago but defined by ambition and influence that extended well beyond the city's borders, THING embodied its community's bold spirit, as encapsulated by its tagline: "She Knows Who She Is." All ten issues of THING are collected and published together here for the first time.

Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects by David Evans Franz (Editor); Christina Linden (Editor); Chris E. Vargas (Editor) A compelling exploration of trans history through art, activism, and unique objects of resistance. Surveying over four centuries, this volume brings together a wide-ranging selection of artworks and artefacts that highlight under-recognised histories of trans and gender-nonconforming communities. Through the contributions of artists, writers, poets, activists, and scholars, this title reflects on historical erasure to imagine trans futures. An expansive array of artworks and artifacts charts not a patriarchal history but a gender-neutral, trans-centric hirstory. The first publication of its kind, this expansive survey celebrates trans forebears, highlights struggles and triumphs, and reflects on the legacies of trans creative expression. This book is published by the Museum of Trans Hirstory & Art, a conceptual art project of artist Chris E. Vargas that is forever "under construction" by design to allow continual transformation.

We Make Each Other Beautiful by Yxta Maya Murray We Make Each Other Beautiful focuses on woman of color and queer of color artists and artist collectives who engage in direct political action as a part of their art practice. Defined by public protest, rule-breaking, rebellion, and resistance to governmental and institutional abuse, direct-action "artivism" draws on the aims, radical spirit, and tactics of the civil rights and feminist movements and on the struggles for disability rights, queer rights, and immigrant rights to seek legal and social change. Yxta Maya Murray traces the development of artivism as a practice from the Harlem Renaissance to Yoko Ono, Judy Baca, and Marsha P. Johnson. She also studies its role in transforming law and society. We Make Each Other Beautiful profiles the work and lives of four contemporary artivists --Carrie Mae Weems, Young Joon Kwak, Tanya Aguiñiga, and Imani Jacqueline Brown--and the artivist collective Drawn Together, combining new oral histories with sharp analyses of how their diverse and expansive artistic practices bear important aesthetic and politicolegal meanings that address a wide range of injustices.