The Possibility of Queer Abstraction by David J. Getsy

David J. Getsy, Professor of Art History at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will discuss the ways in which some queer artists have addressed the problem of representation by pursuing abstraction. While some may think of abstraction as a fleeing from content and a refusal of representation, some artists working from queer perspectives have embraced it precisely because of the ways it can subvert expectations and visualize unorthodox possibilities. Recognizing that the politics of visibility bring with them increased surveillance and scrutiny, these artists have found in abstraction a way to resist the ways in which the human form is categorized, marked, and stereotyped.