BREAKING THE GAY CODE IN ART THE DOUBLE LIVES OF ICONIC GAY ARTISTS LECTURE BY IGNACIO DARNAUDE

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT – BREAKING THE GAY CODE IN ART is a three-lecture series that reveals with stunning imagery how, throughout history, gay artists faced the dilemma of staying in the closet or being out with their art and lives and, in doing so, risking rejection and prosecution. Unable to express their same-sex desires openly, many iconic artists used secret gay codes or they created homoerotic images hiding in plain sight. In doing so, their extraordinary work transformed mainstream culture every step of the way. ART LECTURE : “THE DOUBLE LIVES OF ICONIC GAY ARTISTS: Many, male and female, gay artists created mainstream work, which they showed openly as well as homoerotic work, which they hid or circulated just among a circle of friends. In many instances, the families of these artists destroyed any evidence of their sexuality after their death to protect their reputation. John Singer Sargent, the preeminent portrait artist of his era, couldn’t be open about his sexuality. After his death, dozens of intimate male nudes surfaced. Some of the artists included in this lecture are: Caravaggio, Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol.