Groundbreaking Exhibition 'Art after Stonewall, 1969-1989' Comes Home

Exhibition organized by Columbus Museum of Art traveled to New York City and Miami and will be on view in Columbus March 6-May 31, 2020

There have been many events across the nation that have celebrated and educated and honored the events of 50 years ago at 53 Christopher St, New York, New York. But not many celebrations have actually traveled across the nation as part of their beautiful design to show how a riot heard around the world resonated throughout many aspects of society.

Hal Fischer, Signifiers for a Male Response

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, and organized by the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA), Art after Stonewall, 1969-1989 is a long-awaited and groundbreaking survey that features more than 200 works of art and related visual materials exploring the impact of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) liberation movement on the art world. The exhibition is the first national museum show of its kind to survey the impact of LGBTQ liberation on the visual arts and is the largest touring art exhibition in North America commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Monumental in scope and ambition, Art after Stonewall will be on view in Columbus, Ohio from March 6 to May 31, 2020, having debuted in 2019 in New York City (April 19-July 21, 2019) before traveling to The Patricia & Philip Frost Art Museum in Miami, Florida (Sept. 14, 2019-Jan. 6, 2020).

Columbus Museum of Art was proud to debut this historic exhibition in New York City. We are eager to bring this acclaimed show home to audiences in Columbus and throughout Ohio and the Midwest. – Nannette V. Maciejunes, Executive Director of the Columbus Museum of Art.

Much has been written on the legacy of the LGBTQ movement in American society and culture, yet 50 years after Stonewall, many of the key artists in that story remain little known and undervalued. Bringing together works by a remarkably diverse group of artists and activists who lived and worked at the intersections of avant-garde art worlds, radical political movements and profound social change, Art after Stonewall is a testament to their spirit of fearlessness, joy and boundless creativity.

Art after Stonewall, 1969-1989 focuses on both the work of openly LGBTQ artists including:

David Hockney, Harmony Hammond, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Tseng Kwong-Chi, Robert Gober, Louise Fishman, Robert Mapplethorpe, Greer Lankton, David Wojnarowicz, Lyle Ashton Harris, Catherine Opie, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Martin Wong, Vaginal Davis and Scott Burton

as well as the practices of straight-identified artists seeking engagement with queer subcultures, such as:

Alice Neel, Vito Acconci, Lynda Benglis, Judy Chicago, Barkley L. Hendricks, Gordon Matta-Clark and Louise Bourgeois.

The exhibition highlights a wide array of conceptual, performance, film and video art, as well as photography, painting, sculpture and music, along with historical documents and images taken from magazines and newspapers.

Art after Stonewall demonstrates how art is action. Many of the works in the exhibition inspired resistance to injustice and even helped to change government policies that impact gender discrimination and health care. – Jonathan Weinberg, Guest Curator

Art after Stonewall is also a reflection of CMA’s commitment to the Central Ohio LGBTQ community. It is one of the nation’s largest, ranking in the top 15 of the nation’s 50 large metropolitan areas and boasting the second largest annual Pride Parade in the Midwest. In 2018, CMA launched Loud & Proud, an LGBTQ and Allied membership designed to increase the museum’s inclusivity and to provide benefits and programs that resonate with the LGBTQ community.

Greg Day, Stephen Varble at the 12th Annual Av…Garde Festival

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated 300-page catalogue with essays by more than 20 established and emerging scholars and artists, including Anna Conlan, Andrew Durbin, Harmony Hammond, Richard Meyer, Alpesh Patel, Flavia Rando, Christopher Reed, Chris Vargas and Margaret Vendreyes. The catalogue is published by Rizzoli Electa.