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A review by brnineworms
Queer British Art: 1867-1967 by Clare Barlow
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
A little disorganised, a little repetitive, and weirdly dry considering the preoccupation with eroticism. What’s more, this book is so cis it barely even registers to me as queer. Seriously, how can you look at an artist who vehemently rejected their birth name and all gendered terms and then not consider the possibility that they might have been trans, or do so only as an afterthought? True, we’ll never know exactly how they would have identified if they were around today, but, since we have more evidence supporting a trans interpretation than a cis one, why does a cis reading take precedence? I wouldn’t call the book transphobic, but the cisnormativity is palpable.
Other than that, my opinion of Queer British Art generally skews positive. It didn’t blow me away but it’s a nice little collection of (possibly) queer artists and artworks.
CONTENT WARNINGS: homophobia (especially as it relates to criminalisation), deadnaming and misgendering (arguably), discussion of sex and depictions of nudity, mentions of sexual exploitation and assault, racism, fascism, incest, suicide, and death
Other than that, my opinion of Queer British Art generally skews positive. It didn’t blow me away but it’s a nice little collection of (possibly) queer artists and artworks.
CONTENT WARNINGS: homophobia (especially as it relates to criminalisation), deadnaming and misgendering (arguably), discussion of sex and depictions of nudity, mentions of sexual exploitation and assault, racism, fascism, incest, suicide, and death