Adams Exhibition Treats ‘Queer’ Art

On entering Adams ArtSpace’s “Beautiful Rebellion” exhibit, it’s easy to overlook the artistic value of the first piece—a protruding wall papered with skeletal structures of the pelvis that almost seems a part of the House’s typically alternative scenery. But a closer inspection of the wallpaper work reveals a concern with concealed desire and external influences on identity.

The deceptive depth of the piece is a common theme in the collection, billed as “A Melange of Queer Art Exploring Deviance, Allure and the Curious Concoction of the Two.” The multimedia representations of homosexuality on display are alluring and thoughtfully blended with images from mainstream life to question our assumptions of normal behavior. Seemingly small in scope, this gem of a collection is an ambitious project that ought not to be overlooked.

As the patterned wall manages to do, the entire exhibit questions the very nature of queer art. Han Yu ’06, the exhibit’s curator, explains that she wasn’t merely attempting to display works by gay and lesbian artists. Even “straight up gay and lesbian depictions” were not on her radar; after all, she points out, with Abercrombie models photographed in homoerotic contexts and lipsticked models posing lesbian, the public has been flooded with such images. Yu wanted instead to gather works that could be read with a queer message in order to promote an inspection of how society pictures homosexual love.

“Beautiful Rebellion” does just that, in an aesthetically enticing display. From a grouping of picture frames etched with such phrases as “my autobiography began to seem suspicious” and “it must be so easy for you to pass” to a collection of mirrors angled to shine the light into writing “DUST” on the wall, the exhibit’s pieces, created by Harvard undergrads and local artists, break down everyday mediums to question our conceptions of identity.

The exhibit confronts queer theory from myriad artistic perspectives. In one work, images of 1950s magazine models are intermixed with depictions of lesbian love under the Clairol logo “Does She, or Doesn’t She?” Another image presents an alternative depiction of Eve, showing the biblical figure as a man holding two apples up as breasts. Other works are confrontational, like a portrait of a naked woman pointing a gun and a “Self-Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” a collection of snapshots of a man in his underwear, seducing the camera from a leopard print chaise.

Each work stands alone, inviting viewers to come to their own conclusions, but several also offer short, informative pieces about the artists’ own readings, gathered in a portfolio in the back. Queer or not, artistically inclined or not, any inquiring mind would be tempted and challenged by the multifaceted collection currently on display in Adams House.

—Crimson Arts art reviewer Sandra E. Pullman can be reached at pullman@fas.harvard.edu.