Art: Australian
Historically, Australia has produced some important gay and lesbian artists, but only recently have openly glbtq artists felt comfortable in Australia.
Club host, fashion designer, face about town, and artists' muse, Leigh Bowery transformed his body into a centerpiece of his performance art.
Regarded by many as one of Australia's greatest portrait painters, Sir William Dobell created works that are replete with homosexual subtexts even as he spent his life hiding his sexuality from conservative Sydney society.
Australian artist Donald Friend was an eccentric man of wide-ranging creative talents: a great painter, an exceptional draftsman (especially of the nude male figure), and a gifted satirical writer.
One of Australia's most acclaimed artists, James Gleeson embraced surrealism early in his career and has remained committed to it as a means of exploring and expressing psychological conflicts and conditions.
Australian painter Agnes Goodsir became part of the legendary lesbian scene in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s; her portraits of women have an erotic and radical edge.
Since Stonewall lesbian photographers have created an enduring archive that documents lesbian lives, searches for a lesbian sensibility, and explores various issues of particular import to the lesbian community.
Throughout much of history, the nude male figure was virtually the only subject that could be used to articulate homoerotic desire in publicly displayed works of art, as well as those works of art intended for private "consumption."