Queer Latinx Artists and the Human Body

A special issue of Arts (ISSN 2076-0752).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2024) | Viewed by 2668

Special Issue Editors

Department of Art, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Interests: Latin America; Mexico; U.S. Southwest; art; religion; politics; museum studies.
College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Art, Graphic Design, and Art History, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Interests: Latin America; Mexico; U.S. Southwest; art; religion; politics; museum studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the past decade, we have witnessed increased interest in art produced by U.S. Latino/a/x artists. Exhibitions featuring Latinx art, new journals focused on Latinx art history and art criticism, and new academic and museum positions targeting Latinx specialists suggest that this major segment of the U.S. American population is finally receiving the attention it deserves.

One challenge in the nascent field of Latinx Art History has been how to adequately address the cultural production of an incredibly diverse community. Within this developing discourse, work by queer Latinx artists has experienced increased visibility in exhibitions that include or spotlight queer artists. Thus, two leading questions emerge: how are themes seen in broader Latinx art production, such as migration, indigeneity, gender roles, colonialism, religion, and beauty conventions, inflected by the queer Latinx experience? Additionally, how are issues prominent in mainstream LGBTQ+ art, such as HIV/AIDS, sex, censorship, community, relationships, family, and transgender issues, experienced and approached from a Latinx perspective?

For this Special Issue of Arts on Studies in Art History, we seek submissions that address how queer Latinx artists have theorized, utilized, deployed, and/or reclaimed the human body in their work. Submissions might focus on a specific medium or genre, the work of a specific artist or group of artists, or on a broader theme related to the use of the body in queer Latinx art.

Dr. Ray Hernández-Durán
Dr. Cristina Cruz González
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Arts is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • U.S.
  • Latinx
  • LGBTQ
  • queer
  • art
  • politics
  • body
  • exhibitions

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 7839 KiB  
Article
Bridging the Vantage Point of Distance: Reynaldo Rivera and the Visual Legacies of Queer Spectacle across Time and Space
by Estefanía Vélez
Arts 2024, 13(2), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13020054 - 12 Mar 2024
Viewed by 550
Abstract
Gender impersonators and trans gender-nonconforming people have long been a source of fascination within the visual arts. Nevertheless, illustrators and photographers alike have perpetually instrumentalized the image of the queer subject as a visual shorthand for criminality, freakishness, and deception. Beginning with the [...] Read more.
Gender impersonators and trans gender-nonconforming people have long been a source of fascination within the visual arts. Nevertheless, illustrators and photographers alike have perpetually instrumentalized the image of the queer subject as a visual shorthand for criminality, freakishness, and deception. Beginning with the broadside illustrations of José Guadalupe Posada, this article examines how visual representations of Latinx queerness and gender nonconformity shifted across the Americas and throughout the late nineteenth century into the late twentieth century. Ultimately, I contend that Reynaldo Rivera’s photography of late-twentieth-century ballroom culture provides a substantial departure from these speculatory conventions by visually legitimizing the lived authenticity of the queer Latinx people who populate his work. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Queer Latinx Artists and the Human Body)
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15 pages, 1149 KiB  
Article
“Lo que se ve, no se pregunta”: Creating Queer Space in the Work of José Villalobos
by Alana J. Coates
Arts 2023, 12(6), 221; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts12060221 - 26 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1391
Abstract
This article examines the work of multidisciplinary artist José Villalobos through a queer Latinx lens using the theory of “disidentification” as put forth by José Esteban Muñoz and argues that Villalobos makes space for queer visibility and representation within Tejano norteño culture by [...] Read more.
This article examines the work of multidisciplinary artist José Villalobos through a queer Latinx lens using the theory of “disidentification” as put forth by José Esteban Muñoz and argues that Villalobos makes space for queer visibility and representation within Tejano norteño culture by subverting culturally specific objects that often perpetuate, sometimes violently, traditional Mexican and Mexican-American gender norms. By critically analyzing two artworks, Soledad (loneliness) (2022), a mixed-media triptych that takes the form of an ex-voto, and a performance, A Las Escondidas (Hide-and-Seek) (2019), this study demonstrates how Villalobos challenges gender-normative thinking in border culture through his artworks by incorporating the body and its adornments. Villalobos utilizes his body in his performances and the implied body in his installations and assemblages to critique and subvert homophobia. By doing so, he grafts queer identity onto norteño iconography to carve out space for representation and inclusion for himself and other members of the queer community. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Queer Latinx Artists and the Human Body)
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