List of LGBT artists explained

This is a list of notable visual artists who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or otherwise non-heterosexual. This list covers artists known for the creation of visual art such as drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, performance works and video works. The entries are in alphabetical order by surname. Birth and death dates are included. All new additions to this list should include a reference.

B

• Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), USA^[1]
• Alison Bechdel (born 1960), USA^[2]
• Joan E. Biren (born 1944), USA^[3]
• Rora Blue (born), USA^[4]
• Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899), FRA^[5]
• Joe Brainard (1942-1994), USA ^[6]
• Scott Burton (1938-1989)
• Farrokh Bulsara (1946-1991), Zanzibar

C

• Cathy Cade (born 1942), USA^[7]
• Paul Cadmus (1904-1999), USA^[8]
• Caravaggio (1571-1610), Italy^[9]
• Tammy Rae Carland (born 1965), USA^[10]
• Jean Cocteau (1889-1963), France ^[11]
• Liz Collins (born 1968), USA^[12]
• Frank Coombs (1906-1941), GBR^[13]
• Enrico Corte (born 1963), Italy^[14]

D

• TM Davy (Born 1980), USA^[15]
• Jimmy De Sana (1949-1990), USA^[16]
• Raúl de Nieves (born 1983), Mexico ^[17]
• Beauford Delaney (1901-1979), USA ^[18]
• Jaiden Dittfach (born 1997), USA^[19]
• Donatello (-1466), Italy^[20]
• Angela Dufresne (born 1969), USA ^[21]
• Chloe Dzubilo (1960-2011), USA^[22]

E

• Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) USA^[23]
• Rafa Esparza (born 1981), USA ^[24]

F

• Lola Flash (born 1959), USA^[25]
• Eve Fowler (born 1964), USA^[26]
• Louis Fratino (born 1993), USA^[27]
• Jared French (1905-1988), USA^[28]
• Richard Fung (born 1954), TTO/CAN^[29]

G

• Yishay Garbasz (born 1970)
• Chitra Ganesh (born 1975), USA ^[30]
• Jeffrey Gibson (born 1972), USA^[31]
• Joseph Glasco (1925-1996), USA^[32]
• Nash Glynn (born 1992), USA ^[33]
• Robert Gober (born 1954), USA^[34]
• Krzysztof Gonciarz (born 1985), POL^[35]
• Félix González-Torres (1957-1996)^[36]
• Jimmy Groen (born 1962), NL^[37]
• Nancy Grossman (born 1940), USA^[38]
• Sonali Gulati (born 1972), IND/USA^[39]

H

• Edith Hammar (born 1992), Finland^[40]
• Barbara Hammer (1939 - 2019) USA^[41]
• Harmony Hammond (born 1944), USA^[42]
• Michelle Handelman (born 1960), USA^[43]
• Keith Haring (1958 - 1990), USA^[44]
• Sadao Hasegawa (1945-1999), Japan^[45]
• Geoffrey Hendricks (1931-2018), USA
• David Hockney (born 1937), Great Britain^[46]
• Marie Høeg (1866 - 1949), Norway^[47]
• Boscoe Holder (1921-2007), Trinidad and Tobago^[48]
• Every Ocean Hughes (born 1977), USA^[49]
• Johanna Hedva (born 1984), USA^[50]
• Peter Hujar (1934-1987), USA^[51]

J

• Elton John (born 1947), GBR
• Jasper Johns (born 1930), USA^[52]
• Jess (1923-2004), USA ^[53]

K

• Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Mexico^[54]
• Katlego Kai Kolanyane-Kesupile (born 1988), Botswana^[55]
• Ben Kimura (1947-2003), Japan^[56]
• Kiss and Tell collective, CAN^[57]
• Brian Kenny, GER
• Anna Elizabeth Klumpke (1856-1942), USA/FRA^[58]
• Eardley Knollys (1902–1991), GBR^[59]

L

• Doron Langberg (born 1985) Israel^[60]
• Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt (born 1948), USA ^[61]
• Greer Lankton (1958-1996), USA^[62]
• Joe Lycett (born 1988) UK^[63]
• George Platt Lynes (1907-1955), USA^[64]

M

• Julie Mehretu (born 1970), Ethiopia
• Michelangelo (1475-1564), Italy^[65]
• Kate Millett (1934–2017), USA^[66]
• Allyson Mitchell (born 1967), CAN^[67]
• Kent Monkman (born 1965), Canada^[68]
• Slava Mogutin (born 1974), Russia^[69]

O

• Catherine Opie (born 1961), USA^[70]

P

• Oren Pinhassi (born 1985), Israel^[71]
• Maria E. Piñeres (born 1966), COL^[72]
• Jody Pinto (born 1942), USA^[73]
• Poliziano (1454-1494), Italy
• Jill Posener (born 1953), GBR^[74]

Q

• Wayne Douglas Quinn (1941-1987), USA.^{[75] [76]}
• George Quaintance (1902-1957), USA ^[77]

R

• Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), USA

S

• Annie Sprinkle (born 1954), USA^[78]
• Sal Salandra (born 1946), USA^[79]

T

• Gengoroh Tagame (born 1964), Japan^[56]
• Tim Tate (born 1960), USA^{[80] [81]}
• Wolfgang Tillmans (born 1968), Germany^[82]
• Ken Tisa (born 1945), USA ^[83]
• Mickalene Thomas (born 1971), USA^[84]
• Tom of Finland (1920-1991), Finland ^[85]
• George Tooker (1920-2011), USA^[86]
• Salman Toor (born 1983), Pakistan/USA^[87]
• Yannis Tsarouchis (1910-1989), Greece^[88]

V

• Stephen Varble, (1946-1984), USA
• Del LaGrace Volcano (born 1957), USA^[89]

W

• WangShui (born 1986), USA^[90]
• Andy Warhol (1928-1987), USA^[91]
• Ambera Wellmann (born 1982), Canada ^[92]
• Kehinde Wiley (born 1977), USA^[93]
• Jimmy Wright (born 1944), USA^[94]
• David Wojnarowicz (1954-1992), USA^[95]

Notes and References

1. Book: Hoban, Phoebe. . Viking. 1998. 978-0-670-85477-6. New York . 50–52.
2. Book: Gay & lesbian biography. 1997. St. James Press. Michael J. Tyrkus. 0-7876-0563-8. Detroit. 35043834.
3. Book: Lord . Catherine . Meyer . Richard . Art & Queer Culture . 2013 . Phaidon Press Limited . 9780714849355 . 142.
4. Web site: Graduate Student Profiles: Rora Blue. University of Nevada, Reno. 4 January 2023.
5. Book: Summers . Claude J. . The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts . 2004 . Cleis Press . 978-1573441919 . 56–58.
6. Web site: Artist Joe Brainard's Subtle Gay Sensibility Still Has Impact. Nancy Warren. 9 February 2001. SFGATE. 7 January 2023.
7. Book: Hammond, Harmony. Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History. Rizzoli. 2000. 978-0847822485. 156–157.
8. Book: Grimes, Nancy. Jared French's Myths. Pomegranate Artbooks. San Francisco, California. 1993. 1-56640-322-7.
9. Web site: Caravaggio's Secrets . 2023-07-23 . archive.nytimes.com.
10. Book: Lord . Catherine . Meyer . Richard . Art & Queer Culture . 2013 . Phaidon Press Limited . 9780714849355 . 378.
11. Web site: Cocteau's White Paper on Homophobia. rictornorton.co.uk. 7 January 2023. 27 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170927234840/http://rictornorton.co.uk/cocteau.htm. live.
12. Book: Chaich . John . Oldham . Todd . Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community . 2017 . AMMO Books . 978-1623261054 . 125–126.
13. Web site: Farnham Herald. Life and times of artist in public gaze. 8 October 2020. 17 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210417172027/http://www.haslemereherald.com/article.cfm?id=109984&headline=Life%20and%20times%20of%20artist%20in%20public%20gaze&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2016. dead.
14. Book: Marziani, Gianluca. Enrico Corte - Spectrospective. Damiani. 2008. 9788862080064. 33, 34.
15. Frieze . 2023-01-06 . Frieze . 19 September 2019 . 207 . en-US . Kotecha . Shiv .
16. Web site: The Sodomite Invasion: Experimentation, Politics and Sexuality in the work of Jimmy DeSana and Marlon T. Riggs . 2023-01-07 . www.artforum.com . en-US.
17. Web site: 2019-03-21. 'Happiness and Sadness All in One Place': See How Artist Raúl de Nieves Constructs His Colorful, Intimate Environments. 2019-10-29. artnet News. en-US.
18. Journal of Beauford Delaney, quoted in Leeming 1998:13.
19. Web site: YouTuber Jaiden Animations Comes Out as Aroace. Matt. Moen. Paper Magazine. March 23, 2022. March 24, 2022.
20. News: Jones . Jonathan . 2023-02-01 . Was Donatello the first artist in history to express a queer identity? . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-07-23 . 0261-3077.
21. Web site: 2019-04-16. Angela Dufresne Queers the Portraiture Tradition. 2023-01-07. Hyperallergic. en-US.
22. Web site: Visual AIDS Chloe Dzubilo . 2022-10-25 . Visual AIDS . en-US.
23. McFeely, William S. Portrait: The Life Of Thomas Eakins, W. W. Norton & Company, 2007,, pp. 47, 51, 128
24. Art, Queer. “| Rafa Esparza - Queer: Art.” QUEER, QUEER ART, 2018, https://www.queer-art.org/rafa-esparza#:~:text=Rafa%20Esparza%20is%20a%20multidisciplinary,come%20forth%20as%20a%20result.
25. Web site: Lola Flash . 2022-03-11 . QUEER ART . en-US.
26. Book: Lord . Catherine . Meyer . Richard . Art & Queer Culture . 2013 . Phaidon Press Limited . 9780714849355 . 380.
27. News: These Gay Figure Artists Are Reimagining the Male Gaze. Sargent. Antwaun. 2018-09-17. The New York Times. 2018-12-28. en-US. 0362-4331.
28. News: Smith. Roberta. PaJaMa, Whose Photographs Breathed Eroticism. 7 January 2023. The New York Times. 5 November 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20180329055956/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/06/arts/design/pajama-whose-photographs-breathed-eroticism.html. 29 March 2018. live.
29. Book: Muñoz . José Esteban . Disidentifications: Queers Of Color And The Performance Of Politics . 1999 . Univ Of Minnesota Press . 978-0816630158 . 77–92.
30. Gopinath, Gayatri (2009). "Chitra Ganesh's Queer Re-visions" (PDF). GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-17.
31. Web site: 2018-10-30 . Artist Jeffrey Gibson Merges His Queer and Native American Identities . 2022-05-23 . www.out.com . en.
32. Book: Raeburn, Michael . Joseph Glasco: The Fifteenth American . Cacklegoose Press . 2015 . 9781611688542 . London . English.
33. Web site: Hari Nef on the art of Nash Glynn . January 7, 2023 . www.artforum.com . en-US.
34. Jori Finkel (October 7, 2009), Opposites Attract, and an Exhibition Opens New York Times.
35. Web site: Krzysztof Gonciarz zrobił coming out. Youtuber zdradził swoją orientację seksualną. Łucja Siennicka. 21 March 2023. pl. rozrywka.radiozet.pl.
36. Web site: Gonzalez-Torres, Felix . 2022-04-14 . SFMOMA . en-US.
37. Web site: Jimmy Groen . 2024-08-20 . en-US.
38. News: Arlene Raven, 62, a Historian and Supporter of Women's Art, Is Dead . The New York Times . 6 August 2006 . January 7, 2023 . en-US . Cotter . Holland .
39. News: Simmons . Aishah Shahidah . Feminists We Love: Sonali Gulati . 26 March 2021 . The Feminist Wire . March 8, 2013.
40. News: Grönqvist . Johanna . 2021-12-25 . Bildkonstnären Edith Hammar: "Jag hoppas det här är den mörkaste perioden och att framtiden blir ljusare" . 2024-03-28 . . sv.
41. Gessen. Masha. Barbara Hammer's Exit Interview. 2021-05-12. The New Yorker. 25 February 2019. en-US.
42. Book: Cameron . Daniel . Extended Sensibilities: Homosexual Presence in Contemporary Art . 1982 . New Museum of Contemporary Art . 978-9995067342 . 10–13.
43. Web site: A Surreptitious Form of Activism: Michelle Handelman Interviewed by Jane Ursula Harris - BOMB Magazine. 2021-05-12. bombmagazine.org. 24 August 2020 .
44. Book: Steele, Tom . Out . May 2005 . 46 . en.
45. Web site: Impressions of Sadao Hasegawa . Adonna . Steve . Summer 2000 . The Tom of Finland Foundation . January 7, 2023 .
46. Web site: 1 June 2016 . Portrait of the Artist as a Gay Man: David Hockney Documentary Comes to MFAH - OutSmart Magazine . 18 May 2022 . www.outsmartmagazine.com .
47. Web site: Mary Høeg & Bolette Berg in the Boat. Queer Art History . Baylee . Woodley . July 29, 2020 .
48. Web site:
    1. TBT: The Private Art of Boscoe Holder
    . 2023-01-07. advocate.com.
49. Web site: Every Ocean Hughes . 2022-10-25 . Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University . en.
50. Web site: Foundation . Processing . 2018-11-14 . Belonging in the Mess . 2022-10-25 . Processing Foundation . en.
51. Book: Carr. Cynthia. Fire in the belly: the life and times of David Wojnarowicz. 2012. Bloomsbury. New York. 978-1596915336. 379. 1st U.S..
52. Book: Horne . Peter . 1996 . Outlooks: lesbian and gay sexualities and visual cultures . limited . Lewis . Reina . Routledge . 0-415-12468-9 . Rauschenberg, who was better known in 1963 than Warhol was, and Jasper Johns were both prototypical Pop artists as well as gay men; they also were lovers.. 43 .
53. Web site: The Company They Kept. Holland Cotter. The New York Times. 16 January 2014 . 7 January 2023.
54. Web site: glbtq >> arts >> Kahlo, Frida . 10 November 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131110030622/http://www.glbtq.com/arts/kahlo_f.html . 7 January 2023 . 10 November 2013.
55. Web site: Review . The Kalahari . 2017-07-09 . Kat's Nine Lives: Performing Trans Identity/ies in Botswana . 2022-10-27 . Medium . en.
56. Book: Tagame . Gengoroh . Gay Erotic Art in Japan Vol. 1: Artists From the Time of the Birth of Gay Magazines . December 19, 2003 . Pottoshuppan . 978-4939015588.
57. Book: Lord . Catherine . Meyer . Richard . Art & Queer Culture . 2013 . Phaidon Press Limited . 9780714849355 . 384.
58. News: Lockard . Ray Anne . Klumpke, Anna Elizabeth (1856-1942) . 26 March 2021 . The GLBTQ Project . 2002.
59. Jennings, Clive (14 June 2013) News: Loves and lives of the men who built the Radev Collection. Fitzrovia News. Retrieved 8 October 2020
60. Web site: A Look into the World of Queer Artist Doron Langberg. www.lofficielusa.com. en-US. 2019-05-31.
61. Web site: 2019-06-25 . Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt remembers Stonewall . 2023-01-07 . artforum.com.
62. Web site: 1996-11-05 . Greer Lankton, 38, a Sculptor Who Turned Dolls Into Fantasy . 2023-01-06 . The New York Times.
63. Web site: Jones . Alice . 2016-10-19 . Joe Lycett on comedy, revenge and pansexuality . 2022-10-25 . inews.co.uk . en.
64. News: Review/Photography; Another Side of a Life's Work, Elegantly Revealed. 7 January 2023 . The New York Times. 24 September 1993.
65. Book: Hughes, Anthony . Michelangelo . Phaidon . 1997.
66. Book: Hammond . Harmony . Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History . 2000 . Rizzoli . 978-0847822485 . 26–28.
67. Book: Chaich . John . Oldham . Todd . Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community . 2017 . AMMO Books . 978-1623261054 . 162–164.
68. Book: Madill, Shirley . Kent Monkman: Life & Work . Art Canada Institute . 2022 . 978-1-4871-0280-7 . Toronto . English.
69. Web site: Power Couples . 2022-10-25 . www.vice.com . May 2010 . en.
70. Book: Getsy . David J., Ed. . Blazwick . Iwona, Series Ed. . Queer (Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art) . 2016 . MIT Press . 978-0262528672 . 207–209.
71. Web site: Oren Pinhassi on Erotic Architecture and Sculpting with Sand. artnews.com. 4 June 2021. 6 Jan 2023.
72. Book: Chaich . John . Oldham . Todd . Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community . April 1, 2017 . AMMO Books . 978-1623261054 . 130–131.
73. Book: Summers . Claude J. . The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts . 2004 . Cleis Press . Google Books . 978-1573441919 . 31 . 27 February 2019.
74. Book: Lord . Catherine . Meyer . Richard . Art & Queer Culture . 2013 . Phaidon Press Limited . 9780714849355 . 388.
75. Web site: Quinn, Wayne . ULAN . J. Paul Getty Trust . 7 November 2022.
76. News: Albright . Thomas . Wayne Quinn at Upper Market . San Francisco Chronicle . January 1973.
77. Book: Slade, Joseph W.. Pornography and sexual representation: a reference guide, Volume 2. 545. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2001. 0-313-31520-5.
78. Book: Lord . Catherine . Meyer . Richard . Art & Queer Culture . 2013 . Phaidon Press Limited . 9780714849355 . 390.
79. Web site: The Obscene Brilliance of Queer Thread Artist Sal Salandra . 2022-05-24 . gq.com . 21 June 2021 . en.
80. News: Tate Gets To the Heart Of the Matter. O'Sullivan. Michael. 2003-07-11. The Washington Post. 2019-05-22.
81. Web site: Glass Half Full Washingtonian (DC). Barbagallo. Paul. 2010-11-17. Washingtonian. en-US. 2019-05-22.
82. News: Photographer Wolfgang Tillmans Opens Up About Living HIV Positive. 2017-04-10. 7 January 2023. en.
83. Web site: KEN TISA. katewerblegallery.com. 11 Jul 2023.
84. News: Small . Zachary . 7 Queer Artists Who Are Changing the Game in 2018 . 21 February 2019 . Condé Nast . January 31, 2018.
85. Book: Hooven, F. Valentine . 1993 . Tom of Finland: His Life and Times . New York . St. Martin's Press . 0-312-09325-X.
86. News: PaJaMa, Whose Photographs Breathed Eroticism . The New York Times . 5 November 2015 . Smith . Roberta .
87. Web site: 2021-02-22. Painter Salman Toor Depicts Contemporary Queer Life. 2021-10-20. Observer. en-US.
88. Book: Hammer . Langdon . Yenser . Stephen . A Whole World: Letters from James Merrill . 2021 . Alfred A. Knopf . New York . 9781101875513 . 188 . 10 October 2021.
89. Book: Lord . Catherine . Meyer . Richard . Art & Queer Culture . 2013 . Phaidon Press Limited . 9780714849355 . 391.
90. Web site: In Practice: Another Echo .
91. Book: Waugh, Thomas. Hard to Imagine: Gay Male eroticism in Photography and Film from the Beginnings to Stonewall. Columbia University Press. New York City. 1996.
92. Ambera Wellmann's Fluid Bodies . 7 January 2023 . Frieze. 22 October 2020 . 216 . Borstner . Sonja-Maria .
93. Web site: Kehinde Wiley Biography, Life & Quotes . 2022-04-14 . The Art Story.
94. News: Loiseau . Benoît . 2018-12-05 . 8 Highlights From Miami Art Week . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-04-07 . 0362-4331.
95. News: Cotter . Holland . 2010-12-11 . As Ants Crawl Over Crucifix, Dead Artist Is Assailed Again . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-04-14 . 0362-4331.