Queer Sublime

The Gothic literary tradition provided a unique outlet for expressions of ‘otherness’ within the realm of narrative prose fiction. It dealt in characters and situations that existed outside of the narrow limits of societal norms. Set in castles, haunted estates, and other gloomily incongruous locations, works written in the Gothic style trafficked in the intersection of romance and horror to create a sublime aesthetic experience. Evocative fantasy and melodrama, emblematic features of the Gothic sublime, could be construed as precursors to certain modes of Queer expression today (e.g. camp, a form of highly stylized, sometimes ironic, and often overwrought expression).

The Gothic evocation of “otherness” exemplified through excess serves as a lightning rod or conduit for the expression of Queer attitudes in contemporary art. The artists in Queer Sublime work at the crossroads of terror and ecstasy, exploring intense emotions, feelings of bodily dissociation, and euphoria. Through abstraction and figuration, and across a range of media, their work also conjures alternative pathways as a liberatory form of escape from menacing and hostile environments governed by malicious rules. In doing so, the exhibition artists explore the ways in which contemporary Queer experience is presented, processed, and interpreted through visual art.