A Curator’s Comprehensive Guide to the Queer Art Canon

The London-based curator Gemma Rolls-Bentley has selected artworks for the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York City, the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival in England, and curated the Brighton Beacon Collection, the largest permanent display of queer art in the U.K. But Rolls-Bentley’s latest project is likely her most expansive—and personal one—yet. Her new book, Queer Art: From Canvas to Club and the Spaces Between, features over 230 pages of photographs, paintings, digital art, and installations that exemplify and encapsulate queer life, through the eyes of queer folks. “My book investigates the role of queer art today and acknowledges the history-defining impact of our communities in the cultural landscape,” Rolls-Bentley, who has been in the industry for over two decades, said in a statement. The collection includes works by pioneers like Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Tom of Finland; there are also selected pieces by newer artists paving the way for future generations, like Christina Quarles, Nina Chanel Abney, and Kehinde Wiley. Below, browse through a selection of works that are queer art canon, from Queer Art, out now via Quarto Books.