All tagged Italy

Leonor Fini

Harper-Hugo Darling

The halls of surrealist art are inherently queer in certain ways, not just because of the number of queer surrealists there happened to be, but because of the boundary challenging nature of the genre. With few rules, and even more rule-breaking, it can’t be surprising that queer people flock to this particular style - what is more surprising is how queer people have been and continue to be erased from the history of the movement. Even within the golden age of this movement, the inherently queer works of artists such as Leonor Fini were shocking, not only in traditional art circles but to the same people who made their names challenging norms. It seemed that even in the most transgressive of spaces, the mastery of women, androgyny, and queerness, in general, were enough to make the likes of Andre Beton and Salvador Dali clutch their metaphoric pearls.

Florence Nightingale

Harper-Hugo Darling

The memory of Florence Nightingale still ripples throughout Europe and North America. Documents about her life still exist and uphold her legacy; in many ways she has become something of a mythological figure. Even in life there was merchandise relating to her, but it’s taken on a new life in books, valentines, and even colouring pages. She’s remembered as a no-nonsense feminist icon, a tender motherly figure, the founding of modern day nursing, and even the hero of nursery rhymes. Less discussed in the possibility that she was a lesbian and/or asexual.

Amrita Sher-Gil

Harper-Hugo Darling

Since our last article was about an art forger, it only makes sense to move on to an artist. Amrita Sher-Gil remains one of the most revered women in the Indian art world, with her paintings among the most expensive in the country. Born into luxury in Hungary, she chose to go to India to share the lives of those who were most often ignored, painting women and people living in poverty. She worked to showcase the complexity of their lives through her work. For most of her short career, she sought the stories of those who had been overlooked. To honour that path, we will follow behind her, and try our best to tell her story.

Karl Heinrich Ulrichs

Harper-Hugo Darling

To discuss the beginning of the “queer movement” is to find yourself digging for roots that go far deeper than anyone can imagine. Many people define the start of the queer movement with the Stonewall Riots, a political act in 1969 that sparked a revolution in America, a moment that may more accurately be described as one that turned the tides. Another commonly choice is found in the life and work of Magnus Hirschfeld, who revolutionized research surrounding queerness in all its forms, bringing people together and building a base we all now stand on. Today though, we look earlier to Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, a man who inspired Magnus Hirschfeld, and pushed the queer movement into the spotlight.

Elagabalus

Harper-Hugo Darling

To discuss Elagabalus, one thing must be noted before all other things; there are almost no reliable accounts of her life. An empress who quickly became known as one of the most reviled leaders in the Roman empire has a lot of different sources saying a lot of different things about her reign. But we shall attempt to scavenge out what nuggets of truth we can and share with you the life of a bisexual transgender empress from the years 218 to 222.

Bricktop

Bricktop

Harper-Hugo Darling
Happy Endings, World War 2

To wrap up Black History Month, we are going to do another two-part article looking at a woman who was the center of the night scene in Paris during the 20’s. We will look at a woman who was not only talented in her own right, but also fostered the talent of the people around her, and made connections with some of the most incredible rising stars of her day. We will discuss the impact of a woman who was loved by almost everyone she interacted with. 

Gianni Versace

Gianni Versace

Harper-Hugo Darling

Gianni Versace was a well-known man, and the details of his life and death are readily available, so it’s easy to imagine that there isn’t much to say about him that hasn’t already been said. However, there is much still left unsaid about the man who had his life entangled with Versace’s for fifteen years. His name is one that rarely shares a headline with Versace's, but it does not lack importance: Antonio D'Amico.

San Domino

San Domino

Harper-Hugo Darling
World War 2

Content warning for concentration camps, Holocaust

This week we're beginning both our first series and our first discussion of an event rather than a single person. We'll take a look at World War II and the role the queer community played in the events leading up to, during, and after the war. We hope to keep things in chronological order, but history rarely makes things that easy.