Jonathan Katz's Vision Realized: Hide/Seek's 105 LGBT Portraits at NPG

Jonathan Katz came of age at the worst moment possible for someone interested in lgbt curating, just as the Corcoran's cancellation of the Mapplethorpe show cemented the museum world's cowardice on queer art. That prejudice was still evident two decades later, as he was pitching his groundbreaking new exhibit of queer portraiture, Hide/Seek, to the nation's top museums, all of whom said no, except for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, where he joined forces with co-curator David Ward. Though overdue, the Smithsonian's decision to  mount this first of its kind exhibit in the US warrants sustained praise. By a lucky fluke, I was seated next to Jonathan at Friday's opening dinner and halfway through the meal he mentioned that his proposal package included Band of Thebes' essay on the Met's degayed Greek and Roman galleries.

Jonathan cut an original list of thousands of images to a bare bones, must-have total of 486 works that he wanted to hang salon-style covering every inch of wall space. No chance. The NPG demurred and, after he reduced his wish list, many other museums rejected the loan requests, often specifically because the show is lgbt. The homophobia was not limited to heterosexuals. Gay curators, gay collectors, and gay donors were among those who responded with hostility, accusing Jonathan of projecting his agenda onto asexual art, complaining he was "outing" an artist who died 94 years ago, or claiming that lending a work to such a show would reduce its value.

Deserving of special note is the Philadelphia Museum of Art, whose curators approved every loan request saying, We're agreeing to all of them because we know other museums won't. Also noteworthy: Jasper Johns lent his own work for the show, despite having been reticent about his private life for decades. Hide/Seek is made possible by funding from an unprecedented coalition of 115 donors (disclosure, including my partner), led by the Calamus Foundation and our very handsome/generous friends Don Capoccia and Tommie Pegues.

As for the 105 works that made it into the show, they're a dazzling range of photographs (Thomas Eakins' Walt Whitman; Berenice Abbott's Janet Flanner; Carl van Vechten's Bessie Smith; George Platt Lynes' Ralph McWilliams; Walker Evans' Lincoln Kirstein; Ceil Beaton's Gertrude and Alice; Nan Goldin's Misty and Jimmy Paulette; Robert Mapplethorpe's happy self-portrait, nude Lisa Lyon, disembodied Roy Cohn, S&M couple, and his own death mask; Peter Hujar's David Wojnarowicz and Susan Sontag; Annie Leibovitz's Ellen DeGeneres; Lyle Ashton Harris's 'Brotherhood;' Catherine Opie's dyke buds; and self-portraits by Laura Aguilar, Mark Morrisroe, Anthony Goicolea, and Jack Pierson; among others), installations by Robert Gober and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and dozens of paintings or sketches whose aggregate is unparalleled queer magnificence. Highlights: Thomas Eakins, George Bellows, John Singer Sargent, Romaine Brooks, Marsden Hartley, Paul Cadmus, Grant Wood, Georgia O'Keeffe, Robert Rauschenberg, Alice Neel, Larry Rivers, David Hockney, Andrew Wyeth, and Andy Warhol.

The only thing I actively dislike about the show is its degayed subtitle, Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture. The exhibit is queer portraits, period. 'Difference' isn't just closety, it's unhelpful. Because of the weak title, the Washington Post's museum listing says only, the show "illustrates the changing social attitudes toward sexual difference and how it is depicted." What's that? Straight male macrophilia? Straight women into plushies? Abstainers? Tantrics? Onanists? Last year's show at London's National Portrait Gallery was called, Gay Icons. Clear and simple.

Given the wait-and-see caution of the museum world, the future of similar shows absolutely hinges on the attendance and catalog sales of Hide/Seek. If you live anywhere near DC, go early and often. You will need multiple viewings to absorb it all. If don't live near, plan a trip between now and February 13. If you can't visit, buy the beautiful, brilliant catalog.

To indicate my commitment, I will feature one work from the show each week through 2010.

Comments

[D]

I am going this week. Can't wait!

[Amy]

I was actually looking at this just yesterday on Amazon. It sounds really interesting, as does the exhibit. I hope it goes well. Also, one way to get the catalog more recognition would be to nominate it for the Independent Literary Awards GLBTQ category here: http://indielitawards.wordpress.com/glbtq/ It sounds very worth a nomination :)