Undeniably, much of their sexual freedom was due to their living in progressive urban centers and their stature in the art world. These men were undeniably already comfortable with their sexuality without the shame and yearning for community that has become the stereotypical view of pre-Stonewall gay life.
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Through their photographs, drawings, paintings, and prints, Paul Thek and his circle disrupt the progressive narrative of pre-Stonewall isolation becoming post-Stonewall liberation. Perhaps the most striking of Thek’s representations of gay imagery is his “Still Life” (1953) in which he seems to reinvent the Garden of Eden or paradise with two men. In addition to representing his friends, lovers and fellow artists, Thek also created drawings and etchings of homosocial scenes such as his “Untitled (Portfolio Fashion Drawing)” (1957–58) with three tanned young men sharing a beach towel. (Estate of George Paul Thek Collection of Peter Harvey) and Paul Thek, “Still Life” (1953), etching with acquatint, 19 x 11 in. Paul Thek, “Untitled (Portfolio Fashion Drawing)” (1957-58), pastel on onionskin paper, 24 x 18 in. Living during this era of persecution, Thek and his circle’s self-representation as gay men becomes even more significant, proving that pockets of gay pride and liberation existed particularly in urban areas (in their case, New York and Miami) despite the real threat of homophobia. Not only did the US government bar gays and lesbians from employment, but many states prohibited serving gay and lesbian patrons in bars and restaurants. Despite the dominance of McCarthy’s Red Scare in the collective memory of the 1950s, more people were discharged from their positions for homosexuality than communism.
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In 1953, President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450, which prevented gay and lesbians from serving in the US government in any capacity.
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Gay pride art images archive#
Like the Hide/Seek exhibition, Paul Thek and His Circle in the 1950s displays a large archive of works from Thek and his associates, which exudes not only youthful artistic discovery and experimentation but also an assertion of their gay identities. Famously beautiful, Thek worked as a hustler in Miami to support his burgeoning art career in the 1950s. Perhaps best known for his slightly revolting sculptural “meat pieces” from the 1960s, the assembled works reveal a different side of Thek’s art, one that is decidedly less Catholic and more open about his sexuality. Paul Thek, “Untitled #75” (1964), wax and PlexiglasĬurated by Peter Harvey, a set designer, member of Paul Thek’s circle, and his former lover, and Jonathan David Katz, who was one of the curators of the heavily praised and unfortunately controversial Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture , this show presents the early artistic experimentations of Thek and his associates, including photographer Peter Hujar and painter Joseph Raffael.