Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art (Ideologies of Desire) [Hardcover]

Richard Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2002 | Series: Ideologies of Desire

From the U.S. Navy's 1934 confiscation of a painting of sailors on shore leave to contemporary culture wars over funding for the arts, conflicts surrounding homosexuality and creative freedom have shaped the history of modern art in America. Richard Meyer's Outlaw Representation tells the charged story of this strife through pioneering analysis of the works of gay artists and the circumstances under which these works have been attacked, suppressed, or censored outright. Focusing on the careers of Paul Cadmus, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, David Wojnarowicz, Gran Fury, and Holly Hughes, Outlaw Representation explores how gay artists responded to the threat of censorship by producing their own "outlaw representations" of homosexuality. Instead of acquiescing to attacks on their work as indecent or obscene, these artists used the outlaw status of homosexuality to propose new forms of social, sexual, and creative life.

Richly illustrated, Outlaw Representation includes close to 200 striking images, ranging from the art of celebrated figures such as Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe to physique-magazine photographs and gay liberation posters. Throughout, images that once provoked censorship now elicit close visual analysis and careful historical investigation. Engagingly written and sweepingly researched, Outlaw Representation promises to be a landmark in the study of twentieth-century American art, politics, and sexuality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A smartly written, intensively researched and vigilantly argued new book.... Whether analyzing a painting or the words of a political speech, Mr. Meyer comes across as a cool but engaged observer. Most important, he's a good storyteller, and he has fascinating stories to tell."--Holland Cotter, The New York Times

"In Richard Meyer's subtle and informative book, nothing is quite so simple as the heroic story his title suggests....[Meyer] wants us to think about the way the possibility of art, at least when same-sex desire enters the picture, is always entangled with its own censorship."--Artforum

"This genuinely groundbreaking book charts the unexpectedly productive as well as restrictive effects of queers' multiple encounters with censorship over the course of the last century. Beautifully written and illustrated, Meyer's study combines significant historical research and reflection with richly insightful interpretations of queer art to illuminate the history of twentieth-century American art and culture as a whole as well as the distinctive and little-known history of gay artists."--George Chauncey, Professor of History, University of Chicago

"In Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art, Richard Meyer crafts a brilliant and persuasive argument about the interdependence of representations of homosexuality and acts of censorship. Throughout the book, Meyer excels at close, detailed visual interpretations of images. Rigorous analyses of color, of actual paint application, of sitters' postures and their costumes all yield nuanced readings of the terms by which homosexuality is represented and censored. Meyer's text provides a sophisticated, nuanced, theoretically informed reading that is nonetheless jargon-free. To my mind, the book sets a new standard for contemporary art-historical scholarship: clear writing and persuasive and original thinking about the ways in which images function as historical agents and not mere reflections of either history or theory."--C�cile Whiting, Professor of Art History, University of California, Los Angeles

"It seems fitting that the best book on the policing of sexual imagery in the twentieth century should be written by an art historian. Meyer deftly uncloaks not just the invidious ways censorship seeks to rub out the work of gay artists, but also the equally powerful ways censorship is itself creatively thematized, analyzed, and satirized by the very artists targeted for suppression. This terrifically smart and intellectually savvy book should be required bedside reading for every public official boorish enough to wage war on the resourceful and imaginative world of contemporary American art."--Diana Fuss, Professor of English, Princeton University

About the Author

Richard Meyer is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Southern California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (January 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195107608
• ISBN-13: 978-0195107609
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,042,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rather disappointing, April 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art (Ideologies of Desire) (Hardcover)

I must say that the reader from Cambridge, whose review appears below, seems to me to have it right. Certainly, the book is well-illustrated, well-researched, and readable. But analytically, whether understood as art history or cultural criticism, this book offers very little. Meyer does us a service by collecting these images and placing them next to each other, but his observations about the consequences of censorship struck me as quite banal, and predictable to such a degree that you must wonder whether he has any interest in complicating (let alone challenging) the theoretical paradigms he draws on. It is hardly news that right-wing zealots intent on suppressing representations of gay sexuality often display a questionable fascination with the very images they claim to despise. It hardly requires any advanced art historical training to see that Mapplethorpe's "Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter" photo plays on the conventional image of the Victorian heterosexual domestic couple. I had rather hoped, given the time and effort that Meyer put into this book, that he would have been able to present something more surprising and innovative than he delivers. For a good discussion of current perspectives on censorship in law and the humanities that goes far beyond Meyer's account, see the Getty publication, edited by Robert C. Post, titled "Censorship and Silencing: Practices of Cultural Representation."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art and American Society: Fascinating, August 9, 2010

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K. J. Stec "kkjps" (nyc) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art (Ideologies of Desire) (Hardcover)

This book was purchased as an optional textbook for a class held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The class itself was a revelation in the way "Queer" art (read the book to get the actual definition of this term--it's probably not as limited to the familiar concept you may have run across) is perceived, as well as indicating the diversity of the Museum's holdings and approach to education. Political as well as artistic strategies are explored, and although not all artists practicing during the time frame of the book, which is considerable, are mentioned, the few that are introduced are given in-depth coverage. Big names that you think you might understand by this time are given fresh perspective and, if you're an art history buff as myself, further reasons to consider their output. This holds true for others you may be exploring on your own: insights from this book are easily transferred beyond its pages. I walked away from the book (and class) with more questions then when I first encountered it, and the inspiration is exciting. This volume will increase your awareness of art in society and its perception by some as beauty and others, menace. Lucid, knowledgeable: great read. NOTE: some graphic sexual images.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Well Written Research on an Interesting Topic, June 7, 2002

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Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art (Ideologies of Desire) (Hardcover)

Richard Meyer has added a significant volume to the compendium of books on American art and its kinship to social mores. Using Censorship as a topic should arouse the interest of all who value freedom of expression and it is to that audience that I think this books plays to best. Yes, the art examined here is queer art, but it is art that is a significant part of the 20th Century, not just an isolated school. His chosen artists are Paul Cadmus, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol and Gran Fury and in presenting these artists he is concomittanly investigating the influence of such highly important social issues as AIDS, consumerism, POP culture, the whole Jesse Helms/Jerry Farwell/Christian Coalition debacle in a way that makes the reader look into the motivational behavior of the past century that continues into this century. The book is well documented in images and footnotes, making it a must for school libraries and fellow scholars. Despite the confrontational topic of the book, Meyer writes so well that he maintains interest even when extending his examples a bit too far. He overall theme appears to be that there is some good to be found in censorship: media attention derived from such art brings heightened awareness and eventually more prestige and longevity to the art and involved artists. One major complaint about this book: the typeface point is so small that it makes reading the pages a visual strain. In an otherwise expensive layout, one wonders why the typeface couldn't have been changed to one more user friendly.