The process of showing the non-heterosexual experience and making it visible, often manifesting itself in the form of subversion of traditional gender roles and the stereotype of “naturalness,” has always been and still is crucial in the past and present of negotiating queer identities. This approach is much more convincing than the earlier interpretation of her gender-inverted stylization and her play at “it.” As shown by Karla Huebner and subsequently Milena Bartlová on the example of painter Toyen, it is the very queer strategy, based on showing the non-terminological, that is the most apt interpretation key to the life and work of the non-conformist artist. Ultimately, Saslow’s “definition” seems most agreeable, as queer art is a fluid category (if only for the fact that the two terms it is comprised of are fluid themselves) and defies verbal definition on principle. Martin Putna was more particular, speaking (in the context of literature) about texts by homosexuals about homosexuals for homosexuals however, by doing so, he excludes a whole range of creative outputs without a clear definition or specific audiences and reception aesthetics in visual arts which are important for non-heterosexuals as well, as they provide an imprint of one’s own experience within an image in an extended field. In his opinion, attributing non-heterosexual identity to visual arts can be compared to the starry sky where things keep changing and moving all the time. What definitions are there then? Art historian James Saslow, the author of one of the earliest systematic interpretations of queer art history, suggests an almost hilariously vague definition. Defying any linguistic apparatus is inherent for queer visual art.
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Štefková explains that the very categories of “homosexual,” “gay,” “lesbian” and “LGBT+” are problematic in the society-wide discourse and that the artists “oppose the instrumental use of such a categorical definition.” Moreover, there is a contradiction between the discourse of the politics of sexuality (and its language as a field of power) and visual art which can address the questions of non-heterosexual desire without words, labels or verbal “confessions ” which is one of the key qualities of queer strategy in the past and present of visual arts.
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Most artists reject the definition of their work as “art with an attribute” as limiting. At least until we create a certain definition to apply on the original diversity.” The issue with definitions and “labels” was convincingly pointed out by Zuzana Štefková in the book Homosexuality in the History of Czech Culture. As much as there is no such thing as Czech art. On the occasion of his exhibition Prague Pride: East Side Story, which accompanied the Prague Pride 2014 festival at Karlin Studios, curator Michal Novotný writes in his curatorial text: “For sure, there is no such thing as LGBT, homosexual, gay or lesbian art.
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What does queer strategy mean in the Czech context, while we, like other post-Soviet states, are coping with the acceptance and realization of identitarian politics and at the same time with its deconstruction? Rather than a label or a retrospective definition of groups or artworks, they represent a common strategy aiming for a subversion of categories such as gender, sexuality, race, nation and power in the art world. The aim of these criteria should be neither to include minority artists in an existing canon of past and present art, nor to create a parallel narrative. On the one hand, we do need these categories, as minorities still do not have equal access to opportunities in the patriarchal system of art institutions on the other hand though, these could artificially legitimize art that might not even pass inclusive quality criteria.
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“Because it’s 2018” could be the answer to the question why we do and at the same time do not need special labels such as queer, female, Roma and other kinds of art based on a minority identity (minority in the sense of power, not numbers).