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Guest Curator Eric Birkle

This talk takes as its premise the double entendre of the phrase “to lay bare,” which is used to refer at once to the archetype of the nude in art history (or the idea of bodily exposure) and to reveal the extent to which homosexual subject matter and gay artists of the last century have been repressed and trivialized. It examines a selection of the works on view in Political and Personal: Images of Gay Identity, as well as works by several other artists in order to establish a context for conversations about where “gay art” has been, where it’s headed, and what it has always endured.

Eric Birkle hails from Lapeer, Michigan, USA and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Art History, Visual Culture, and Curatorial Practice at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He obtained a B.A. in French & Art from Saginaw Valley State University in 2015, and an M.A. in Art History & Museum Studies from Ohio University in 2019. From 2014 to 2017, he held several positions at the Saginaw Art Museum, culminating with Associate Curator. Birkle curated this exhibition in the summer of 2018 as part of a Curatorial Internship Program grant awarded to the FIA by the IFPDA Foundation.