Art + Design x Life

From the Renaissance rediscovery of classical ideals, to the effusive creativity of the Harlem Renaissance and the turbulent activism of the AIDS crisis, LGBTQ+ art often reflects dramatic social upheavals while forging breakthroughs in visibility.

Floriography in LGBTQ+ history is a living, breathing dictionary where each bloom, color, and storyline weaves centuries of courage and coded expression. And in their gestures we find love, courage, and the human urge to bloom against all odds.

Looking at William Etty’s nudes—once so scandalous they could raise the temperature of an entire Victorian drawing room—you can't help feeling charged with the same electric bravado of this man who was unafraid to provoke ardor and outrage.

Stories of queer royals span continents and centuries. From ancient kings and queens whose desires were open secrets, medieval monarchs who risked scandal for their favorites and modern royals embracing their truth. 

On the windswept plains of the Old West, LGBTQ pioneers found a measure of liberation. Under endless star-sprent skies, these adventurers forsook the only homes they'd known to become who they wanted to be.

To really grapple with the muscular power of gay coded art (mercurial thing to begin with) start with a deep fruity breath of camp defiance... then dive right in to uncover hidden gems obscured by the weight of history and the bitter sting of prejudice.

It was a sultry night in 1965—the air crackling with irony and mischief—when a curious question floated through the silver-painted loft of Andy Warhol’s New York studio, The Factory: “Do you think Pop Art’s queer?”