Celebrating Pride Month with Artists Rights Society

June 11, 2024 11:11 am

How Arts Licensing Fosters Greater LGBTQ+ Visibility and Connects Brands and Organizations to the LGBTQ+ Community

SUBMIT REQUEST FOR LGBTQ+ ARTIST LICENSE | Join our mailing list to learn more about licensing artwork

At Artists Rights Society, we take immense pride in our diverse roster of talented artists, including the many LGBTQ+ artists whose works poignantly capture the multifaceted human experiences of resilience, identity exploration, and the pursuit of inclusivity. As we join in the global celebration of Pride this June, we reaffirm our steadfast support for these visionary LGBTQ+ voices and underscore the transformative potential of amplifying their artworks through intentional licensing projects.

Organizations can amplify LGBTQ+ voices and support queer artists during Pride Month and year-round by creatively licensing and showcasing their work across various platforms. Whether you’re a commercial brand or non-profit museum, social media and email marketing campaigns provide an excellent opportunity to share these artworks directly with audiences.

For Brands

Create a special Pride-themed email newsletter featuring LGBTQ+ artworks licensed for headers, graphics, and backgrounds.
Share weekly or daily posts on Instagram highlighting LGBTQ+ artists whose work resonates with your brand’s values. Include high-quality images of their artwork and a brief bio to introduce them to your audience.
Develop a line of Pride-themed products, such as apparel, accessories, and home decor, featuring licensed artwork by LGBTQ+ artists. Promote these items as limited-edition, emphasizing their exclusivity and the artist’s story.
Create special edition packaging for existing products featuring licensed LGBTQ+ artwork. This could include custom boxes, labels, or wraps that celebrate Pride Month.

For Museums

Send an email newsletter featuring a curated selection of LGBTQ+ artworks from the museum’s collection or licensed products, along with artist biographies/quotes.
Promote a “Pride Artist of the Week” email series that spotlights a different queer artist each week with their artwork and background.
Partner with LGBTQ+ artists for social media takeovers where they share their art and experiences on the museum’s channels.
License LGBTQ+ artworks to be printed on merchandise like t-shirts, tote bags, mugs, etc. for a special Pride collection.
Offer limited-edition prints of the licensed artworks. Highlight these exclusive items in your marketing efforts, emphasizing their uniqueness and the story behind each piece.
Make your Pride Month event tickets and promotional materials stand out by licensing artwork.

(Left to Right) Polly Apfelbaum, The Rainbow Flag from Flags of Revolt and Defiance (2006). © 2024 Polly Apfelbaum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Erté, Rainbow in Blossom (1977). © Chalk & Vermilion, LLC / Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York; Liz Nielsen, Rainbow (2022). © 2024 Liz Nielsen / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

In 1978, artist and activist Gilbert Baker boldly conceived the rainbow flag as an emblem of pride for the gay community. This ubiquitous symbol has become an instantly recognizable way for organizations, brands, and allies to visibly demonstrate their support and solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. The rainbow imagery illustrated in this post showcases four queer member artists whose work embraces this spectrum, demonstrating its adaptability across different styles.

Beyond the rainbow, of course, there’s a dynamic artistic community ready to enrich your brand or organization’s connection to the LGBTQ+ community. Through artwork licensing opportunities offered by our LGBTQ+ member artists, your brand can actively engage with and uplift LGBTQ+ voices and perspectives. Plus, licensing artwork provides artists and their estates with a steady source of royalty income, helping to fund their foundations, promote their work, and secure a lasting financial legacy.

Here are just a few artists from ARS’ roster whose works vividly capture the spirit of Pride.

Patricia Cronin‘s artistic oeuvre stands as a powerful testament to her commitment to LGBTQ+ visibility, representation, and advocacy. Through her work, she explores the complexities of gender identity, sexuality, and the social and political issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community.

One of Cronin’s most renowned works, Memorial to a Marriage (2002), serves as a poignant tribute to Cronin’s own relationship with her partner, artist Deborah Kass.

One of the defining aspects of Jenna Gribbon‘s work is her ability to capture the nuances and complexities of queer female experiences and intimacy. Her paintings depict tender, uncanny scenes of everyday life, challenging traditional heteronormative narratives and reclaiming visibility for queer women.

Gribbon has stated that her pursuit of depicting queer narratives stems from a lack of such representation during her formative years. “I’d seen so few examples when I was growing up of queer identity among women…I wanted to make work that was impactful, but also more direct and more pleasurable.”

Sunil Gupta is a pioneering photographer whose work has provided profound visibility and representation for LGBTQ+ communities for over four decades. As an openly gay artist from India, Gupta’s perspective has shed light on queer experiences across cultures.

In the 1970s, Gupta began documenting the burgeoning gay liberation movement in New York City. His landmark series Christopher Street captured candid scenes of gay men’s lives and intimate gatherings in the iconic Greenwich Village neighborhood. These powerful black-and-white images offered an unfiltered, empathetic view into a community that had long existed in the shadows.

Bob Mizer developed an impassioned fascination with nude male imagery at a time when such depictions were strictly censored. In 1945, he launched the boundary-pushing physique magazine Physique Pictorial to showcase his stylized, homoerotic photographs of muscular bodybuilders, athletes, and servicemen posing as Greco-Roman ideals.

Mizer’s photographs often embraced camp by infusing a sense of irony, humor, and extravagance. Elements like skimpy outfits, props like cowboy hats or fake weapons, or even costumes that bordered on the absurd added a sense of cheeky theatricality while distorting American ideals of masculinity and sexuality.

Tom of Finland, born Touko Laaksonen, revolutionized the world of homoerotic art and gay culture with his bold, unapologetic depictions of hyper-masculine men. Tom’s signature style involves highly stylized renderings of men engaged in explicit sexual acts, often incorporating elements of BDSM, fetishism, and homoeroticism. His characters sport chiseled features, bulging muscles, and anatomically improbable endowments, celebrating and amplifying traditional masculine archetypes.

Tom’s art provided a much-needed positive portrayal of gay masculinity and eroticism at a time when stereotypical depictions of gay men as effeminate were prevalent. He said, “I wanted my drawings to show Gay men being happy and positive about who they were…”

In embracing LGBTQ+ artwork, we’re not just adding color to our spaces or products — we’re fostering genuine connections and understanding within our communities. Let’s continue to amplify LGBTQ+ voices and experiences through intentional art licensing. By doing so, we can create spaces and products that honor diversity, spark meaningful conversations, and inspire positive change.

Join us in spreading the love this Pride Month and beyond! Email Artists Rights Society at [email protected] for easy licensing options and let’s celebrate inclusivity together.

SUBMIT REQUEST FOR LGBTQ+ ARTIST LICENSE | Join our mailing list to learn more about licensing artwork

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Celebrating Pride Month with Artists Rights Society

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