The Artistic Expression of London’s LGBTQIA+ Community

• Mason Blauch, Visual Communications, University of Delaware

• Katie Leech, Art and Design, University of Delaware

My Summer Scholars research explores how London’s queer community artistically expresses themselves and their Pride. London has one of the largest and most diverse queer communities in Europe. Like many other similar communities, they express themselves through different forms of art, which include public and fine arts, fashion and outward appearances, and performing arts, such as dance, music, and drag. During my five weeks in London, I have learned that this community is largely represented in the media by a single flag and different colors, and they are trying to change this image. They are challenging this through artistic self expression and want to be seen as a group of people made up of a spectrum of different identities. I have noticed that to achieve this, this queer community centers their arts around the human body in one way or another. The human body is vulnerable and is unique to each individual, which supports the ideas of Pride, which include self-affirmation, equality, and increased transparency.

Using the Adobe Suite, I am creating an artists book to visually represent my findings under Professor Katie Leech. To create my book, I am using original photographs, illustrations, and digital designs to represent how the human body is at the center of Londons’s queer community’s art. I am using color overlays and a bit mapping technique in my book as I feel that it is a strong representation of the wide spectrum of identities that the LGBTQIA+ community consists of and the wide variations of their artistic expression.