24. Transcestor Artists, A Look At Art Beyond the Binaries

Leigh and Gretchen are back from hiatus with an extra special episode! Recorded live at the Dallas Museum of Art on June 21st as part of the museum’s Pride events, your friendly neighborhood queer history nerds sat down to chat about gender diversity in art. Love mythology? Think that heteronormativity shouldn’t apply to deities? You’re in luck! Take a brief tour through gender diversity in Mesopotamian, Hindu, and Norse mythology—and it’s just scratching the surface! Leigh and Gretchen round off their conversation with a look at two modern artists who questioned and transcended gender norms in their lives and art: Anton Prinner and Frida Kahlo. So pull up a chair and hang out with a couple of gayvenclaws to, retroactively, celebrate pride and art beyond the binary!

A Closer Look at Trancestor Artists: Watch Our DMA Slide Show

Transcestors: A Look at Art Beyond the Binary

Gretchen and Leigh Find Gay Things at the DMA!

So Excite!

Holy cow…

So official!

Etruscans

Their underworld was gay.

Because they’re Hapi

Clap along if you feel like a god with two genders.

Our favorite communist, bisexual, anti-colonialist, Picasso hating artist, Frida!

That’s it for History is Gay live from the DMA!

If you want to learn more about the differently gendered deities in mythology, Anton Prinner, or Frida Kahlo, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Mythology

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_themes_in_mythology

• Inanna/Ishtar

  • https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/inanna-ishtar

  • http://www.willsworld.org/priests.html

  • https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1062957.pdf?ab_segments=0%252Fdefault-2%252Fcontrol&refreqid=excelsior%3A6f7cb9f7e6ddc0c10825ee0633344c67

• Hindu Deities

  • https://lusmerlin.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/ten-intersex-gods-and-goddesses/

• Hapi

  • Wikipedia: Hapi

  • LGBTime Machine: Ancient Rome

  • Ancient Egypt Online: Hapi

  • Hapi - The God of the Nile

• Loki

  • Wikipedia: Loki

  • Norse Mythology for Smart People: Loki

  • Prose Edda

  • North, R; (2001) 'Loki's Gender: Or why Skaði Laughed'. In: Olsen, LAJR, (ed.) Monsters and the Monstrous in Medieval Northwest Europe. (pp. 141-151). Peeters Publishers and Booksellers: Louvain/Leuven.

Anton Prinner

• http://biralat.hu/index.php?searchenginerUrl=muveszek/prinner_anton_.909.html&language=en

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Prinner

• https://next.liberation.fr/culture/2007/05/07/anton-prinner-entre-mystere-et-esoterisme_92262

• https://www.messynessychic.com/2019/06/06/anton-prinner-is-the-genderqueer-picasso-we-need-in-the-21st-century/

Frida Kahlo

• Imagining Her Selves by Gannit Ankori

• Religious Imagination and the Body: A Feminist Perspective by Paula Cooey

•  Biography of Frida Kahlo---Frida Kahlo Foundation

• Frida Kahlo: Role Model for Artists, People with Disabilities and Bisexual Women

• The Androgynous Frida

• Exploring Frida: The Sexuality, Gender, and Politics of Frida Kahlo

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!