DIY Identity Kit: The Great American Lesbian Art Show

Abstract

The Great American Lesbian Art Show, which opened at the Woman's Building in Los Angeles in May 1980, was conceived to increase visibility for lesbian artists, and to forge bonds among lesbians across the United States. It comprised a curated Invitational of ten artists and scores of regional GALAS events mounted simultaneously by women from Boston to Honolulu. The art on view, documented in a slide archive, staged a critique of contemporary gender norms. Participating artists represented lesbian identities that claimed universality while they reflected the artists’ particularized experience of woman-identification and sexual desire.