Coded works, coded lives

In the spare moments of repose between day job shenanigans and artistic exploits, I’ve nearly finished a recent biography of John Singer Sargent called The Grand Affair. I came across this lengthy tome while browsing at a Barnes & Noble. Yes, an accidental discovery of a real book in a real book store—I know, so retro! Somewhere in the back of my mind was a recollection that Sargent had a things for the boys. I was intrigued and later checked out the book from the library. My retro chic is unstoppable!

Thankfully, the book delivers on that score. It traces the theme of Sargent’s relationships with men throughout his life both on and off the canvas. There’s not a lot to go on, unfortunately, as he was extremely private and guarded. It’s only through hints left in his works and his associations with the queer milieux of his day that we’ve come to regard him as possibly gay.

He created some arresting images of male beauty: of other artists in his circle, of paid models, even some commissioned portraits (the bread and butter work across most of his career and what made him famous). Most of these works of achillean sensibility were private affairs: personal works, gifts, or studies. Luckily some survive for us to enjoy now. They could easily have been destroyed by him, or others, to “preserve” his reputation.

Reading a biography adds some interesting, and chilling, context to these lovely images. Remember, darlings, he lived and worked in the time of such gems as the Labouchere Amendment used to lock up the queers in Britain and the Comstock Act in the US used to silence us. He also happened to live across the street from Oscar Wilde at the time of his trial and conviction. Something that surely weighed on his mind.

Throughout the book, the author speculates on the balancing acts Sargent was playing his entire life. He had to toe the lines of the art world and expectations about what was presentable and not. Also, as a “lifetime bachelor,” he had other balancing acts to perform. There were a number of long standing relationships with men throughout his life, either of the “good friend” or “personal secretary” types. Today, we want to call these relationships “gay” and “romantic” and bless them with our contemporary fixation on rigid categories and hierarchies—not to mention our need to know if there was sex! Because, of course, that is essential information, right?

I prefer to luxuriate in the mystery. To accept the unknown and let it suffuse these lovely images with a heady context of unknowing. A Zen master I had the pleasure of spending a weekend with some years ago would say “not knowing is the most intimate.” I know, darlings, can you get any more Zen that that?

Setting aside our desperate need for some retcon gayness, I gotta wonder about the art world balancing acts of today. Are they all that different than what Sargent faced? Certainly the days where a career could be ended because you painted a lady with the strap of her gown fallen are gone (for good, we hope). But, we hardly live in a time where anything goes. Even today, even after the so-called sexual revolution, artists working with male nudes have have balancing acts to perform.

I carefully consider what I can exhibit and where, what I can sell online or only in person, what I can print or mail, what I can post on social media. There’s a lot of internal angst that still happens in the initial stages of a painting or series. The practical concerns hemming in the artistic sprit are many. At every stage I wonder if I can, if I should. What will happen if I do, what price will I pay? Will this be the one that gets my Instagram account shut down? Gets my credit card processing locked down and money confiscated? Will it get rejected by “legitimate” art world opportunities and venues?

Or my personal favorite: should I just make two versions?

Coding depictions in your art is one thing. But what if we have to go back to coding our whole lives, too? Those of us in comfortable settings like the sanctuary cities of North America, that is. Let’s not forget about all the people the world over who still today have to code their lives for safety and survival!

Showing the strap of a gown fallen across a shoulder almost cost Sargent his career (and haunted the subject of the portrait the rest of her life). How close to returning to that are we? His biography is a reminder of how far we’ve come. But the last few years have shown how fragile these gains are. We could easily go back to jail terms, chemical castration, purges, blackmail, even the death camps again.

So, what do we do with these storm clouds on the horizon? We focus on the light and the beauty even more. We hold each other a little tighter. And believe, darlings. Believe in each other, believe in the collective power of our joy, love, and pleasure.

The world is too damn straight!

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  Life, the universe and everything
  Pondering the indeterminacy of life and art I muse on whether I’m conduit or origin.
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  We want the gut punch of immediate visuals tickling the faster parts of our central processing unit to know if we should spare our precious and limited attention on something. A lot hinges on the humble cover.