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Home> Archive> 2023> Volume 13 Number 6 ( Dec. 2023)
IJSSH 2023 Vol.13(6): 422-428
doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2023.V13.1180

Re-thinking Drag: From Night Clubs to White Cubes

Caterina Rachele Rossi

Abstract—A new generation of drag queens and drag performers has recently enjoyed unprecedented success. The aim of this paper is to show the connection between the concept of drag as a gender-blending art form and the contemporary art scene. This connection is highlighted by pointing out how the essential featues of drag, such as body manipulation, the performative element, irony, and political engagement, recur as much in drag as in the stylistic choices shared by many artists. An initial reflection on terminology and on aesthetic is followed by a short survey of art history from the early twentieth century to the contemporary, to explore how many artists have been taking inspiration from the world of drag queens to create works that deconstruct and reshape gender and sexuality. Finally, it comes the present where we are witnesses of a shy opening of institutional spaces to drag queens, a more decisive and tangible example of the aesthetic and cultural implications of an avant-garde still in progress and yet to be defined.

Index Terms—Contemporary art, drag artist, gender studies, performance

Caterina Rossi is with Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy. E-amil: caterinarachele.rossi@yahoo.com (C.R.)

[PDF]

Cite: Caterina Rachele Rossi, "Re-thinking Drag: From Night Clubs to White Cubes," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 422-428, 2023.


Copyright © 2023 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
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