Artist Barbara Sandler, who has had a female partner for 26 years, likes to paint portraits only of men.  That has put her at odds with the lesbian community, who throughout Sandler’s 40-year career has accused her of being anti-feminist.  You’ll get a chance to see Barbara Sandler’s latest artwork, and meet her in person, when we visit Sandler’s show as one of 7 stops on our Sat. Jan. 21 Gay & Lesbian gallery tour in Chelsea.  She’ll speak to us about both her artwork and her sometimes tense relationship with the gay community.

As a gay man, I can tell you that Sandler’s men are strikingly handsome, athletic, and sexy.  Her anonymous male subjects – based on collages made from found 19th and early 20th century photographs and printed ephemera – reflect a continued interest in the iconography of masculinity.  Says Sandler: “I love the confrontational stare of a man stopped in time, looking out from an old photograph… ‘Why should this be the end of me?  Give me another go-around, re-invent me.’ “

The controversy over Sandler’s work raises interesting questions about political correctness, and it says something as much about the gay community as it does of her as a person.  When a queer artist has a passionate, sustained calling to produce work that many see as negating queerness, should the artist proceed?  In Sandler’s case, she feels she has no other choice, and in the end she is successful at what she does.  We’ll hear about the situation from Sandler herself on Saturday.

Other highlights of this tour will include: (1) a gay male artist who paints astonishingly fantastical portraits and landscapes that reflect the different stages of the human lifespan, and (2) a sculptural installation by a jailed and tortured Chinese artist that is THE talk of the international art world.

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D.
Founder and Director
New York GalleryTours