For artists, the final decades of the 20th century were a time of heightened self-awareness, a period when many people began to explore their own lives and find content in issues of personal identity. Accompanying this were demands for political change that soon established the foundations for a new, more multicultural art world with an increased sensitivity to ethnic, gender and sexual diversity.
Much of this story is reflected in the art ephemera from these years. Because this history is just as important as the story of individual artists and galleries, Gallery 98 makes it accessible through search prompts organized by themes. Below are three major categories—African Diaspora, LGBTQ, Women—with a selection of examples from each of the themes. Click on the headings to see more.
African Diaspora
Richard Yarde, Savoy Celebrates the Studio Museum in Harlem’s First Anniversary at its New 125th Building, Folded Card, 1983
Card, size: 4.5 x 6.25 inches
$150
Group show with Richmond Barthe, John Biggers, Houston Conwill, Lois Mailou Jones, Bill Traylor, and others, Black Art Ancestral Legacy: The African Impulse in African-American Art, Press Kit with Photo, Handout, and Object List, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1991, Cover by Ed Love “The Sweet Rockets from The Arkestra,” (1988)
Press kit with multiple items including two press releases, a press photograph, and a complete object list, size: 9 x 12 inches
$200
LGBTQ
Keith Haring, Gran Fury, Martin Wong and Others, Stonewall 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Poster and Xerox Handout with Floor Plans, National Museum of Lesbian and Gay History, 1989
Keith Haring image size: 11 x 8.5 inches, poster size: 11 x 17.5 inches
Sold
Jack Waters, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Male Gayze, Card, 1995
Card, size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
$100
RuPaul: World’s Biggest Supermodel, Photo by Mark Contratto, PAPER Magazine, June 1993
Magazine, size: 8.5 x 10.25
Sold
Women
Martha Ross Edelheit, Cutouts, Women’s Interart Center, Card, 1984
Card, size: 5 x 7 inches
Japan Invitational, Women Artists From Japan, Catalogue and Press Release, A.I.R. Gallery, 1978
28-page catalogue, size: 8 x 8 inches