A Queer Arcana: Art, Magic, and Spirit

A Queer Arcana: Art, Magic, and Spirit brings together an intergenerational group of artists who explore how magic, spirituality, and esoteric knowledge have shaped queer art and culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Drawing on the meaning of arcana —hidden and mystical knowledge—the exhibition considers how queer artists have turned to obscure spiritual practices as sources of connection and transformation. These artists engage magic as a way to envision worlds beyond repressive systems, reclaim sexuality as a sacred power, and build community. The works on view reflect a wide range of spiritual traditions and practices, including Western occultism, witchcraft and goddess worship, Christian mysticism, New Age beliefs influenced by Eastern philosophies, and shamanic traditions rooted in Indigenous knowledge. Many artists explore and combine diverse traditions, constructing through their work idiosyncratic and intricate worlds. As articulated by the queer Chicana poet and theorist Gloria Anzaldúa, "spirituality is a source of sustenance, a way of knowing, a path of survival." A Queer Arcana highlights how magical and alternative spiritual practices have been ever-present within queer culture and LGBTQ+ struggles for liberation, even when their significance has been obscured from dominant historical accounts.