Contemporary Queer:
A Love Letter
A national exhibition juried by Laura Kathrein & Lucy Yan
Contemporary Queer: A Love Letter highlights how artists explore and express queer identities through themes of intersectionality and visibility within the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
on view
June 5 – June 29, 2025
Reception
Friday, Jun 6, 6 – 9PM
Gallery 263 is pleased to announce Contemporary Queer: A Love Letter, a national group exhibition juried by Gallery 263 co-presidents Laura Kathrein and Lucy Yan, who are also queer artists. This exhibition came together in response to the rise of anti-LGBTQ politics in the United States. As a result, the artists selected for this exhibition present the complex splendor of queerness, ranging from activism art to personal diaries- the artists refuse to be placed inside of a box. Through their eyes, facets of queer culture and history are portrayed with respect and admiration to queer representation.
Work on view in Contemporary Queer: A Love Letter includes ceramics, mixed media, sculpture, painting, textiles, drawing, and photography. Taylor Maroney’s painting titled IYKYK (Dylan) highlights the overlooked aspects of trans existence and depicts figures whose bodies are replaced with elements of the sky or earth. The infinite vastness of the sky symbolizes ultimate freedom, while the earth represents what is more precious. Robert Siegelman, a long time resident of Boston and queer artist, explores desire and connection through his photographs, focusing on men and nonbinary folks to share complicated feelings of sexuality and loneliness depicted in his images. Amanda Pickler’s painting titled Our Hands at Ginger’s, NY is a part of a series of work that documents lesbian bars that serve the queer community, nodding to the archival imagery of leather dykes, specifically during the movements of the 80’s and 90’s when lesbians organized through protest, care, and love for their community as resistance to the government’s violent negligence during the AID’s crisis.
Featured Artists
Xray Aims, Alina Balseiro, Brandin Barón, Moss Blackburn, Grace Coudal, ClaraJames Daly, Madeline De Michele, Jesse Egner, Aiyana Graham, Jessie James, Elijah Kauffman, James Kane, Shayna Kiblin, Hallie Lueking, Kai Lum, Aidan Lancaster, Hale Linnet, Taylor Maroney, Amina Meckel-Sam, Lex Lilia Morris-Wright, Paige Mulhern, Amanda Picler, Catherine Please, Adam Porter, Jasmine Percell, Rowan Raskin, Daniel Roa, Daniel Rumsey, Robert Siegelman, Mar Spragge, Edward Steffani, Saul Xtopher, Mindy Wellan, Juniper Wolfenbarger, Kareem Michael Worrell, Vincent Wright
About the jurors
Laura Kathrein is a Boston-based community organizer, movement artist, and educator. She joined the Gallery 263 board in 2017 and has served as both President and Co-President of the board since 2021. Her work as a movement artist is featured at the Peabody Essex Museum, including the installation iEMBODY and film New Addresses. Laura is dedicated to maintaining creative spaces, like Gallery 263, as she firmly believes they are not only vital to the city’s artists but provide important social capital for the broader region. As a queer artist and gallery steward, Laura is thrilled to have the privilege to provide a space to spotlight the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Lucy Yan is a Boston-based engineer turned representational oil painter. A Board member since 2021 at Gallery 263 (and recent Co-President), she’s determined to help nonprofit spaces thrive so that artists may flourish. As a queer artist herself, Lucy hopes the Contemporary Queer Exhibition will directly encourage and support other queer artists. As anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. increase on a daily basis, she hopes this love letter will serve as an opportunity to center queer perspectives.