THE ART OF DRAG
From Drag Queens to Kings – has the world of Drag finally blossomed into fine art?
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Over the years, drag has gone from a niche interest to a global phenomenon. Drag dates back to performances from the Ancient Greek era and Shakespeare in the performing arts world, where men would perform dressed as women – back before drag had even become a thing. The term ‘drag’ first came around in the beginning of the 20th century, an English slang term amongst some gay communities to refer to male actors dressed in women’s clothing.
Not only has drag been a thing since ‘herstory’ began, in the world of fine art some artists started to express themselves through an alter ego – themselves being the muse. Marcel Duchamp was a fine artist who had a female alter ego Rrose Sélavy. When she appeared to the world, people were astonished to see that art had been taken to life form. She appeared in photographs taken by non-other than Man Ray - a historic fashion photographer. Even he was speechless to see Duchamp’s art being personified by Sélavy; he saw Duchamp’s whole aesthetic become alive. Was this the first capture of the crossover of fine art and the world of drag?
A more recent artist Grayson Perry also has a female alter ego – Claire. Claire is the female artist in Perry, inspired by his mother. Even though he doesn’t talk to her anymore. Perry told The Guardian that
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“We almost fetishise the personalities and body types we were exposed to as children. When we suddenly find out we’ve married our mother, it’s liberating to a certain extent.”
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Everyone knows that artists within the art world express themselves ‘on paper’ but within their attire as well. Perry and Claire execute this to a T. When you search “Grayson Perry drag” into Google, the page fills with numerous iconic couture outfits in which Perry has created to express his alter ego Claire. This is literally fine art coming to life in ‘one of a kind’ pieces like no other. Perry is one of many artists to take drag one-step further to the world.
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Other examples of drag being seen as part of fine art, is shown in exhibitions around the world such as The Tate’s exhibition ‘Queer British Art’ featuring paintings, film and photographer’s work such as John Deakin who photographed cross-dressed men and women. It has even become apparent that one of the people in his 1930’s collection was an artist – Francis Bacon in drag CIA facial software uncovered this. Andy Warhol also filmed drag queens as part of his expression of art. Some musicians also express themselves through the way they look as well as through their music, from Freddie Mercury to Lady Gaga. Also the Whitney Biennial in New York used RuPaul as inspiration and he served tour guide realness by showing people around the exhibition.
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The world’s biggest drag superstar and influential performer RuPaul took drag and the art form to a whole new level. He created a realm in which drag performers can express themselves and compete to become “The Next Drag Superstar”. We met Mamma Ru as a musical artist in 1993 when he slayed the world with his single “Supermodel (You Better Work)”.
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When he sashayed his way into fame, he created one of the most popular TV programmes of the naughties in RuPaul’s Drag Race. This programme changed the world of drag. From season 1 – 9 people of all ages tuned in to see who would become America’s next drag superstar. Season 9 saw a huge increase in popularity with the viewers, a staggering 218% increase since the last season, beating previous records for the VH1 show. Each week contestants have to rise to various different challenges to see if they’ve got what it takes to follow in Ru’s pretty big footsteps. A certain queen in particular Sasha Velour took the programme in a way no other drag performer ever has before on stage. She is a bald queen who had a pop-art take to each runway look. With eye-brows inspired by Frida Kahlo, she strutted down the runway like no other queen.
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In an interview between Sasha and Jeremy Hobson on the Here and Now radio show, Sasha explains her approach to drag.
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“The truth is I do take drag really seriously, and I think that there’s kind of a place for that — to see it as this political and historical art form, and to want to continue pushing it in new directions. And also honour the old directions as well. So I’m sort of like a drag intellectual/drag queen.”
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“I went to Vassar College for undergraduate and studied literature and queer theory, and all of the above. And then I took a Fulbright scholarship in Russia. And that’s really where my direction shifted a little bit, because I became really interested in what kind of work actually helps to change things for queer people. And I became really fascinated with drag because it’s such an accessible and joyful art form. I wanted to create beautiful images in drag that would not just inspire queer people who need to see some beauty and need to experience some joy, but also would engage people politically.”
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Sasha speaks for herself and explains her successful unique style isn’t something she just does, but something she believes in, to better other people and we thank her for that.
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The detail to which drag artists and performers go to create their alter-ego persona is something to be appreciated, just as much as any other artist within the arts world. From couture to contour, the skills that go into drag crossover across the world of design, fine art, musical artists… and art in general. Drag is something in its ‘own right’ and something that should be embraced by spectators with pride. RuPaul’s contribution has gone a long way to humanising drag queens and challenging gay stereotypes. The only minor difference would be that some fine artists express themselves on an external blank canvas – whereas drag performer’s canvases are themselves.