Abstract
This short, first-person essay describes and briefly evaluates the life and work of the Russian–Hungarian trans-identified artist El Kazovsky (1948–2008). It principally focuses the author’s viewing of ‘The Survivor’s Shadow: The Life and Work of El Kazovsky’ – a massive, 19-room retrospective exhibition at the Hungarian National Gallery in 2015–2016. The author explores the paradox of El Kazovsky’s visibility as a nationally celebrated artist in a moment of extreme state-sanctioned queer-phobia, and the illegibility of his transness. It ends by suggesting that the practice of ‘surviving in shadow’ is increasingly necessary given the continued worldwide drift toward reactionary ethno-nationalist politics that are hostile to trans lives.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 277-282 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Visual Culture |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 1 2020 |
Keywords
- El Kazovsky
- Hungary
- homoprotectionism
- non-binary
- transgender
- transsexual
- visual arts
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication
- Visual Arts and Performing Arts