Queer Art, by curators Mollie E. Barnes and Gemma Rolls-Bentley, isn’t afraid to ask questions: what queerness is, what queer art can be, and why queer art matters.

The book’s introduction states that “queer art is not a genre but a gesture; a refusal to be pinned down by fixed identity categories”. Queerness in art can appear both openly and subtly, often through coded, abstract or unconventional forms that challenge heteronormative expectations.

The opening chapter asks “why talk about queer art?”, which is akin to asking why queer art matters. The book answers this in subtle and varied ways. Because queerness exists as a marginal identity, it offers alternative perspectives and forms of freedom that are often shared and experienced collectively.

The word “queer” was first reclaimed in the late 1980s among the homosexual or gay and lesbian community, as it then defined itself. As professor of gender studies Heather Love put it, the word evoked the “long history of insult and abuse – you could hear the hurt in it”.

Queer Art manages to avoid reductive framing. Although sexual content is an important aspect, queer expression goes far beyond this, and the book reflects that range.

It covers a wide variety of subjects presented in different styles, from figurative work to collage and abstraction. This diversity is expanded through multiple mediums including painting, photography, film and even computer games.

A prime example is the paintings of Julie Mehretu, who resists labels such as “queer........

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