Lesley Brey
Reporter
One recent Gallup Poll found that 1 in 6 Gen Zs self-identify as LGBTQ+, it’s easy to forget that gay marriage was only legalized in the United States in 2015. As a society, we’ve come far from the day when gay victims of AIDS were left to die in the streets. Yet, that massive loss of life had an enormous impact on the American queer community that is still being felt today.
“The inspiration behind my gallery and my thesis is the concept of queer abstraction. Before 1969 it was very illegal to be openly gay. In that time period, if you wanted to make art that was about queer people you had the risk of being arrested or of being killed. The concept of queer abstraction is when artists would leave clues and codes in their artwork,” said Idaho State University student Bill Bybee, about his thesis gallery “Queer…”
Artist and graduate student, Bill Bybee, explores these topics and more in his thesis project. Building on a legacy of covert queer artists such as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol, Bybee’s work confronts his audience with a sort of puzzle. Each piece contains a dialogue about queer identity that can only really be appreciated by understanding the history that went into its construction.
Bybee works in a variety of mediums, often mixing together bold texture and highly saturated colors to create a layered narrative. “All the choices I made, the symbols, the colors, they are all done very purposefully. [It] plays on gendered stereotypes, like blue is for boys and red is for girls, bright pink is a gay color, the triangle being a reference back to the Nazi’s concentration camps,” said Bybee.
In some pieces, he uses a technique called squeegee painting, where he loads his canvas with paint then pulls it across with a bench scraper to create dynamic and bold lines. The type of painting requires a lot of confidence, as any time he paused mid-stroke it would be reflected on the finished product. Furthermore, any time paint is layered on top of itself it takes even longer to dry, sometimes even as long as 8 months.
Bybee was inspired to take up painting following the 2008 recession. Previously he had worked in electronics, but when he and his husband relocated from California to Idaho he felt like he wanted to do more to support their small British imports business. Initially trying out jewelry-making, Bybee quickly discovered his passion for painting. “There was a painting class I decided to take, and I was just hooked at that point,” said Bybee.
At 40 years old, Bybee pursued his bachelor’s in fine arts, which he earned in 2018. Now, three years later, he is on the verge of earning his MFA. “I’ve been concentrating in painting the whole time. It was a no-brainer for me. It was something I just fell in love with, and I didn’t have to spend a lot of time outside of painting to realize that that’s where my heart is,” Bybee said.
Bybee’s husband of 21 years is also pursuing his undergraduate degree in art here at Idaho State University. The couple originally met at ISU in the ’90s before moving to California which was more welcoming to same-sex couples. Although they originally had a commitment ceremony in 2000, they were officially married in 2008 the weekend after proposition 8, a law outlawing gay marriage was overturned.
“The Sunday of the San Francisco Pride, we went down with about 500 other couples and got married. It was incredible! City hall is where they have their main pride event, so you come walking out and there’s literally this gigantic festival, this party going on, and it feels like it’s all for you,” said Bybee.
In 2013 they returned to Idaho for family reasons, which presented some difficulties as Idaho did not recognize their marriage at the time. “That’s some of the reason he wanted to change his last name,” said Bybee about his husband, “He had a very common name, and at least with us having the same last name, if something happened then we could pretend we were brothers.”
In 2015, in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not outlaw same-sex marriage. This brought with it a wave of legal protections for gay couples, including hospital visitation rights, the right to assets earned within a marriage and the ability to file taxes jointly. Although this was a major stride for queer rights, the battle is far from over. In many states, Idaho included, there are no written protections against discrimination. Gay people can be fired from their jobs, evicted from their homes and denied service on the basis of their sexual orientation.
“It seems like you take two steps forward and three steps back. Sure, the gay community itself has gotten some protection, but now we have to worry about our trans people, our trans family. It’s something that’s always right there, and then you see Idaho trying to work this discrimination into their laws again. It’s something that affects everybody; women, people of color, indigenous people, gay people. It’s something that we all have to be aware of,” said Bybee.
