Queer Art: A Conversation Between Gemma Rolls-Bentley & Penny Arcade (in person & live-streaming)

Join iconic performance artist and playwright Penny Arcade in conversation with curator and writer Gemma Rolls-Bentley. The pair will discuss Gemma’s new book Queer Art: From Canvas to Club and the Spaces Between. The book is a celebration of the relationship between creativity and the LGBTQIA+ experience, featuring nearly 200 artworks from around the world that reflect the richness, self-expression and resilience of queer life. There will be an opportunity to purchase the book on the night and have your copy signed.

To reserve a copy of Queer Art (Frances Lincoln, June 11, 2024, hardcover, $35), please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Queer Art for September 6 event” in the subject line.

Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Suggested donation to benefit the Bureau: $10.

All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD

Gemma Rolls-Bentley has been at the forefront of contemporary art for almost two decades, working passionately to champion diversity in the field. She is the author of Queer Art; From Canvas to Club and the Spaces Between published by Frances Lincoln in Spring 2024. Gemma has curated for a range of international institutions, most recently the Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, Somerset House, the Tom of Finland Foundation, London Art Fair and Kkweer Arts. In 2022 she curated the Brighton Beacon Collection, the largest permanent display of queer art in the UK, for Soho House Brighton. Gemma has taught at numerous institutions including the Royal College of Art, the Glasgow School of Art, and Goldsmiths, she co-chairs the board of trustees for the charity Queercircle, and sits on the Courtauld Association Committee.

Penny Arcade (a.k.a. Susana Ventura) is an internationally respected performance artist, writer, poet, and experimental theatre maker known for her magnetic stage presence, her take-no-prisoners wit, and her content-rich plays and one liners. She is the author of 10 scripted performance plays and hundreds of performance art pieces. Her work has always focused on the other and the outsider, giving voice to those marginalized by society. She debuted at 18 in John Vaccaro’s explosive Playhouse of The Ridiculous the seminal political, glitter/glam,queer, rock and roll theatre and was a Warhol Superstar at 19, featured in the Warhol/Morrissey film Women In Revolt. She considers herself a conceptualist and interdicipinary artist who mediates her work thru non fiction, perforamnce art, experimental theatre, poetry, video, and music.