In conjunction with the current exhibition Arch Connelly: Straighten Your Wig and Pray, Aspen Art Museum hosts a talk by art historian David J. Getsy exploring the artistic and cultural contexts surrounding the development of Connelly’s practice, with particular attention to the queer undercurrents of American art. Situating Connelly alongside figures including Lynda Benglis, Scott Burton, and Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Getsy will discuss how Connelly’s work can be situated in a counter-tradition characterized by the rejection of austere modes of high art in favor of decoration, functionality, excess, and glitter.
Image credit: Installation View: Arch Connelly, Straighten Your Wig and Pray, Aspen Art Museum, 2026. Photo: Paul Salveson.