The Queer Houses of Brooklyn in the Three Towns of Breukelen, Boswyck, and Midwout during the 41st Year of the Stonewall Era (based on a 2010 drawing by Daniel Rosza Lang/​Levitsky with 24 illustrations by Buzz Slutzky on printed pin-back buttons)

L.J. Roberts, The Queer Houses of Brooklyn in the Three Towns of Breukelen, Boswyck, and Midwout during the 41st Year of the Stonewall Era (based on a 2010 drawing by Daniel Rosza Lang/Levitsky with 24 illustrations by Buzz Slutzky on printed pin-back buttons), 2011, poly-fill, acrylic, rayon, Lurex, wool, polyester, cotton, lamé, sequins, and blended fabrics with printed pin-back buttons, 138 x 114 x 108 in. (350.5 x 289.6 x 274.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elaine Reuben, 2012.43, © 2011, L.J. Roberts

Artwork Details

Title
The Queer Houses of Brooklyn in the Three Towns of Breukelen, Boswyck, and Midwout during the 41st Year of the Stonewall Era (based on a 2010 drawing by Daniel Rosza Lang/​Levitsky with 24 illustrations by Buzz Slutzky on printed pin-back buttons)
Artist
Assistants
Date
2011
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
138 x 114 x 108 in. (350.5 x 289.6 x 274.3 cm)
Copyright
© 2011, L.J. Roberts
Credit Line
Gift of Elaine Reuben
Mediums Description
poly-fill, acrylic, rayon, Lurex, wool, polyester, cotton, lamé, sequins, and blended fabrics with printed pin-back buttons
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
2012.43
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2012.43

Artwork Description

L. J. Roberts knitted and sewed this map of queer community building in Brooklyn, New York. The map is based on a drawing by Rosza Daniel Lang/Levitsky made in honor of Brooklyn’s 2010 Queer House Field Day. Roberts’s large-scale work is a vibrantly colored collage of knitted rectangular poufs, reminiscent of both handmade patchwork quilts and the brickwork of Brooklyn rowhouses. Hot pink triangles (a symbol of LGBTQ self-identity) mark the homes with open doors. Queer Houses continues the work of radical community organizing that changes the home, not the inhabitants.

This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022




Works by this artist (113 items)

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Todd Webb, Untitled (from series, Maine), 1979, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.1647, © 1979, Todd Webb
Untitled (from series, Maine)
Artist
Date1979
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Todd Webb, Untitled (from series, Spain), 1979, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.1643, © 1979, Todd Webb
Untitled (from series, Spain)
Artist
Date1979
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Todd Webb, Untitled (from series, Spain), 1979, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.1645, © 1979, Todd Webb
Untitled (from series, Spain)
Artist
Date1979
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Todd Webb, Untitled (from series, Spain), 1979, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.1646, © 1979, Todd Webb
Untitled (from series, Spain)
Artist
Date1979
gelatin silver print
Not on view

Videos

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      In anticipation of the exhibition 40 under 40: Craft Futures, on view at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum from July 20, 2012 -- February 3, 2013, the museum asked the 40 artists featured to share personal videos of themselves with our audience. Here's what L.J. Roberts submitted—enjoy! Social Media Video, 2012 Digital video, color, sound, 2:07 Videography and Direction by Jennie Livingston Additional Videography and Editing by J Dellecave Courtesy of the artist

      Related Books

      4040_500.jpg
      40 Under 40: Craft Futures
      40 Under 40: Craft Futures examines the expanding role of the handmade in contemporary culture through the work of the next generation of artists. Organized in celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian's branch museum for American craft and decorative arts, this project gathers forty makers born since 1972, the year the Renwick opened to the public. Apparent are rapidly evolving notions of craft, ranging from traditional media, such as ceramics and jewelry, to fields as varied as sculpture, industrial design, performance and installation art, fashion design, sustainable manufacturing, and mathematics.

      Exhibitions

      Quilt featuring the portrait of a woman
      This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World
      May 13, 2022–April 2, 2023
      Renwick Gallery
      This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft today.

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      Bently
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      Dateca. 1975
      gelatin silver print
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      Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Untitled, ca. 1945-1950, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2002.86.9
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      Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Untitled, ca. 1945-1950, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2002.86.7
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      Not on view
      Jared French, Margaret French, PaJaMa, Paul Cadmus, PaJaMa (Box A), ca. 1937, gelatin silver prints, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Margaret French, 1999.98.5.16
      PaJaMa (Box A)
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      Dateca. 1937
      gelatin silver prints
      Not on view