A second look at The First Homosexuals at Wrightwood 659

For the second time, I made my way to Wrightwood 659 to catch The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity before it closes. Curated by Jonathan Katz and Johnny Willis, the exhibition traces how same-sex desire was rendered visible in art from the 1860s through the 1930s. Its central argument, that the emergence of “homosexual” as an identity was a modern invention, and a constraining one, remains compelling in theory. In practice, the show struggles under the weight of its own thesis.

When I first saw it in May, early in its run, I was struck by the clarity of the curatorial voice and the breadth of visual material on display. The narrative was forceful, and at times persuasive: how once-fluid expressions of desire were ultimately corralled into the newly formed identity of the “homosexual.”

But on second viewing, that same clarity began to feel didactic. The curators aren’t offering an argument so much as declaring a truth, often at the expense of the art itself. Paintings that might reward open-ended interpretation are given descriptions that overdetermine their meanings. What is erotic or suggestive in some of these works is not always inherent to the image, but projected onto it by the curatorial frame.

The effect is subtle but cumulative. Rather than trusting the viewer to make discoveries, the show makes them for us. Ambiguity is treated as something to be resolved rather than respected. As a result, the experience of the exhibition can feel overly managed, even when the works themselves are visually rich.

I’m no art historian, but one of the great pleasures of art viewing — especially with work as charged and slippery as this — is the slow build of insight, the moment of recognition that isn’t handed to you. The First Homosexuals short-circuits that process. It asks us to see queerness where the curators already have, not where we might.

Still, there’s value in returning to an exhibition a second time. What felt illuminating in May feels more prescriptive in July, not because the show changed, but because I did. Maybe that’s the real takeaway: queer identity, like queer art, resists being pinned down too easily.

The First Homosexuals runs until August 2nd.