Belfast-based multidisciplinary comic book artist Donna Anita Black has created a number of wonderful portraits over the years. I was recently taken by a portrait of hers of a young Robert Mapplethorpe – a famous queer photographer and one of her inspirations, as photography is one of the mediums she works in.

Donna has done a number of pieces featuring LGBTQ+ creatives, and here, I wanted to highlight some of the Belfast artist’s work and talk about the subjects.

Andy Warhol

 

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Born Andrew Warhola Jr, Warhol was a visual artist, film director and producer. He was a leading figure in the pop art movement and is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. For those unfamiliar with his life, I recommend The Andy Warhol Diaries (2022) docuseries, which looks at the man behind the iconic artist. It uses his published diaries as a source and uses some interesting archival footage too.

Robert Mapplethorpe

 

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Robert Michael Mapplethorpe was a photographer, best known for his black-and-white works. Some of his photographs documented the gay male BDSM subculture of New York City in the late ’60s and early ’70s. His solo exhibit The Perfect Moment (1989) sparked controversy and discussion about public funding for the arts, as well as questions of censorship and the obscene. His foundation functions as his estate and promotes his work as well as raising millions to fund medical research in the fight against HIV/AIDS. He helped found it roughly a year before he died aged 42 from HIV/AIDS-related complications.

Leslie Jordan

 

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Leslie Jordan was an actor, comedian, writer and singer. Many will remember him as Beverly Leslie, “frenemy” of Karen Walker, in Will & Grace. Others, like me, would have discovered him during Covid when he lifted spirits and asked “How y’all doing?” He sadly passed away in 2022 and is missed by all his former hunker-downers.

Jean-Michel Basquiat

 

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Jean-Michel Basquiat was an artist who rose to success as part of Neo-expressionism. His career began with him spray painting graffiti on buildings in Lower Manhattan. By the end of his sadly short life, his paintings were selling for $10,000 to $25,000 each and he was on the cover of The New York Times Magazine, which was unprecedented for a young African American artist. Collectors of his work included David Bowie. (Basquiat also appears in The Andy Warhol Diaries).

Tracy Chapman

 

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Tracy Chapman is a well-known singer-songwriter, famous for songs like ‘Talking ‘bout a Revolution’ and ‘Fast Car’ from her Grammy Award-nominated self-titled 1987 debut album. My personal favourite from the album is ‘Baby Can I Hold You’. Her fame increased after she appeared on the televised Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute at Wembley Stadium. She initially performed a short set in the afternoon but reached a larger audience when she replaced Stevie Wonder, who had technical issues. She is also noted for her social activism.

Skin

 

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Deborah Anne Dyer, known by the stage name Skin, is a singer-songwriter, DJ and lead vocalist of the British rock band Skunk Anansie, touring with the likes of David Bowie, U2 and Lenny Kravitz. She performed at Nelson Mandela’s 80th birthday with Michael Jackson, Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder. She has also duetted with Pavarotti for the Dalai Lama. She has gained attention for her powerful, wide-ranging soprano voice and striking look. However, she does not feel like her band has been recognised for their work, not being talked about in the same reverence as other bands of their era, like Oasis, even though, for example, they headlined Glastonbury in 1999.

I think that is quite an interesting mix of LGBTQ+ creators and I hope that you will check out some of their work.

Donna Anita Black is available for commissions, a perfect Christmas gift, and portraits also extend to your four-legged friends. Check out the Belfast artist’s Instagram for some cute examples, including one of her own furbaby, Brodie.