Herbet Holsey (1949-1995)

Herbert Holsey (1949-1995) was a queer veteran who served in Vietnam and later lived with his lover, an officer in the US Army, while stationed in Germany. It was there that Holsey began to work prolifically in collage. His compositions and commentary represent a candid, humorous, and at times acerbic look at personal, political, social issues of the 1980s and 1990s. Herbert Holsey was an occasional performer at Atlanta’s Backstreet, the most iconic 24/7 gay club in the deep south. Holsey used drag to personify a “housewife” or a “bag lady”, while the likes of Charlie Brown and Ru Paul would come on later in the evening and present the glamorous side of drag celebrity. Holsey died of AIDS at home in Midtown Atlanta, surrounded by the cut-up bits and pieces he used to assemble a story of his own.

Untitled, 1985-90

Collage on paper

Untitled, ca. 1988

Collage on paper

Untitled, 1987,

Collage on paper