Barbara Hammer

visual artist

With a career spanning 50 years, Barbara Hammer is recognized as a pioneer of queer cinema. A visual artist working primarily in film and video, Hammer created a groundbreaking body of experimental work that illuminates lesbian histories, lives, and representations.

“My work makes these invisible bodies and histories visible. As a lesbian artist,” Hammer stated, “I found little existing representation, so I put lesbian life on this blank screen, leaving a cultural record for future generations.”