Hugh Steers

In this intimate lithograph, a solitary figure stands nude at the toilet, his hand resting on the wall. The scene is emotionally uncertain—it could be an ordinary trip to the bathroom, a postcoital interlude, or a moment of physical discomfort.

Hugh Steers depicted many scenes of Queer domestic life, later bringing in themes of illness and HIV. This focus was especially important during the 1980s and ’90s, when abstraction—not figurative work—dominated art-making, and positive scenes of openly gay domestic life were at odds with the political rhetoric of the day. Known as a painter, Steers only made three prints—this and two others. He died from AIDS-related complications within months of completing them.

–Conor Moynihan, associate curator of prints, drawings, and photographs