He received his PhD from the University of Leeds in 1998 with the dissertation Men on the Threshold: The Making and Unmaking of the Sexual Subject in American Art 1948-1965, later revised and published in 2005 under the title Between You and Me: Queer Disclosures in the New York Art World 1948-1963 by Duke University Press.
This is Not a Dream explores artist’s DIY use of moving image technology including original interviews with Vaginal Davis, Dara Birnbaum, David Hoyle, Kalup Linzy, Holestar, Nao Bustamante, Dickie Beau and others.
In No Machos or Pop Stars: When the Leeds Art Experiment went Punk, Duke University Press, (2022), "Gavin Butt tells the fascinating story of the post-punk scene in Leeds, showing how England’s state-funded education policy brought together art students from different social classes to create a fertile ground for musical experimentation.
Their stories reveal the subversive influence of art school in a regional music scene of lasting international significance.
Mathias Danbolt, Dismantling the Serious Machine - An Interview with Gavin Butt in Trikster - Nordic Queer Journal #3, 2009.