Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt (born 1948) is an American artist who took part in the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City, which was a historic turning point in the movement for Gay liberation and LGBT rights.
[1] Lanigan-Schmidt's artwork incorporates materials such as tinsel, foil, cellophane, saran wrap and glitter, embracing kitsch and the intentionally tacky.
[4] In the early 1960s he worked at "odd jobs to help support his family and was bullied by high school thugs.
[9] Lanigan-Schmidt, who is openly gay,[10] was present at the Stonewall riots in June 1969 when patrons of a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village spontaneously fought back against a violent police raid; the uprising became a turning point in the fight for LGBT rights in the United States.
"[19] In recognition of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Lanigan-Schmidt was among those invited to the White House to meet with Michelle and Barack Obama.
Many artists, including a generation of Lanigan-Schmidt's students, have been repeatedly amazed, inspired and guided by its panache, rapier-sharp wit, subversiveness and opulent beauty.
[24] His work has also been likened to the religious-themed tinfoil-covered thrones of art brut artist James Hampton.
[25] His foil rats and drag queens produced in the 1970s were included in the 1995 exhibit "In A Different Light" at the Berkeley Art Museum, which was curated by Lawrence Rinder and Nayland Blake.