LGBT arts magazine Posture explores the relationship between identity politics and creativity

From the threatening vibe of a closely cropped scalp to the poised snark of the BoomBox club set’s arch glam, clothing can say a lot about how an individual wants to convey their identity. For its second issue, new LGBT arts magazine Posture takes on the topic of ornamentation, unpicking how queer, feminist and non-binary individuals have found their own expression through dress. The idea itself came from an essay by Austrian architect Adolf Loos called Ornament and Crime, written in 1910, where he espouses on the notion of decoration. “He saw it as uncreative, a waste of time and resources, and intended solely for bourgeois purposes,” explains Posture editor Winter Mendelson. “In this issue we explore conscious modes of visibility through the perspective of the forced (and sometimes not) outsider. Through our aversion to homogeneity and elitist notions of utopia, we find our own visual language. It’s a reaction against cultural baggage, using our own bodies as our own power.”

The centrepiece of this issue is a shoot by New York photographer Xeno featuring prominent queer creatives, including dancer Michi Osato, artists René Kladzyk and Orlando Estrada and activist Share Roman. Shots of their statement outfits are interlaced with a response to Ornament and Crime penned by dancer Sophie Sotsky, set in an equally unconventional concrete poetry format. At a time where only 48% of 13-20-year-olds identify as “exclusively heterosexual”, the magazine is a intelligent discussion of the arts through an LGBT lens, and an exciting new voice to be reckoned with.