Queer Behavior

Building on unprecedented research, Queer Behavior is the first substantial study of Scott Burton's anti-hierarchical, eclectic, desire-oriented art of the 1970s. Getsy has written a masterful work-rigorous, encyclopedic, sympathetic, and inspired-toward a loving recuperation of an artist whose work has at times been eclipsed in histories of art and performance. Argument-driven and lushly narrated, Getsy's writing hybridizes close analysis, critical biography, cultural history, and art historiography. The resulting book is unyieldingly good, at times breathtakingly so. -- Dominic Johnson, author of Unlimited Action: The Performance of Extremity in the 1970s Getsy's long-awaited, meticulously researched volume reads like a novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it as scholarship, history, 'deep gossip,' and prose. He has marshaled craft and discipline to produce an accessible, nuanced, and compelling account of Burton's unconventional and uniquely queer development. It's a tremendously important, insightful, and lucid contribution to the field. This book is necessary reading for performance art scholars and anybody-everybody-who needs a road map to navigate the constant challenges that lonely creatives face against the pressures of prejudice and conformity. -- Gregg Bordowitz, author of General Idea: Imagevirus, Glenn Ligon: Untitled I Am a Man, and Some Styles of Masculinity Getsy offers a rigorously researched and beautifully rendered account of Burton's performance practice, focusing on the lesser-known arc of Burton's work from the 1970's and, in the process, establishing its importance for both the art historical record and for histories of queer life. This is a substantial contribution to our knowledge of performance art, queer performance, and the performance scene of 1970's New York. -- Joshua Chambers-Letson, author of After the Party: A Manifesto for Queer of Color Life