New York has attracted lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender artists seeking acceptance and community for most of the 20th century. 

These artists' work represent an often-hidden side of NYC's history and highlights the power of artistic expression and how it can transcend oppression. 

The Museum of the City of New York is displaying a new exhibit that spans nearly 100 years of art that explores queer expression and achievements in music, theater, and the visual arts.

According to the exhibit page on the MCNY website, "Gay Gotham: Art and Underground Culture in New York brings to life the queer creative networks that sprang up in the city across the 20th century—a series of artistic subcultures whose radical ideas had lasting effects on the mainstream."

The exhibits' works are separated in three chronological sections, 1910- 1930, 1930-1960, and 1960-1995 and the space occupies two full galleries at the museum. 

Designed by Joel Sanders Architects, the walls of the gallery are painted purple, to represent queer culture. At the center of both galleries, maps of NYC's gay neighborhoods highlight key social and cultural events like protests and parades, and mark popular nightspots.

As reported by Curbed NY, The exhibit features 225 works of art– paintings, photographs, sound recordings, and movies. 

[anad]

Visitors can expect to see well known figures, like Mae West, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol but will also be exposed to artists they may not have encountered before, like the feminist artist Harmony Hammond, the painter and writer Richard Bruce Nugent, and the transgender artist Greer Lankton.

Gay Gotham opened last week and will be on display until February 26th, 2017 so you have plenty of time to head up to see it. Check out the MCNY's admission and hours here.

[via Curbed NY] [Feature Image Courtesy Instagram]