Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt’s distinct sculptural work embraces the ostentatious, the kitschy, and the deliberately garish. Lanigan-Schmidt often incorporates religious and sacred imagery in his works, acknowledging both their association with opulence and grandeur, and with subversion and profanity. A participant in the 1969 Stonewall riots, Lanigan-Schmidt’s undeniably queer work wholeheartedly rejects minimalism and navigates themes of sexuality, faith systems, and class inequity.