A pioneering gay filmmaker, Derek Jarman trained as a painter but became known for his film work, which pushed the boundary of experimental cinema and provided some of the first instances of explicit depictions of gay themes in commercial film. His representation of queer sexuality draws on art history and gives a new twist to historical figures, all rendered with a contemporary, punk-inspired sensibility that captures the spirit of street culture in England circa 1970s and 1980s. In his later years, he also became an outspoken activist, who deftly combined aesthetics and politics in his work.
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/jarman-derek/
