Jeremy Novy

Leather Man - Queer Street Art Portrait

2023

Jeremy Novy (b. 1979) is a California-based street artist known for his stencils of koi fish and efforts in support of gay activism. Novy’s stencil art is remarkably complex for its compositional simplicity. A champion of LGBTQ iconography, Novy depicts often underrepresented subjects to promote awareness and acceptance of multiplicity and modern identity. Novy stencils sociopolitical works in public spaces to democratize the process of viewing art and to beautify urban blight and unused spaces. His medium primarily consists of spray paint and a stencil which allows for speedy application and uniformity. Novy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and an Associate Degree in Graphic Design from Gateway Technical College in Elkhorn, WI. Novy received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the San Francisco Arts Commission to curate the first major exhibition of its kind, “A History of Queer Street Art,” which premiered in San Francisco, Los Angeles and at Yale University in 2011.