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No particular style of art can be linked to identity politics, but it is more the principles and ideals guiding the subject matter of the art. Arising out of social activism of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, artists of this movement wanted to "present their authentic life experiences, interrogate social perception of their identity, and critique systemic issues that marginalize them in society" (TheArtStory.org, 2019). contributors to this movement included LGBTQ+, African American, women, disabled, and indigenous artists. These artists wanted to represent their own unique racial, gender, and sexual identities.
More contemporary artists contributing to this movement aim more to demonstrate the complexity of individual identity. This is due to critics pointing out earlier pieces in some ways may have trivialized the complexity of identity.

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a photo captured of the 1963 "March on Washington"

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On December 1st, 1955 one brave Black American chose to sit at the front of a public bus, and refused to move to the back. This resulted in her arrest as was the beginning of the American Civil Rights movement. This movement led to many questioning the injustice inherent in the United States against minority groups, African Americans most prominently. Out of this movement arose the voices of the oppressed, and challenges were made to the current status quo. Many African Americans thus found many avenues to demonstrate their unique experience and make their voices be heard.
Civil rights highlighted that people of color were often under-represented in art, most galleries and museums being filled with works by white artists. Not only that but they found that the subject matter of many of these art pieces were primarily white as well. African American Artists thus wanted to paint their own experiences as individuals, but especially as members of the African American Community.

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African Americans were not the only group to experience a major shift in rights, many other minority groups were beginning to challenge their own oppression. Social activism among the LGBTQ+, female, and disabled, and indigenous populations was leading to many changes socially and legally. As such groups sought equality, they too wanted to have their voices heard.

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As demonstrated by Bearden, many identity artists could be categorized within many other post-modern art movements. This vanguard piece of the identity politics movement shows clear influence of cubism as well as abstract expressionism. Bearden developed this style of combining painting and collage while studying in Paris. The brick urban background brings us to the streets of Harlem. The seeming clutter of the scene is intentional, bringing to mind the hustle and bustle of the crowded urban streets. The varying scale of the oddly shaped pieces of photographs give the illusion of some items being far, and some near while still making the picture as a whole feel 2-dimensional in the classic cubist style. Ralph Ellison eloquently reflected on Bearden's style, saying "Bearden’s meaning is identical with his method. His com-bination of technique is in itself eloquent of the sharp breaks, leaps in consciousness, distortions, paradoxes, reversals, telescoping of time and surreal blending of styles, values, hopes and dreams which characterize much of Negro American history."

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(images of Duffy's "Stories of a Body" had to be removed due to padlet content policy) Disability arts has been a significant part of Identity Politics. Like other minority groups, disabled peoples found themselves under and misrepresented in history and in present day. In Duffy's words "I had to search for an image of disability I could be proud of, an image that did not reek of emotion or pity, an image that reflected disability as being a part of being human and all the richness and diversity that that entails." Her work "Stories of a Body" may bring to mind Yoko Ono's Feminist work "cut piece" and is indeed another piece of performance art attempting to redefine the way viewers see the world around them.
Her nude body may at first remind viewers of Venus de Milo, who also lacks arms, possibly making viewers reimagine their concept of beauty. However, the live work puts the disabled in a different environment, and she stares at us as we stare at her. She demands our attention, and we are seeing disability as beautiful rather than coming across a picture of it in the tabloids. Disability art challenges the idea that disability is weak or pitiful but to be accepted and revered just as we do any other able body.

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Possibly the most significant development of Identity politics art was the use of avant garde materials representing Artists' cultures and identities. Faith Ringgold in this piece paints on acrylic but borders her work with painted, printed, quilted, and pieced cloth. This work combines two pieces of African American culture: quilting and story telling. The medium itself thus tells the story of Ringgold's heritage. The artist is well known for her use of mediums and techniques associated with women's traditions, as well as her use of a type of narrative story telling common to the African American Tradition. Her art was inspired by African art since the 1960's, but in the 1970's she travelled to Ghana and brought her to embrace the rich Nigerian tradition of masks. She created her first story quilt in 1983, but in adding text to her quilts created a style of her own.
https://www.faithringgold.com/about-faith/

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A common complaint of social activist in the 20th and 21st centuries has been minorities' absence in most historical narratives. Many identity politics artists sought to remedy this putting minorities into their paintings in historical scenes. Kehinde Wiley is most well known for his recreation of "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" but replacing napoleon with an African American in army fatigues wearing timberland boots. Each stylistic choice challenges classical painters and intentionally places modern figures in scenes where it seems they do not belong to challenge viewers perceptions of history. For instance, in the painting shown here an ornate background is chosen, intentionally as arbitrary as the background in the portrait of some historic army general. The pose with the sword emphasizes this seemingly ordinary African American man's potential influence and stature. The overall effect is to emphasize the historical significance of minority groups, especially African Americans, and the ways they have shaped history behind the scenes.

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As discussed in the introduction, more recent pieces of identity arts are often more complex in their representation of identity. Cassils is a gender-non-conforming and transmasculine artist. This combination of action art, performance art, and sculpture is performed in a dark room with a spotlight on the artist and a 1500-lb block of clay. The artists proceeds to struggle in beating the clay into shape. This effort is an integral part of the work. This struggle is a metaphorical representation of what many LGBTQ+ have to go through each day. Just as Cassils does not conform to classical gender ideals, neither do they conform to common understanding of what makes art beautiful in this avant garde piece. In identity art, the art became less a means of conveying beauty and more a means of conveying one's identity and struggle and call viewers to seek to remedy social injustice. Identity Politics art was more about activism and engendering understanding than beauty.