NEW YORK, NY.- For nearly 100 years, Fire Island has served as a haven for queer individuals from around the world. An hour and a half from New York City, the slender barrier island has also been a source of creative inspiration for its residents and visitors. Fire Island Art: 100 Years is the first book to explore the visual history of the island, presenting the great artworks created there since the 1930s.

Fire Island Art tells this history decade by decade over fifteen chapters, each one dedicated to a group of artists who made significant strides in their work while living there or visiting. Well-known artists feature prominently: Richard Avedon, Paul Cadmus, David Hockney, Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Andy Warhol; while stories of lesser known historical artists are explored and revealed with rarely and never-before published material. The book also features contemporary and emerging practitioners, including TM Davy, Nicole Eisenman, K8 Hardy, Lyle Ashton Harris, Doron Langberg, Salman Toor, and more. These artists highlight the island’s artistic renaissance of the past 15 years, made possible by organizations like FIAR (Fire Island Artist Residency) and BOFFO.

Organized by John Dempsey, the book assembles artworks and archival materials alongside engaging texts. Featured essayists include Sam Ashby, AA Bronson, Michael Bullock, Fabio Cherstich, Marc Christensen, Andrew Durbin, Jarrett Earnest, Philip Gefter, Carl Little, Richard Meyer, Jack Parlett, and Ksenia M. Soboleva. The book also features interviews with artists Lola Flash, Pamela Sneed, and Wolfgang Tillmans. These texts, along with select primary sources like Frank O’Hara’s 1958 poem “A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island” and excerpts from Andy Warhol’s Diaries, build a critical narrative that connects artistic moments and individuals through a shared sense of culture and place.

A seminal work of queer art history, Fire Island Art is also a richly illustrated and beautifully designed book. Lush photographs, soft pencil drawings, and vibrant paintings capture the island’s iconic dunes and tall grass, while the book’s thoughtful design seamlessly weaves together historical works with contemporary ones. The breathtaking cover image, Wolfgang Tillmans’ 2016 photograph Fragile Waves, captures Fire Island as seen by its inhabitants: an alluring horizon of both fantasy and self-realization.

John Dempsey is a technology executive and historian who splits his time between New York City and Fire Island. He serves as president of the Fire Island Pines Historical Society, which preserves the island’s history through archives, exhibitions, and events. In 2025, he helped republish The Butch Manual, a cult gay classic that had been out of print for forty years.