Art in Context: Visibility and Erasure

The subjects of Andy Warhol’s lucrative Ladies and Gentlemen commission — a series featuring portraits of trans women and African-American and Latina drag queens — were never named when the collection premiered in Italy in 1975. Instead, the over participates who sat for Polaroids simply received a modest stipend of $50. After much research, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts successfully identified each subject, one of which is iconic transgender performer and activist Marsha "Pay it No Mind" Johnson. To discuss the endemic erasure of trans women of color, Andy Warhol Museum brings Happy Birthday, Marsha!, a historical fiction documentary starring Independent Spirit Award Winner Mya Taylor, to The Warhol theater. Following the film is a discussion about visibility, representation, and authorship with filmmakers Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel.