Tourmaline: Queering History

Tourmaline is an artist, filmmaker, and activist who reimagines queer history and honors the forerunners who shaped it. To complement the exhibition “Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Party of Life,” Museum Brandhorst is presenting two of her filmic works. “Pollinator” (2022) will be shown in the museum’s media room, while the short film “Happy Birthday, Marsha!” (2018), created in collaboration with Sasha Wortzel, will be screened on October 22, followed by an artist talk, in cooperation with FILMFEST MÜNCHEN. Both works revolve around the renowned Black trans woman activist and performance artist Marsha P. Johnson (1945–1992): together with Sylvia Rivera she founded the trans organization STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) and played a key role in the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York—a milestone in the queer emancipation movement. Although she was already known for her activism, Andy Warhol portrayed her anonymously in his “Ladies and Gentlemen” series (1975). One of his two paintings of Marsha P. Johnson is shown in the exhibition “Party of Life.” Tourmaline’s cinematic portraits, on the other hand, present Johnson as a key figure in the LGBTQIA+ community. Her works open a poetic, contemporary perspective on queer history while also inviting us to pose ongoing questions about visibility, equality, and acceptance.

Tourmaline: “Pollinator” (2022)

October 1, 2024 through January 26, 2025, media room on the lower level

Tourmaline’s “Pollinator” (2022) will be presented for the first time in Germany in Museum Brandhorst’s media room from October 1, 2024 to January 26, 2025. In the five-minute film, the artist wanders through various locations in Brooklyn, New York, wearing a floral dress. The film sequences are interwoven with excerpts of a simulated space flight, footage of the artist’s late father, and archival material of the memorial service for trans activist Marsha P. Johnson in 1992. The striking images connect the past and future to honor queer heroes like Johnson as “pollinators” whose legacies continue to flourish. The film celebrates the growth of a community and those who have shaped it.

An evening with Tourmaline, Sasha Wortzel and Marsha P. Johnson

Screening and Artist Talk: “Happy Birthday, Marsha!” on October 22, 2024, at 7 p.m. | Film 18+

On October 22, 2024, a screening of “Happy Birthday, Marsha!” (2018) will take place in the foyer of the museum, in cooperation with FILMFEST MÜNCHEN. The joint short film by Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel is a moving homage to Marsha P. Johnson. Interweaving archival footage and fictional scenes, the film begins on Johnson’s birthday and imagines the trans activist in the hours before the Stonewall riots of 1969 in New York. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the two artists, moderated by Franziska Linhardt, curator of the exhibition, and Julia Weigl, co-artistic director of FILMFEST MÜNCHEN. (Please note: The film contains depictions of violence.)

“We look back in order to dream a way forward.”  – Tourmaline & Sasha Wortzel

About Tourmaline

Tourmaline (*1983, Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA) is an artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist whose practice centers the experiences of Black, queer, and trans communities and their ability to impact the world. Her films and photographs rewrite dominant narratives and cultural histories to initiate paradigm shifts and envision more joyful futures. Her work has been shown in major exhibitions worldwide, including most recently at the Whitney Biennale, New York, the Venice Biennale, Mudam Luxembourg, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York and in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Tourmaline’s work is part of significant public collections, such as those of the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; New York; the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and Tate Modern, London. She is also the winner of the Guggenheim Fellowship 2021 and the Baloise Art Prize 2022.

About Sasha Wortzel

Across film and expanded forms of cinema, Sasha Wortzel (*1983, Fort Myers, Florida, USA) explores how past and present are inextricably linked through resonant spaces and their hauntings. Wortzel has exhibited at the New Museum, The Kitchen, the Museum of Modern Art's Doc Fortnight, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Berlinale, and the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival, among others.Wortzel is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow and received support from Sundance Institute, Ford Foundation, and a MacDowell fellowship. Wortzel’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum and the Studio Museum of Harlem, among others. Her latest film “How to Carry Water” was a 2023 IDA Documentary Awards nominee for best short documentary and is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.

Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Party of Life

Until January 26, 2025

Tourmaline’s works will be shown during the exhibition “Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Party of Life.” It is the world’s first comprehensive institutional exhibition dedicated to both artists. The title of the show borrows the motto from Keith Haring’s birthday parties: “Party of Life” relays the cosmos of the 1980s, of MTV, discos, vogueing, hip-hop, New Wave and graffiti. In addition to famous key works, the exhibition also focuses on film and photography, archival material, posters, records and everyday objects. The show at Museum Brandhorst, which houses the largest Warhol collection in Europe with more than 120 works, as well as a growing collection of Haring’s works, thus opens up new perspectives on both artists and their friendship. Over 80,000 people have already visited the exhibition in the first three months.

Curator: Franziska Linhardt

Curatorial assistant: Zakirah Rabaney