Tourmaline
Tourmaline is an artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist whose work reimagines queer history and honors the forerunners who shaped it. As an extension of the exhibition “Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Party of Life”, two of Tourmaline’s film works are presented at Museum Brandhorst. Both are dedicated to the renowned artist and trans activist Marsha P. Johnson: “Pollinator” (2022) in the museum’s media room and the short film “Happy Birthday, Marsha!” (2018), created in collaboration with Sasha Wortzel, at a screening and artist talk in cooperation with FILMFEST MÜNCHEN.
Tourmaline’s films and photographs honor the protagonists of the LGBTQIA+ movement and rewrite common narratives and cultural histories. One of them is Marsha P. Johnson, who is a constant presence in Tourmaline’s life and work. Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson (1945–1992) was a Black trans woman activist and played a crucial role in the Stonewall Uprisings of 1969—the initial spark of the gay liberation movement in New York. Together with Sylvia Rivera, she founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), one of the first trans organizations in New York. Johnson’s commitment to this and many other political causes has made her a key figure for the queer community to this day. Although she had long been known for her activism and personality, Andy Warhol portrayed her anonymously in his “Ladies and Gentlemen” series in 1975. One of Warhol’s paintings of Johnson is part of the Brandhorst Collection and can be seen in the exhibition “Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Party of Life.”
"We look back in order to dream a way forward."
Exhibition
The film program is presented alongside “Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Party of Life,” the world’s first comprehensive institutional exhibition dedicated to the two artists.