Exhibit Opening: GenderPlay in Lesbian Culture

If you happen to be in the Southern California area over the next couple of months, you may want to check out the new exhibit GenderPlay in Lesbian Culture over at West Hollywood’s One Mueseum.

Opening this weekend, Genderplay is a multi-media exhibit exploring gender, its boundaries and the changing nature of lesbian identity

Through vintage photos, archival documents, film clips and historic first person quotes, the exhibit presents lesbian life played out through the centuries; from cross-dressers and tobacco-chewers of the American Civil War and the Wild West, stone butches, high femmes, and kiki's of the 1950s through the Lesbian Feminist 1970s to queers, bois, and trans people of today.

The exhibits will include women such as Wild West era gender-bender Calamity Jane, Gladys Bentley, an African American “drag king” from the 40’s, Storme DeLarverie, the first person to throw a punch at the Stonewall Riot, and even my favorite political pundit, Rachel Maddow.

GenderPlay is the creative idea of by LEX (a cultural guerilla group) which works as a partner with various community organizations to create cultural programming for lesbians.

The OPENING EVENT, at the One Museum on Saturday March 14, will feature singer Phranc, emcee Marie Cartier and performance art from Latina trio, Butchlalis de Panochtitlan.

If you are unable to make the opening event on March 14, two additional events are planned – Gender Play at the Movies shows at the local Macha Theater on April 19. And Gender Play the discussion has a slate of academics and smart artists on May 9 at One Archives.

The show will run for two months, from March 14 to May 23, at the ONE Archives Gallery & Museum at 626 N. Robertson Blvd. in West Hollywood (entrance is on El Tovar).

The Gallery is open every Friday, 4 to 8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.