Chris E. Vargas
EducationUniversity of California Santa Cruz and University of California, Berkeley
AwardsCreative Capital Grant[1]
Websitewww.chrisevargas.com

Chris E. Vargas is an artist and video maker whose work explores the ways that queer and trans people negotiate institutions and popular culture.[2] Vargas is the founder of the Museum of Transgender Hirstory and Art (MOTHA), a project that blurs artist and curatorial practice. MOTHA has no permanent space, instead it has been presented at venues such as the Henry Art Gallery, Cooper Union, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Hammer Museum. Vargas videos have screened at SFMOMA, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Pacific Film Archives, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, MIX NYC, Palais de Tokyo, Outfest, amongst other venues. Vargas completed a BA at University of California Santa Cruz and MFA at University of California, Berkeley.

Work

Vargas video work explores queer and trans culture. He and Greg Youmans collaborated on the nine episode webseries "Falling in Love... with Chris and Greg" that explores a relationship between a cisgendered gay man (Greg) and his trans boyfriend (Chris).[3][4] The sitcom-style videos cover the challenges and rewards of the life of this couple.[5]

Vargas was among those who created a miniature replica of Christopher Park and placed monuments to narrate the events of the Stonewall Riots that followed the police raid of the Stonewall Inn gay bar in 1969 New York. [6] Christopher Park became a site of riots since it was close to the Stonewall Inn bar that got raided and Vargas states the recreation of that park includes monuments that memorialize the modern LGBTQ rights movement. [7]

Museum of Transgender Hirstory and Art

The Museum of Transgender Hirstory and Art (abbreviated as MOTHA), is a museum founded by Vargas in 2013 dedicated to the preservation and representation of transgender and gender non-conforming history and art.[8] Vargas remains the Executive Director. The museum does not have a building of its own, or fixed location; MOTHA functions as a floating museum, hosting exhibitions in art galleries, museums, and public spaces across the United States.[8] Greg Youmans, in Elsa Gidlow's garden describes the museum as blurring the line between artistic and curatorial practice.[9]

Without a consistent stationary space for his art exhibition, Vargas points out that there is not as much of a need to define borders and boundaries for trends and trans identification. He notes, "Without a physical space, and by doing it as occasional iterations, exhibitions, events, or performances, I get to be a little looser.” [10]

History

The museum was created in 2013 by founder and Executive Director Chris E. Vargas. Vargas is a San Francisco-based artist and performer.[2] MOTHA functions as a floating museum, hosting exhibitions in art galleries, museums, and public spaces across the United States.[8]

Exhibitions

Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects is a project that takes inspiration from Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects.[11] It and focuses on trans experiences in the Pacific north-west and juxtaposes archival materials and contemporary art.[12]

Further reading

Vargas, Chris E; Frantz, David Evans; Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art; ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives (January 1, 2015). Transgender hirstory in 99 objects: legends and mythologies. OCLC 953018919.

Resident artist program

The museum has an amorphous residency program that offers no physical structure and makes no demands of the resident artist.[15] Tuesday Smillie was the inaugural resident artist.[16]

Exhibitions

Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects is a project that takes inspiration from Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects.[11] It focuses on trans experiences in the Pacific north-west and juxtaposes archival materials and contemporary art.[12]

Resident artist program

The museum has an amorphous residency program that offers no physical structure and makes no demands of the resident artist.[15] Tuesday Smillie was the inaugural resident artist.[16]

Residencies and awards

Vargas received a 2016 Creative Capital Grant in Emerging Fields, was a Community Engagement Artist in Residence at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and received a Fire Island Artist Residency.[17][18][19] Vargas' videos have won prizes at the Ann Arbor Film Festival.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Creative Capital – Investing in Artists who Shape the Future". creative-capital.org.
  2. 1 2 Carlson, Michele. "Inside the Artist's Studio, Part 4: Chris E. Vargas". Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Falling in Love ...with Chris and Greg : Greg Youmans". gregyoumans.com. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  4. ↑ RADAR (May 2, 2012). "Chris and Greg are a SPECTACLE!". RADAR Productions. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  5. ↑ "The Bay Area Reporter Online | Transgressions & an activist stance". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  6. ↑ Wright, Talia (2018). "Monuments to a Riot". In These Times. 42 – via ProQuest.
  7. ↑ Hernández, Sarita (2019). "Resisting the Museum: Archiving Trans* Presence and Queer Futures with Chris E. Vargas". American Quarterly. 71 (2): 371–378. doi:10.1353/aq.2019.0031. ISSN 1080-6490. S2CID 198720828.
  8. 1 2 3 "June 21st, 6-9pm: Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony & Inaugural Celebration". Museum of Transgender Hirstory and Art. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  9. ↑ Stone, Amy L.; Cantrell, Jaime (November 20, 2015). Out of the Closet, Into the Archives: Researching Sexual Histories. SUNY Press. ISBN 9781438459035.
  10. ↑ Meiners, Erica R.; Quinn, Therese (2019). "Introduction: Defiant Memory Work". American Quarterly. 71 (2): 353–361. doi:10.1353/aq.2019.0029. ISSN 1080-6490. S2CID 198786228.
  11. 1 2 Kurin, Richard (January 1, 2016). Smithsonian's history of america in 101 objects. Place of publication not identified: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0143128151. OCLC 936619726.
  12. 1 2 Heinlein, Sabine (November 18, 2016). "The transgender body in art: finding visibility 'in difficult times like these'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  13. 1 2 "MOTHA and Chris E. Vargas present: Transhirstory in 99 Objects at Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, WA on Wed-Sun. Through June 4 – Seattle Art Events Calendar – The Stranger". The Stranger. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  14. 1 2 "MOTHA Faces the Challenges of Building a Trans Museum". The Stranger. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  15. 1 2 "Announcing MOTHA Resident Artist TUESDAY SMILLIE". Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  16. 1 2 Palmer, Lauren (November 20, 2015). "15 Revolutionary and Influential Transgender Artists Who Refuse to Be Invisible". artnet news. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Creative Capital – Investing in Artists who Shape the Future". creative-capital.org.
  18. ↑ Patricia. "2016 YBCA Artist Residency | Art Practical". Art Practical. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  19. ↑ "People". Fire Island Artist Residency. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  20. ↑ "51ST AAFF AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENT". Ann Arbor Film Festival. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2017.

Further reading

Vargas, Chris E; Frantz, David Evans; Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art; ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives (January 1, 2015). Transgender hirstory in 99 objects: legends and mythologies. OCLC 953018919.

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