FILMFEST MÜNCHEN x Museum Brandhorst
Tourmaline & Sasha Wortzel "Happy Birthday, Marsha!", 2018 © Courtesy of the artists
Tuesday, 10/01/2024
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.
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.)
„Tourmaline: Queering History“
Museum Brandhorst presents “Pollinator” and “Happy Birthday, Marsha!,” two filmic works by contemporary artist Tourmaline to accompany the exhibition “Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Party of Life.”
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 © Tourmaline / Courtesy of the artist and Chapter NY
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.
Weitere Informationen zur Ausstellung, den Künstlerinnen sowie Bildmaterial zum Download finden Sie auf der Website des Museum Brandhorst.