The Bring Your Own Body exhibit, on view now at The Cooper Union in New York, showcases trans art inspired by history.
Walking into the gallery at The Cooper Union in New York for the Bring Your Own Body exhibit, I'm greeted by the faces of Transparent producer and visual artist Zackary Drucker and her mom Penny Sori, who play the fictional mother and daughter Moxi and Patti in an odd and hilarious video called Southern for Pussy.
As Moxi and Patti engage in an X-rated crafting session, scrapbooking what look like body parts and illustrations from transgender porn magazines, Patti opines:
Then the two of them discuss better substitutes. Eventually, the conversation gets even deeper as Moxi asks Patti an intimate question:
Zackary Drucker / Via vimeo.com
This all leads to Moxi cruising for dates on her phone as Patti does her hair:
Zackary Drucker / Via vimeo.com
Drucker's video is the perfect introduction to an exhibition that plays with transgender identity and history in unusual ways. In Southern for Pussy, there's no clear indication whether Moxi is meant to be cisgender or transgender, which opens up many fascinating ambiguities, especially as Moxi eventually meets her date.
Below are some other highlights from Bring Your Own Body, which features contemporary artists engaging with historical sexology archives, such as those of The Kinsey Institute, to create dialogues between gender ideas of the past and the present moment of transgender visibility.
Zackary Drucker / Via vimeo.com