Queer Stories Reign Supreme at the Oakland Museum of California

Videomaker and interdisciplinary artist Chris E. Vargas, currently lives in Bellingham, WA where he is an assistant professor at Western Washington University. In his work, he uses humor and performance to explore the experiences of marginalized people. One of his largest undertaking is an ongoing institution called the Museum of Transgender History & Art(MOTHA), which honors the visual history of transgender culture through performances, videos, exhibits, panel discussions, and more. For the Oakland Museum exhibition, the artist designed a building façade for MOTHA and worked with curator Christina Linden on an installation of art and archival work that narrates the Bay Area’s trans history. Still, Vargas told Broadly, “I think there are many layered and intersecting LGBTQ+ histories, and very divergent queer politics in California and this exhibition may only just scratch the surface.”