PS Art Museum Presents 'Michael Childers: Having A Ball'

PALM DESERT, CA - From Palm Springs Art Museum: Palm Springs Art Museum is proud to present Michael Childers: Having A Ball, on view Saturday, January 20 through Monday, May 28, 2018, and shown in conjunction with the forthcoming Andy Warhol: Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. The exhibition features images of anonymous merrymakers at the 1975 Los Angeles drag ball, “Flaming Creatures,” as well as portraits of the enigmatic Warhol and members of his famous New York studio, The Factory.

Best known for his celebrity portraiture, Childers brought the same sensitivity to the avant-garde personalities experimenting with gender play at “Flaming Creatures.” These striking black-and-white images anticipate the current culture of transgender awareness and gender fluidity. Through Childers’ penetrating lens, these figures radiate a cheeky playfulness as they experiment with makeup, wedding dresses, tuxedos, and feather boas to expose the artifice of traditional gender identity and the joy of self-expression.

“This exhibition captures an amazing time and place – New York and Los Angeles in the 1970s – when people were outrageous and free,” says Childers, who maintains a home in the Coachella Valley.

In his portraits of Warhol, Childers uses subtle strategies of gesture, props, and doubling devices to go beyond the inscrutable icon that Warhol cultivated, bringing to light Warhol’s complicated persona. Similarly, Childers photographed the avant-garde artists, and other creative and often flamboyant denizens who frequented Warhol’s Factory, uncovering the multiple identities at play when gender, personality, persona, and performance roles combine.

“Michael Childers pioneered a visual language that captured the potential of those who courageously used their own bodies as a way to expand our understanding of gender,” says Elizabeth Armstrong, Palm Springs Art Museum’s JoAnn McGrath Executive Director. “This beautifully curated exhibition evokes a time of free-spirit and creation, and enlarges our understanding of the cultural revolution Warhol facilitated.”

This exhibition is organized by Palm Springs Art Museum from The Michael Childers Archive, and is supported in part by the museum’s Photography Collection Council. A key image set of 800 works from the 1960s onwards comprise The Michael Childers Archive at Palm Springs Art Museum, the majority of which was acquired by the museum in 2016.

Andy Warhol: Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation will be on view March 3 through May 28 at the Palm Springs Art Museum.

For information about hours, locations, admission prices, membership opportunities and ongoing exhibitions, please visit psmuseum.org or call (760) 322-4800.

About Palm Springs Art Museum

Palm Springs Art Museum is the largest cultural institution in the Coachella Valley and includes three locations in Palm Springs and Palm Desert. The flagship building is located in downtown Palm Springs and features compelling art exhibitions, a vast permanent collection, and the 428-seat Annenberg Theater, all in a 150,000 square foot, architecturally-significant building. Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion, features exhibitions and programming that explore the rich topics of architecture and design. Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert is an 8,400 square foot, Silver LEED-certified building named The Galen that presents rotating exhibitions and special collections. It is surrounded by the four-acre Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden featuring important sculpture works. Admission to the Palm Desert location is free, generously underwritten by Helene V. Galen. For more information, call 760-322-4800, visit psmuseum.org, and follow the museum on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Image via Pixabay