ANDREA BOWERS

Bowers’ ongoing dialogues with activists are central to the development of herwork. This new project draws on her relationship with Chase Strangio, DeputyDirector for Transgender Justice and staff attorney with the ACLU, who Bowersfirst met in 2015 when Strangio was lead council for Chelsea Manning. Bowerswas immediately taken by Strangio’s combination of brilliance and empathy, andwork as a prominent activist who has been advocating for transgender rights in theUnited States for over a decade. This exhibition is the result of Bowers’ longtimedesire to collaborate with Strangio, and celebrate his activism.

In March of 2023, Strangio invited Bowers to document a creative action, thefirst Trans Youth Prom, which took place in Washington D.C. on May 22, 2023.Organised by the teen activists Daniel Trujillo, Libby Gonzales, Grayson McFerrin,and Hobbes Chukumba, alongside Strangio and collaborating adult organiserPeppermint, the event gathered teens and their families from around the UnitedStates. The event began as a celebration based on the prototypical American promat the Capitol Reflecting Pool and followed by a parade to the steps of the SupremeCourt. In contrast to many American proms, where trans and non-binary youthhave been banned from participation and freedom of expression, the Trans YouthProm offered a safe space for attending youth to share in each other’s joy and buildcommunity for them and their families.

The event’s joyful spirit documented in Bowers’ new video extends to a series ofneon-based sculptures hung on the walls and ceilings of the gallery. Each contain-ing a revolving disco ball, they are adorned with ornate neon floral wreaths andslogans including “Come As You Are” and “You Are Loved”, adopted from signsand posters from the day’s events, and throw vividly coloured light throughout theexhibition space.

The exuberant tone which fills the main gallery is contrasted by the harsh realitydisplayed in an installation at the gallery’s Cortlandt Alley entrance. Binders foreach of the fifty States contain legislation introduced since 2021 that represent thecontinuing escalation of attacks on trans lives. Totalling over 1000 bills thus far, inaddition to over 60 nationally introduced bills, they function as an urgent reminderof the bravery of these youths, to seek self-determination, community, and accept-ance in a moment in which their own survival is at stake.

Since the 1990s, Andrea Bowers has combined artistic practice with advocacy, in abody of work that spans drawing, performance, installation, sculpture, and video.Functioning as a chronicler of contemporary political history, as well as a participant, and witness, Bowers takes an intersectional approach, developing her projects alongside activists, and employs craft, her own labor, and aesthetics to bothhonour and show respect to the issues and people presented. From 2021 to 2022,an extensive survey exhibition of Bowers’ work was presented at the Museum ofContemporary Art, Chicago, which traveled to the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.Recent solo exhibitions include: Moving in Space without Asking Permission,Fondazione Furla and GAM—Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan, Italy, 2022, Grief andHope, Abteiberg Museum, Mönchengladbach, Germany, 2020, Light and Gravity,Weserburg Museum, Bremen, Germany, 2019, Climate Change is Real, YerbaBuena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, 2019, Hammer Projects: Andrea Bowers,Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2017, Womxn Workers of the World Unite!,Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, 2017, #sweetjane, Pomona and PitzerCollege Museum of Art, Claremont, 2014, and The Weight of Relevance, WienerSecession, Vienna, traveled to The Power Plant, Toronto, 2007, among others.Bowers’ work is held in the permanent collections of The Hammer Museum of Art,Los Angeles, MoMA, New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York,The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, The Museum ofContemporary Art, Los Angeles, Tate Modern, London and Museum Abteiberg,Moenchengladbach, Germany, among others.

Andrea Bowers’ new neon sculptures were produced in collaboration with Lite BriteNeon, a trans-led company.

The artist encourages donations to the following organisations:Trans Justice Funding Project - transjusticefundingproject.orgCampaign for Southern Equality - southernequality.org