Ladies and Gentlemen (Marsha P. Johnson)

Warhol’s Ladies and Gentlemen series featured images of Black and Latina drag queens and transgender women, based on Polaroid photos the artist took at the Gilded Grape bar in New York City. Marsha P. Johnson was a prominent LGBTQ+ activist who participated in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 in New York City. For the series, Warhol produced more than 500 Polaroids of 14 models, working in a spontaneous candid  manner that differs markedly from the more conventional compositions of his prints derived from appropriated photographs. While the series appears to reflect an effort to elevate and celebrate individuals who were frequently marginalized, it also raises questions about the degree of agency afforded to the models. In a 1979 interview with the Village Voice, Johnson pointedly remarked on the irony of passing a high-end gallery displaying her image at a time when she was struggling to afford rent.

Ladies and Gentlemen (Marsha P. Johnson)

1974

CU Art Museum, University of Colorado Boulder

Gift of Polly and Mark Addison to the Polly and Mark Addison Collection

91.04.81.01