Queer Lens + $3 Bill

Going To See Two Exhibitions @ Getty Center

GAY ACTIVISTS AT FIRST GAY PRIDE PARADE, CHRISTOPHER STREET, NEW YORK BY ARTHUR TRESS (1970)

My dear friend Victor recently asked if I had seen the exhibitions currently at the Getty Center: “Queer Lens: A History Of Photography” and “$3 Bill: Evidence Of Queer Lives.” I hadn’t. Both exhibits are closing this weekend, so I’m going today.

Thank you, Victor!

Before the pandemic, I used to keep tabs on local galleries and museums. Openings, closings, art fairs, and obscure group shows. I was on top of it. But like so much else, that rhythm fell away in 2020 with the start of the pandemic. For a long time, the idea of spending the day in a museum felt foreign, maybe even frivolous. But after a five-year absence, it’s time to return to the art world again.

The Getty Center has always been one of the most visually and emotionally expansive places in LA. The architecture, the gardens, the views, the way the light moves across the stone—it’s hard to visit and not feel some sense of wonder. And even though I’ll admit that much of the Getty’s permanent collection doesn’t speak to me (Baroque overload, anyone?), what keeps pulling me back are exhibits like Queer Lens and $3 Bill. This is where the Getty surprises me—in the best way.

QUEER LENS: A HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

From what I’ve read, “Queer Lens” promises to feel like stepping into a long-overdue conversation—one I’m more than ready to be part of.

The exhibition brings together the work of LGBTQ+ photographers who don’t just document queer lives, but actively frame them through a queer way of seeing.

It’s not only about who’s in front of the camera, but who’s behind it—and how that perspective shapes what we see, and why.

I’m especially looking forward to the range: intimate portraits, raw documentary images, surreal moments, and everyday flashes of queer joy and connection.

It doesn’t sound like a show that’s trying to pin down a single definition of queerness. That, to me, will likely be one of its greatest strengths. If anything, it sounds like the exhibit celebrates the beautiful, the messy, the political, the tender, and the mundane.

Apparently, the exhibit weaves together iconic names with emerging voices, which is one of my favorite curatorial approaches. I have a feeling some of these photographs will stay with me—not just for their visual impact, but for the ways they might shift how I see and feel.

I’m expecting “Queer Lens” to be as thought-provoking as it is moving.

Location: Museum West Pavilion, Lower Level

$3 BILL: EVIDENCE OF QUEER LIVES

A few buildings away, in dialogue with “Queer Lens”—”$3 Bill” dives headfirst into the world of LGBTQ artists and queer pioneers who explore sexual and gender identity.

The title alone ("queer as a three-dollar bill") sets the tone: playful, subversive, and ready to challenge everything we think we know about pride and representation.

What excites me most about this show is how much it leans into the performance of both drag and photography. Both mediums are about constructing an image, staging a self, transforming the ordinary into something theatrical—or maybe even mythic.

I’m expecting to see artists playing with persona, exaggeration, gesture, costume, and light in ways that blur the line between documentation and invention.

I’ve heard it’s sharp, funny, even campy—but also layered and at times disorienting, in the best way. Like drag itself, this isn’t a space for comfort or predictability. It’s about reinvention, defiance, spectacle, and truth told through artifice. I’m bracing myself to laugh, to wince, and to look twice. And maybe more than twice.

Location = Research Institute Galleries

A PERSONAL RETURN

More than anything, visiting these two exhibitions is reminding me of what I love about museums: art that commands my attention, challenges my assumptions, and invites me to slow down. To look. And to feel.

It’s been over five years since I last set foot at the Getty Center, and today these two queer exhibitions are pulling me back up the hill. I have a feeling they’ll be more than worth the trip: thoughtful, subversive, and moving in ways I can’t yet predict.

If you’re in LA this week, try to see the exhibitions and let me know what you think. Take the tram. Wander the travertine-clad buildings. Step inside and see the world through a queer lens — and a three-dollar bill.

And if you happen to be there today, don’t be shy: say “Hi!”

Keep calm and create on…
Clint 🌈✌️

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