Phranc: The Butch Closet

October 21 – December 2, 2023
Reception: October 28th, 4-6pm
Performance: Saturday, November 4, 3pm.

Phranc: The Butch Closet is a multi-disciplinary installation that spans over 40 years of her life as a queer artist and Jewish Lesbian Folksinger. Building on her performance Phranc Talk, which explores the development of Phranc’s butch persona, this exhibit contextualizes the artist’s experience as a trailblazing performer and maker, constructing and reconstructing her image against a larger historical context of second wave feminism and queer activism — all the way from lesbian separatism through the ongoing evolution of gender identity.
By meticulously recreating such personal objects as Phranc’s Baby Quilt and Lamb Chop Halloween Costume out of paper, cardboard, thread, and found materials, Phranc explores complex and layered aspects of memory, personal history and nostalgia. These objects illustrate the narrative arc of her life set against the artistic, musical and revolutionary scenes she was both a part of and witness to in LA from the 1960s to the present feminist art, punk rock, surfing, and queer communities. The Butch Closet brings together Phranc’s art, music and personal archive at a pivotal moment in queer history when we are claiming our past and by doing so securing our future.
This exhibition is part of the 2023 Circa: Queer Histories Festival, presented by One Institute.