Huge archive of drag culture takes on new urgency in today’s political climate

Elyssa Goodman, CNN

New York (CNN) — “The first time I saw God was at Bizarre,” says visual artist Rachel Rampleman.

She is referring to the drag artist God Complex and the now-defunct Brooklyn bar Bizarre. Inspired by the performer’s background as a dancer after seeing him live, Rampleman committed him to the screen for “Life is Drag,” a project wherein she films drag performances and conducts interviews with participants about their drag philosophies. A new exhibition showing the project’s latest works opens at New York’s SoMad art space this week, and in one of the featured videos, God Complex dances, lost in reverie, wearing a skin-toned gown twinkling with beads.

The many artists Rampleman has chronicled in “Life is Drag” reveal the multitudes of what the art form is and can be. Since 2019, Rampleman has captured more than 200 artists and 370 shows, making it the largest known digital archive of drag performance in the US.

The latest videos and portraits are the product of her artist residency at SoMad, a self-described “femme and queer led, independent art space” in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. In these new works, Rampleman chose to spotlight some drag artists who are community organizers, producers, advocates and activists, as a response to US President Donald Trump’s re-election. The importance of the project then extends beyond just the chronicle of a performance, it also becomes the validation of existence. In Rampleman’s project, the subjects can’t be erased from history.

“(It) was important to work with the people we felt were the most inspiring, and to do whatever we could to magnify and amplify their message and their voices,” she said. The people she’s worked with range from community organizer Julie J to producer Amygdala to King Molasses, the newly crowned winner of the US reality series “King of Drag.” In each interview, performers advocate for themselves and their art. “My presence in the world is non-negotiable. I am released, so there’s really nothing you can do to stop me,” King Molasses said in an interview Rampleman shot. “Drag is not, nor has it ever been, something that is interested in domination. It is not something that is interested in manifest destiny. It just is something that is,” Julie J said in hers.

For someone with such a vast collection of recorded drag performances, it may be surprising that Rampleman hadn’t actually seen one until 2019, when models in drag walked a friend’s fashion show. Rampleman had been exploring gender identity in her work, filming the all-female Mötley Crüe cover band Girls Girls Girls and the female bodybuilder Tazzie Colomb, among others. After her first drag encounter, she quickly shifted focus. She was hooked, and began venturing out to countless performances, “seeing what I thought was basically the most interesting art being made,” Rampleman said.

As the artist attended more shows, she noticed that if performers eventually left drag, there would be little to no record of their work. But knowing venues had less than ideal lighting conditions, Rampleman began the project in her own Brooklyn studio and then at several artist residencies across America. It becomes clear in looking at all aspects through Rampleman’s archive that the possibilities of drag performance — be it to poetry or Prince, Furby videos or Fleetwood Mac — are completely, delightfully unlimited.

In a cultural moment where many people are introduced to drag through “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” a project like Rampleman’s not only captures an art form known for its ephemerality but shows us just how broad the scope of its artistry truly is. In “Life is Drag,” there’s not one particular look, and that is part of its power. In the same way there’s not one way to paint, there’s also not just one way to do drag. And while Rampleman is drawn to more artistic, avant-garde performances, there’s also no shortage of pageant-inspired numbers and gorgeous evening gowns in her wider archive, either. “The goal of the project is also just to be as inclusive and diverse in regards to who I work with as possible,” she said.

From now until mid-December, SoMad will exhibit Rampleman’s new works. There are video installations on the building’s second floor, over two dozen recorded performances playing across six monitors suspended from the ceiling; interviews will run on a large screen in the back of the venue and large portraits of participating drag artists, wearing everything from sequin tuxedos to baby doll dresses, will be exhibited on the fourth floor.

In America’s current cultural climate, Rampleman sees “Life is Drag” as a way to combat queer and trans erasure. “I feel like doing the opposite of erasure is documentation,” she said, hoping the project can get out into the world as much as possible and “provide inspiration for people who are in red states, especially in smaller cities or towns.” While Rampleman finds the Trump administration’s policies against LGBTQ+ communities “depressing, disappointing, nauseating, appalling,” not to mention the sentiments of right-wing groups, she has hope for a brighter future.

“I think the reason that I started and then have continued to work on this project is because the people that I find in this community are just the most extraordinary human beings on the planet, and their creativity and their empathy and their generosity is unparalleled,” she said. “Seeing this lack of empathy, this lack of understanding (in American culture), I think doing this project keeps me going…I’m not sure how optimistic to allow myself to be but being around these performers makes me more hopeful.”

Rampleman challenges viewers of the project to reevaluate the way they present themselves to the world, and to be open-minded. “Drag artists definitely want to stand out, and they encourage other people to do the same. And I think that if more people are less repressed and more self-actualized, then they are happier,” she said. “I hope that people see these performers, and it makes them realize drag is awesome. It’s not this thing to be feared.”

“Life is Drag” is showing at New York’s SoMad until December 18.

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