Several CalArts alums are featured in the Getty Center’s exhibition, Queer Lens: A History of Photography, on view through Sunday, Sept. 28. The show explores the influential role photography has played in shaping and affirming LGBTQ+ identities and communities, and includes works by Catherine Opie (Art MFA 88), Dean Sameshima (Art BFA 97), Lyle Ashton Harris (Art MFA 90), and Matthew Rolston (Chouinard 74).
On display are more than 270 works, including vintage prints, books, magazines, and rare ephemera, organized into eight chronological sections that trace the evolving intersection of queerness and image-making over time. Among the exhibition’s highlights is “Friends of Dorothy,” a gallery of more than 100 portraits that celebrates the significance and joys of queer kinship. More from the exhibition text about the origins of the phrase:
Some historians credit the phrase ‘a friend of Dorothy’ — a code used by gay men to safely self-identify in public—to the love many of them have for the actress Judy Garland, whose character the 1939 film The ‘Wizard of Oz‘ is named Dorothy Gale. However, there is another tantalizing possibility. It is said that the gay acquaintances of the writer Dorothy Parker, who often stayed at the popular Garden of Allah Hotel in Hollywood, used the phrase ‘I’m a friend of Dorothy’ to gain entrance to the hotel bar.
Held in tandem with the exhibition is a forthcoming artist talk featuring Opie and Anthony Friedman in conversation with curator Ryan Linkof on Sunday, Aug. 17.
LA-based acclaimed photographer Opie is widely recognized for her documentation of LGBTQ+ communities. Her early series, such as Being and Having (1991), Portraits (1993–97), and Domestic (1995–98), capture intimate portrayals of queer life in Los Angeles. Opie’s work has been exhibited internationally, including shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; and multiple Whitney Biennials.
Sameshima lives and works in Los Angeles and Berlin. His series being alone (2022), featuring images of solitary figures in adult movie theaters in Berlin, has been displayed at several galleries and was included in the 2024 Venice Biennale. Recent solo exhibitions include Peres Projects, Berlin; Gavlak Gallery, Los Angeles; She Works Flexible Gallery, Houston; and Galeria Raquel Ponce, Madrid.
Harris’ practice explores the intersections of identity, sexuality, ethnicity, and politics through photographic media, collage, installation and performance. His work has been exhibited widely, including at The Guggenheim Museum and The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and at the international biennials in Sao Paulo (2016), Venice (2007), Seville (2006) and Gwangju (2000).
Rolston, a photographer and director, is renowned for his refined lighting techniques and meticulous approach to art direction. He was discovered by Andy Warhol and began his career photographing celebrities for Interview magazine. His work has been exhibited widely, including at The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles; and internationally at the Victoria & Albert Museum; London.
