On the 31st of March, Raandoom celebrates International Transgender Day of Visibility for the first time since its launch. TDOV is dedicated to honouring the transgender community while shedding light on the discrimination they face globally and celebrating their valuable contributions to society. This year, we will be shining a spotlight on trans artists who have courageously fought for recognition and a voice in art history. Their resilience has paved the way for the artists shaping the present day. We will also look into the work of contemporary trans artists who utilise their art as a powerful medium for self-expression, storytelling, and advocacy for trans rights.

Happy International Transgender Day of Visibility!

Lili Elbe

Lili Elbe, a Danish painter, was among the earliest people to undergo gender-affirming surgery. Her artwork primarily consisted of Post-Impressionistic landscapes, characterised by soft palettes. While not immediately apparent, Elbe used her landscapes to reflect her emotions before and after her surgery. One recurring motif in her work was bridges, symbolising her journey of transition. In "Pont sur la Loire," for instance, she depicted waters transitioning from dark blues to sunlit pastel turquoise, another metaphor reflecting her experience. Elbe stopped painting after her transition, feeling that her art, linked with masculinity, no longer aligned with her female identity. Instead, she posed for her wife Gerda Gottlieb, an accomplished Art Deco painter and illustrator, making Elbe a primary subject in her subsequent works. Gottlieb’s works became a visual documentation of Elbe’s transition, capturing the essence of her evolving identity. In 1930, Lili Elbe underwent gender-affirming surgery. Later, she became the first known recipient of a uterus transplant, a groundbreaking but experimental procedure at the time. Tragically, she passed away due to complications arising from the surgery.

**Gerda Gottlieb, *Queen of Hearts (Lili),* 1928.**

**Gerda Gottlieb, *Lili, Hot Summer*, 1924.**

Claude Cahun

Claude Cahun is a well-known and established name in the art history sphere. A French surrealist artist, activist, resistance worker, and propagandist, Cahun challenged the rigid gender and sexual norms of her era. Embracing her gender fluidity long before the term gained prominence, she is considered a trailblazing artist. Despite this, Cahun’s work was largely overlooked for many years. It was not until the emergence of gender studies and its intersection with art history that Cahun’s art regained recognition, finding a new audience.

**Claude Cahun, Self Portrait from the series *I am in Training Don’t Kiss Me*, 1927.**

Michel-Marie Poulain

As for Michel-Marie Poulain, though slightly different, her story is incredibly inspiring. Despite living in a conservative and close-minded France, Poulain boldly embraced her true identity from a young age. She served in the French army, eventually earning the rank of officer during WWII. A performer and self-taught painter, Poulain began her artistic pursuits in Paris, working as an acrobat and later as a dancer in her twenties. By the end of the 1930s, she had opened her own cabaret and art gallery in Paris, known as Le Vol de Nuit, and had established herself as an artist known for her Parisian landscapes. Poulain’s career peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, marked by exhibitions across Europe, the US, and Brazil. She contemplated gender-affirming surgery, which she eventually underwent in 1946. Following the surgery, Poulain lived openly with her family; however, she faced persistent misgendering from the public, which she accepted. It was not until the publication of her autobiography, J’ai choisi mon sexe: Confidences du peintre Michel-Marie Poulain, in 1954 that she openly discussed her private life and surgery, fully embracing her true identity and serving as an inspiration to many.

Greer Lankton

An artist and doll maker, Greer Lankton played a pivotal role in transforming the East Village art scene during the 1980s. Lankton’s path to her career began in childhood when, at the age of ten, she started making dolls. Following her gender-affirming surgery at 21, she redirected her artistic focus to bodies, exploring themes of body image, sexuality, and gender in her work. Her dolls are crafted to resemble individuals often marginalised by society, embodying a mix of distress and glamour. Additionally, Lankton created commissioned portrait dolls, often based on friends or celebrities, which she would then pose in elaborate theatrical settings.

**Installation view of Greer Lankton, *It's all about ME, Not You*, 2009. Courtesy of the Mattress Factory.**

Vaginal Davis

Vaginal Davis boasts a diverse and prolific career, spanning multiple disciplines including performing arts, painting, independent curation, composition, filmmaking, and writing, among others. Emerging in the New York art scene during the 1980s, Davis notably influenced Brooklyn’s drag culture. Demonstrating a love and aptitude for opera and theatre from a young age, she later transitioned into a career as a drag queen. Renowned as a pioneer of the homo-core punk movement and revered as a genderqueer art-music icon, Davis identifies as a ‘doyenne of intersexed outsider art’. In recent years, she has focused more on painting, exhibiting her works worldwide, which pay homage to queer-feminist icons and celebrate the power of the performative body.

**Painting from *Various Hags* series, 2012.**

Zanele Muholi

An artist and visual activist, Zanele Muholi primarily engages in photography, video, and installation, with a focus on celebrating the Black queer communities of South Africa. Muholi’s artistic career began in the early 2000s, centered on themes of race, gender, and sexuality, which earned them numerous awards and accolades. Their work often serves as a documentation of the stories and struggles faced by queer communities, bringing them into the public eye. In addition to their artistic work, Muholi actively participates in community initiatives, co-founding the Forum for the Empowerment of Women—an organisation dedicated to providing safe spaces for women—and establishing platforms for the promotion of queer media and art advocacy.

**Zanele Muholi, *Candice Nkosi, Durban,* from *Brave Beauties* series, 2020.**

Leon Mostovoy
For decades, Leon Mostovoy has been a dedicated creator of queer and political art, aiming to shed light on marginalised and misunderstood individuals, as well as those who are beautiful and righteous but have been shunned by society due to ignorance and fear. Most notably, he has documented the struggle against the AIDS pandemic, the experiences of sex workers, queer erotica, and the stories of women who have been incarcerated. Most recently, his focus has shifted to projects exploring transgender issues, gender identity, and evolving gender roles within contemporary US society.

**Leon Mostovoy, from *Market Street Cinema* series, 1987-88.**

**Leon Mostovoy, installation view from the *Transfigure Project*, 2013.**

Cassils

Cassils, a performance artist and bodybuilder, utilises their own body as the central medium for their work. Their rigorous exploration of the body as a form of social sculpture has garnered international recognition. Through their art, Cassils delves into the complex history of LGBTQI+ violence, representation, struggle, and survival. One of Cassils’s notable performance pieces, Becoming An Image, has been evolving since 2012, with each iteration presenting slight variations. Set in darkness, the performance features the artist animistically pounding a mound of clay in the presence of sporadic camera flashes. This powerful imagery serves as a metaphor for the often overlooked narratives within the LGBTQI+ community, that being the transgender and queer people themselves.

**Image from *Becoming an Image* performance.**

**Cassils photographed following their intensive bodybuilding regime for the artwork Cuts: A Traditional Sculpture, 2011.**

Jono Vaughan

Jono Vaughan dedicates their entire body of work to exploring and commemorating trans history and culture. Through the creation of intricate hand-sewn garments, Vaughan uses their work as a medium to share the stories and experiences of trans individuals with a broader audience, turning their art into a form of activism.

Amos Mac

Lastly, Amos Mac, a multi-media artist, has expanded his repertoire to include producing and writing. His work delves into themes of identity, second coming-of-age narratives, and intergenerational relationships, all viewed through a queer lens. As a photographer, he has gained recognition for his work appearing in major magazines and for his campaigns with fashion brands. More importantly, Mac’s photography primarily focuses on gender non-conforming individuals. Through his vibrant and colourful shots, Mac captures the essence of his subjects, portraying their entire being and personality rather than just their gender identity.

TDOV

Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)

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