Tranimal is a drag and performance art movement that began in the mid 2000s in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Deriving from the word "transvestite", the aim was to create interpretive, animalistic and

post-modern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experi ...

interpretations of the "drag queen".

Origin

Tranimal Drag artists Patruni Sastry by Manab Das

The term "tranimal" was coined by artist Jer Ber Jones. Jer Ber Jones is responsible for starting the movement and popularizing the movement in 2006, and again in early 2007 with the original stage production of the dance musical FOWL, a collaboration with choreographer

Ryan Heffington Ryan Heffington (born June 7, 1973) is an American dancer and choreographer based in Los Angeles. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards for choreographing the music videos for Arcade Fire's "We Exist" (2013) and Sia's "Chandelier (song), Chandel ...

, which grew into a drag and performance art scene based in

. In contrast to traditional genres of drag such as

camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

and

pageant Pageant(s) or The Pageant(s) may refer to: Events * Procession or ceremony in elaborate costume * Beauty pageant, or beauty contest * List of pageants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints * Medieval pageant, a narrative medieval pro ...

, tranimal drag de-constructs fashion and make-up, often using found objects, and elements of

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

. A visual emphasis was placed on hiding or exaggerating male attributes, but not necessarily shaving, tucking or plucking, creating a constant push and pull between the genders. The tranimal movement was inspired by

Leigh Bowery Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 – 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery's performances featured striking costumes and make-up and were conceptual, flamboyant, outlandish, and sometime ...

Radical Faeries Radical Faeries are a loosely affiliated worldwide network and Counterculture, countercultural movement blending queer consciousness and secular spirituality. Sharing various aspects with neopaganism, the movement also adopts elements from anarchi ...

the Cockettes The Cockettes were an avant-garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III) in the fall of 1969 when Hibiscus lived in Kaliflower. The troupe was formed out of a group of hippie artists, men and women, who ...

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

and

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

Austin Young Austin Young (born April 12, 1966) is an American photographer, film maker and new media artist based in Los Angeles, known for both celebrity portraits and documentation of sub and trans culture. Young is co-founder of Fallen Fruit, an art c ...

and collaborators further popularized the look and ethos of Tranimal through portraiture work around the genre. In 2011 the movement reached a mainstream audience when actress

Ann Magnuson Ann Magnuson is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer. She was described by ''The New York Times'' in 1990 as "An endearing theatrical chameleon who has as many characters at her fingertips as Lily Tomlin does". A f ...

suggested to the Los Angeles Times that a "Tranimal Makeover Station be erected mid-way on the red carpet." (For the televised Oscar Awards Ceremony.). In 2019, Indian Drag artist

Patruni Sastry Patruni Sastry, popularly known as Patruni Chidananda Sastry or Sas Who Maa, previously known as Suffocated Art Specimen, is an Expressionist dancer, performance artist, visual artist, model, podcasterand Tranimal drag queen. Patruni is known f ...

presented tranimal drag with indianism at Hyderabad Literature festival.

Tranimal Workshop

The first public Tranimal Workshop event, held at Mark Allen's

Machine Project Machine Project was a Los Angeles based not-for-profit arts organization and community event space. History Founded by Mark Allen, Machine Project launched in 2003 with its inaugural show, 'Tom Jennings - Story Teller,' an installation produced ...

in 2009, contextualized the movement and moved it into a participatory, open-source series of events. Each event culminated in a series of photographs shot by Austin Young. The concept of the Tranimal Workshop was a collaboration between by

, Squeaky Blonde and Fade-Dra. Participating artists have also included Matthu Andersen, Jer Ber Jones, Andrew Marlin, Jason El Diablo, and many others. The first workshop was co-produced by Austin Young and Saskia Wilson-Brown in conjunction with ''Ultra Fabulous Beyond Drag, Part Deux'' in 2007, and Ultra Fabulous Beyond Drag, Part Deux in 2009. These two film programs in Los Angeles were complemented by guest performances from artists such The Steve Lady, Jer Ber Jones, and Squeaky Blonde, among others. The Ultra Fabulous screenings served to coalesce the filmic elements of the movement in one place, for the first time. Since the initial event, the workshop has been further developed by many of the original organizers with Austin Young at the helm, and has expanded to various venues including Los Angeles'

Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...

in 2010 and the

Berkeley Art Museum The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA, formerly abbreviated as BAM/PFA) are a combined art museum, repertory movie theater, and film archive associated with the University of California, Berkeley. Lawrence Rinder was Director ...

in 2011.

Tranimal performers

* Jer Ber Jones * Squeaky Blonde * Jackie Hell * Vain Hein *Andrew Tran *Violet Blonde *

* Monikkie Shame * Alisson Gothz * Fade-Dra Phey

References

{{Drag performance Performance art in California Drag (entertainment) Gay culture in the United States