From transgender icons and stalwart members of the underground scene, to the artist’s mother and his radical would-be assassin, women and femmes in Warhol’s world played crucial roles in every area of his life and practice. This exhibition shines a light on their stories, whose contributions have often been overlooked in retellings of Warhol’s story. In the museum’s second floor gallery, rare Warhol color films and popular paintings will offer new narratives about the individuals depicted. 

Femme Touch will also transform five floors of the museum’s permanent collection galleries to position Warhol’s work in dialogue with artifacts and artwork from the lives of these fascinating women and femmes. The exhibition also brings forth areas of the museum’s archives, an extensive holding of over half a million diverse objects, and Warhol’s films, many of which are being newly restored and digitized in an ongoing preservation initiative.  

Through cross-departmental collaboration, curators, educators, and archivists have come together to develop the exhibition which showcases individuals such as Candy Darling, Tally Brown, Donna Jordan, Jane Forth, Julia Warhola, Barbara Rubin, Mario Montez, Brigid Berlin, and Valerie Solanas. As the museum celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary, this investigation into the lives and careers of the women and femmes who impacted Warhol will elicit a better understanding of the artist’s worldview and the social contexts in which he operated. 

Femme Touch is organized by José Carlos Diaz, chief curator, with Nicole Dezelon, associate director of learning; Ben Harrison, curator of performing arts and special projects; Geralyn Huxley, curator of film and video; Danielle Linzer, director of learning and public engagement; and Greg Pierce, associate curator of film and video.  

Femme Touch is presented by Bank of America and Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt, Founders of The Bennett Collection of Women Realists.