Curator Walkthrough

Meet Alexis Bard Johnson, curator of Sci-Fi, Magick, Queer L.A.: Sexual Science and the Imagi-Nation, as she walks us through the exhibition to explore the captivating LGBTQ+ history within the world of science fiction fandom and occult in Los Angeles from the late 1930s to the 1960s. Learn about the lives and work of the pioneering writers, publishers, artists, and early sci-fi enthusiasts who paved the way for the LGBTQ+ movement.

About the exhibition:

Sci-Fi, Magick, Queer L.A.: Sexual Science and the Imagi-Nation considers the importance of science fiction fandom and occult interests to U.S. LGBTQ history. Science fiction and occult communities helped pave the way for the LGBTQ movement by providing a place for individuals to meet and imagine spaces less restricted by societal norms. The exhibition focuses on Los Angeles from the late 1930s through 1960s and looks both forward and backward to follow the lives of writers, publishers, and early sci-fi enthusiasts, including progressive communities such as the LA Science Fantasy Society, the Ordo Templi Orientis at the Agape Lodge, and ONE Inc. Spanning fandom, aerospace research, queer history, and the occult, Sci-Fi, Magick, Queer L.A. reveals how artists, scientists, and visionary thinkers like Jim Kepner, Lisa Ben, Margaret Brundage, Morris Scott Dollens, Marjorie Cameron, Renate Druks, Curtis Harrington, and Kenneth Anger worked together to envision and create a world of their own making through films, photographs, music, illustrations, costumes, and writing.

About the curator:

Alexis Bard Johnson is the Curator at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. She oversees the exhibitions, programs, and art collections at one of the largest repositories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer materials in the world. She most recently curated Looking for Lesbians and Archival Intimacies: Queering South/East Asian Diasporas. Previously, she curated Six (Linear) Feet and the online exhibition Safer at Home. She is currently working on Sexual Science and the Imagi-nation, one of the exhibitions in the Getty’s 2024 Pacific Standard Time, and Queer Black California: Art and Politics with the California African American Museum. Johnson earned her PhD in Art History with a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Stanford University in 2019. Her essay, “The Work of Being Sexed: Andy Warhol on Drag,” appeared in Contact Warhol: Photography Without End (MIT, 2018). She also contributed to the revised edition of Art and Queer Culture (Phaidon, 2019). Before joining the ONE Archives, Johnson worked at the Princeton Art Museum, the Whitney Museum, and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Image: Tigrina's LASFS Membership Card, 1940-1950, 2.25 x 3.75 in (5.7 x 9.5 cm), ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, Los Angeles.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

USC Fisher Museum of Art, 823 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, United States