Tourmaline

Tourmaline is an artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist renowned for her deep engagement with the histories of Black, queer, and trans communities. Her multimedia works challenge mainstream narratives and cultural histories, striving to initiate paradigm shifts and envision a future rich in joy and liberation. Tourmaline’s practice is a call to fundamentally reshape our beliefs about what is possible, drawing from her robust academic background and rich experience in activism.

A graduate of Columbia University with a BA in Comparative Ethnic Studies, Tourmaline’s academic journey was heavily concentrated in African American studies, which has profoundly influenced her work. Her early career as an organizer for Queers for Economic Justice and later, Critical Resistance, helped forge her path as a powerful voice in the fight against the prison-industrial complex and for LGBTQIA+ rights. These experiences also shaped her approach to filmmaking, leading to poignant works that engage with the lives and legacies of notable figures like Marsha P. Johnson and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy.

Though she had no formal film training, Tourmaline credits her time as an assistant to Dee Rees on the film Mudbound as a pivotal educational experience that honed her skills in storytelling and visual communication. Her films not only celebrate the spirit of her characters but also challenge viewers to reconsider the past and its impact on contemporary social contexts.

Her profound impact on both art and activism has been recognized widely; she is a TIME 100 honoree, a 2024 Blackstar Film Festival Luminary awardee, and a Guggenheim Fellow.

Tourmaline’s contributions to the arts have been recognized and showcased in prestigious institutions worldwide, including The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Tate Modern, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. Her works are held in the permanent collections of major museums such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Tate, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art.

Currently, Tourmaline’s solo exhibition “Video Room: Tourmaline” is on view at MASP in São Paulo. She is also featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial and has ongoing exhibitions at MASS MoCA and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Afrofuturist period room, where her explorations into Afrofuturism continue to inspire audiences.

Her biography of Marsha P Johnson published by Penguin Random House and Tiny Reparations comes out in spring of 2025.