Page Person

Page Person’s recent art practice encompasses drawing, painting, sculpture, storytelling, music, and performance. After Person came out as trans, she was alienated from the art world spaces in which she had shown for ten years. In 2017 she started doing drag and assumed the name Page Person, performing at Los Angeles drag nights and events. Her “ongoing project is based on the deceptively simple statement I AM A PERSON,” as she explains in her artist’s statement. Insisting on her own humanity, the artist frequently asserts the name “PERSON” in all caps as a bold compositional element in both paintings and costumes.

When Person returned to making works on canvas in 2020, she realized that making paintings and gowns felt interchangeable. As she has continued to work across mediums, the boundaries between genres have continued to dissolve. Person’s practice demonstrates her mission to make drag in art spaces and art in drag spaces.

Page Person (b. 1972, Atlanta) received a BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 1996. Their work made under a former name was exhibited at the New Museum, New York (2010); Peres Projects, Los Angeles and Berlin (2007, 2005, 2004); Deitch Projects, New York (2009, 2006); DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece (2007); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2007, 1994); and Stuart Shave Modern Art, London (2004). Coming out as trans alienated them from the art world; they took the surname Person in 2017 and began performing in queer nightlife spaces such as Exposure Drag, Queer as Punk, and Club sCum. Ultimately Person put together a monthly show called PUNXURE. Recent solo exhibitions and performances include those at LAXART (2022); Human Resources (2022); 2220 Arts (2022); University of Southern California (2022); the studio of Elliott Hundley (2021); and 4026 Figueroa (2017), all in Los Angeles.