Chris E. Vargas

Chris E. Vargas is a video maker and interdisciplinary artist, originally from Los Angeles, CA, currently based in Bellingham, WA. His work deploys humor and performance in conjunction with mainstream idioms to explore the complex ways that queer and trans people negotiate spaces for themselves within historical and institutional memory and popular culture. He earned his MFA in the department of Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011. He is a recipient of a 2016 Creative Capital award and a 2020 John S. Guggenheim fellowship. From 2008 – 2013, in collaboration with Greg Youmans, he made the web-based trans/cisgender sitcom “Falling In Love…with Chris and Greg.” With Eric Stanley, Vargas co-directed the movie “Homotopia” (2006) and its feature-length sequel “Criminal Queers” (2015). Vargas is Executive Director of MOTHA, the Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art, a critical and conceptual arts & hirstory institution highlighting the contributions of trans art to the cultural and political landscape.