SoMad presents Life is Drag a landmark solo exhibition by Rachel Rampleman celebrating the power of drag

Portraits of Divina GranSparkle, Amygdala, King Molasses, and Julie J. Life is Drag, Rachel Rampleman, 2025

September 18 – December 18, 2025

Amid growing attacks on drag and queer communities, “Life is Drag” emerges as the largest digital archive of US drag performance—a living history of over 370 performances by more than 200 visionary drag artists, chronicling not only transformative artistry but also vital resistance, visibility, and joy

SoMad—a femme and queer-led multidisciplinary art space in New York—is proud to present Life is Drag, a solo exhibition of new work by Brooklyn-based artist, archivist, and cultural anthropologist Rachel Rampleman. On view from September 18 to December 18, 2025, this presentation marks a defining chapter in Rampleman’s six-year project using high definition video to document over 370 performances of more than 200 drag artists. Featuring 24 never-before-seen video portraits of 12 visionary drag performers who embody the height of neo-burlesque and experimental drag, the exhibition serves as the culmination of Rampleman’s year-long residency at SoMad and reflects the creative apex of the project—which serves as the largest digital archive of drag performance in the United States.  

Launched in 2019, Life is Drag has evolved into a vast chronicle of American drag culture, spanning cities, generations, and genres. Sparked by a fortuitous encounter with New York drag icon and community organizer Untitled Queen, the project has grown alongside Rampleman’s deepening immersion in the community to become an expansive celebration of drag in all its forms—from the spectrum of gender expression to experimental art and activism. At a moment when LGBTQIA+ spaces and drag as an art form are increasingly under attack, Life is Drag becomes more than documentation: it is a collective act of celebration and defiance, showcasing irrepressible performers who challenge convention, rewrite the rules and embody the range of gender expression. In this spirit, the exhibition transforms SoMad into a space where drag is honored as both legacy and living ritual. 

This latest chapter—comprising 24 new portraits, filmed entirely at SoMad’s Manhattan production studio—marks a powerful evolution in Life is Drag’s technical scope and cultural depth. Developed through a deeply collaborative process, this segment has been enhanced by the creative and technical contributions of SoMad. With elevated production resources and hands-on support from the organization’s community of artists, producers, and performers, Rampleman worked closely with each drag artist to refine and communicate their vision—reuniting with longtime collaborators and working for the first time with long-admired subjects. Among the featured artists—many of whom are also organizers and activists—are multidisciplinary artist Amygdala, drag and burlesque performer Divina GranSparkle, artist and community organizer Julie J, and drag king King Molasses. 

With a background in experimental video and documentary, Rampleman approaches drag as a total work of art: a poetic synthesis of performance, costume, sculpture, sound, and identity, and captures numbers by each performer in veritable, full-body high definition videos framed consistently each time and showcased with minimal, if any, editing. Every performer engages in a structured interview, captured in full-look—hair, makeup, costume, attitude, exemplifying the height of their stage persona while offering deeply personal reflections on their craft, community, and lived experience. Using a consistent set of questions, Rampleman invites a spectrum of interpretation: for some, drag is political; for others, it’s not. While some say drag is about gender; others say drag transcends gender. In the end, one truth emerges: life is drag. 

At SoMad, Rampleman’s video portraits will be presented on individual screens and projections within a black box space alongside a video of selected interview excerpts of her subjects responding to the question “What does drag mean to you?” In this collective chorus, viewers are not only invited to witness the transformative power of drag, but also to recognize its resonance within themselves—as a reflection of joy, truth, and limitless potential. Viewed as a whole, Life is Drag is a collaborative, living archive of queer expression, resistance, and artistry. 

A slate of public programming will accompany Life is Drag, including live performances and additional events to be announced. 

ABOUT RACHEL RAMPLEMAN
Rachel Rampleman (b. 1975, Cincinnati, OH; lives and works in New York, NY) is an artist, archivist, and cultural anthropologist whose work explores gender, artifice, and spectacle. Combining directorial, curatorial, and anthropological approaches, she showcases exuberant, irrepressible personalities who revel in subverting clichés and taboos, inviting viewers to rethink and reimagine the constructs of gender. Since 2019, Rampleman has been creating the largest digital archive of drag performance in the United States, documenting the most singular and innovative performers of the alt-drag and neo-burlesque scenes. 

Rampleman received her MFA in Studio Art from NYU in 2006. Her work has been exhibited internationally including the Shanghai Biennale – China, Brooklyn Pavilion (Shanghai, China), the Chennai Photo Biennale (Chennai, India), and institutionally at SMAK – Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Gent, Belgium), Art Cinema OFFoff at Kunsthal Gent (Ghent, Belgium), VIDEONALE.16 at the Kunstmuseum Bonn (Bonn, Germany), C/O Berlin (Berlin, Germany), Die Fruhperle, and The Secret Cabinet (Berlin, Germany), Socrates Sculpture Park (Queens, New York), Cantor Film Center (New York, New York), BAM (Brooklyn, New York), the Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), and The Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

ABOUT SOMAD
Founded in 2018, SoMad is a femme and queer-led art space that serves as a platform for emerging artists to experiment, collaborate, and challenge conventions. SoMad empowers artists through a combined gallery and artist residency program, production house, and event space, emphasizing creative freedom and the absence of rigid expectations. The name, “SoMad,” reflects both the physical location—south of Madison Square Park—and the collective’s frustration with the current landscape of resources and support structures available for emerging artists, particularly artists from marginalized communities.

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