Chloe Dzubilo (December 5, 1960 – February 18, 2011) was an American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

, and transgender activist. She was born in Connecticut. Dzubilo was a fixture of the 1980s and 1990s New York City club and art scene: she briefly worked at

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

, was an editor at the East Village Eye, worked with Blacklips Performance Cult at the Pyramid Club, and she was the lead singer and songwriter of the punk band Transisters, who performed at CBGB's. Filmmaker Kembra Pfahler said of Dzubilo's band, "Transisters was one of the only bands that addressed issues around AIDS and had the courage to sing about their anger. And to alchemically transform all of the hatred and stigma around the disease itself." Dzubilo's artwork took many forms, and she often worked in ink on paper as her medium. Chloe studied art at

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

and received an associate degree in Gender Studies from the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

in 1999. She became an influence of fashion designers including

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

and

Patricia Field Patricia Field (born February 12, 1942) is an American costume designer, stylist and fashion designer. Early life Field was born in 1942 in New York City to an Armenian father and a Greek mother, who emigrated from Plomari, Lesbos, Greece. Fi ...

Activism

Dzubilo was a longtime transgender activist with the Gender Identity Project at the

New York City LGBT Community Center The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (formerly Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center), commonly called The Center, is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) populat ...

, and after her HIV diagnosis in 1987 became involved in AIDS activism. She joined the political group Transgender Menace and was the founder of the Equi-Aid Project, a horse-riding program for AIDS-affected and at-risk youth. Additionally she participated in SpeakOUT events as a panelist where she talked about issues of substance abuse recovery along with activists like Alison Terson. She was appointed to the HIV and Human Service Planning Council of New York in 2003.

Legacy and archive

When asked by the magazine ''

HIV Plus LPI Media (formerly Liberation Publications Inc.)

'' in 1998 what advice she would give, she said, "Buy a lot of glitter and pat it on your eyes first thing in the morning - it's good for your endorphins. Empower yourself with the word ''tacky''. And sing. All day. That's what I do." Her funeral was held on March 12, 2011, at Judson Memorial Church. Fellow artists, activists, and friends who attended include

Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama ''Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...

, Anohni,

Justin Bond Justin Vivian Bond (born May 9, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Described as "the best cabaret artist of heir!-- MOS:GENDERID --> generation" and a "tornado of art and activism", they first achieved prominence under the pseudon ...

, and Katrina Del Mar. In 2011, the Chloe Awards were established to celebrate people whose work embodies the spirit of Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Chloe Dzubilo. The Chloe Faith Dzubilo Papers are held in the Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University. In 2017, her work was featured in the exhibition "AIDS at Home" at the Museum of the City of New York.

References

External links

Chloe Faith Dzubilo Papers
at the Fales Library & Special Collections, New York University {{DEFAULTSORT:Dzubilo, Chloe 1960 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists 21st-century American LGBT people 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers American women rock singers City College of New York alumni HIV/AIDS activists American transgender artists American transgender musicians American LGBT singers Transgender women artists Transgender women musicians Transgender singers Women in punk Parsons School of Design alumni LGBT people from Connecticut