In a unusual pairing of history and art, the Oakland Museum of California is presenting work by a contemporary artist based in Los Angeles alongside objects from the creative practice of a local LGBTQ organization founded in 1965. This two-in-one show intersperses ten artworks by Math Bass within an extensive display of regalia from the Imperial Court of San Francisco, which started as an annual ballroom event by and for the gay community with a "queen of the ball." This show is a celebration of LGBTQ culture and a treat for those less familiar with it.

ICSF Empress's and Emperor's state robes, a crystal-and-brass mantle, a variety of crowns, glittering laurels and bejeweled scepters hold a central place in the gallery dedicated to this exhibition. Portraits — many adorned with glitter, feathers and rhinestones — of 96 Empresses and Emperors from throughout the ICSF's 62-year history hang together for the first time. Previously, they have been seen only in small groupings in bars. A selection of 32 felt banners, each designed by or for a monarch, jut out from facing walls. A large case displays more than 100 medallions, brooches and pins commemorating monarchs' reigns, from their coronations to their "step down" a year later.

The ICSF grew out of the 1960s' Beaux Arts Ball sponsored by the Tavern Guild of San Francisco, a group composed of gay men who worked in bars. In its early years, the ICSF raised money to put up bail for members of the community caught up by anti-gay laws. ICSF's fundraising efforts turned to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and now focus on hunger, homelessness and youth as well as HIV/AIDS.

Just as the group's causes have shifted over the decades, its composition has evolved. The ICSF began including lesbians and bisexuals and then embraced transgender individuals. The LGBT acronym now includes "Q," reflecting younger generations' reappropriation of a word previously used as a slur. "Queer" has been claimed by many as a fluid and open term, one that is also self-affirming, assertive and political. OMCA uses "LGBTQ+" in exhibition literature to also include intersex, asexual and other points in the gender and sexuality spectrum. ICSF states on its website, "Though our primary membership is drawn from the LGBT culture we believe everyone has the right of inclusion and the desire to help their community."

Bass (born in 1981 in New York) lives and works in Los Angeles. She earned an MFA degree in 2011 from UCLA. This up-and-coming artist gets top billing in the show's title, "Over the Top: Math Bass & the Imperial Court SF." Five paintings and three sculptures by Bass punctuate the ICSF display, and two of her videos serve as an introduction to the exhibition. If the ICSF material is "hot," then Bass's work is "cool": precisely executed, restrained and emotionally neutral.

Her paintings, all created for this exhibition, are beautiful in their simplicity, with perfect application of gouache, an opaque water-based paint, on raw canvas. Untreated canvas is absolutely unforgiving; mistakes cannot be corrected. Yet every line is absolute, there is no brushstroke, smudge or stray mark. Flat areas of rich pigment create shapes that appear to be icons, signs and emblems.

Her sculptures on view present recognizable forms: a giant red apple, spindly black ladder and V-shaped work. For the last one, created in 2016 and titled "Teen Dream," Bass used a long, skinny pair of up-side-down bell-bottom pants as a mold for concrete. Bass recently completed the ladder and apple sculptures for this show and asked that they be installed side-by-side.

The morning I discussed the ladder and apple with the artist, she said twice that she had been "thinking of the body, the weight of the body." When discussing the physical attributes of the ladder — thin boards, narrow steps, small base — Bass affirmed that one "wouldn't want to rely on that for support." I wonder if she meant emotional as well as physical support. In contrast, the apple is a robust, rounded, sensuous form. Even its stem is pert and perky. Look carefully, and you will see it turning ever-so-slowly on a rotating base. The ladder is untitled; the apple is named "Elizabeth."

The exhibition's publicity material explains: "Familiar symbols, flipped and ‘queered' to create new shared meaning, are at the heart of this exhibition." Christina Linden, OMCA associate curator of painting and sculpture, wrote that "artists in this exhibition have disrupted and upended a variety of symbols, from crowns to painted emblems, through inventive and creative actions. Set unstraight, the artists have made the symbols their own." Elsewhere, OMCA refers to "the radical possibility for artistic acts to foster self-determination and shared meaning for LGBTQ+ individuals and communities."

Exhibition organizers asked Bass to respond to ICSF items on view. Bass chose a black leather vest encrusted with pins. Bass's words accompany the vest that was worn by "Absolute Empress 18 Connie" when she was not in royal attire:

"What can I say of this soft weighted body.

I think of the body that cradled this garment, and of the weight and security that this garment must have offered. As shield and as signal. Time grows in numbers, in pounds, to soften stiff leather from creak to crease."

Videos by Bass and an elaborate costume from "Absolute Empress de San Francisco" greet visitors as they enter the section of the museum devoted to art. The majority of the "Over the Top" show resides in the room at the far end of this long series of galleries. Bass's two clever videos, shown in sequence, appear simple. However, careful viewing reveals subtleties that are not easily explained — at least I could not figure them out. Look for other LGBTQ-related works nearby: an ambitious textile and a multi-media piece.

Anna Koster is an artist, art teacher and writer. Email Anna Koster at annakosterart@gmail.com. Visit her website at annakoster.com.