#Risa Puleo

[digitalnewberry]

Race, empire, and cartography

Map of lands in the Tultepec and Jaltocan regions adjacent to the Hacienda de Santa Ines (Mexico), 1569

The Farmers vs. Covarrubias map... depicts the local setting of a community of Indigenous people in colonial Mexico. It was painted on paper made from the bark of a mulberry or fig tree, using paper-making traditions practiced in the Americas long before the arrival of the Spanish. The pigments used to color the terrain derived from botanicals and minerals found in the landscape. The Indigenous mapmaker who made this map did so with subtle knowledge about the land, not only its topography, but also details about where to find the materials to make the map itself that can only be attained through studied interactions with its flora and fauna across generations. Despite this ancestral relationship to the land, the mapmaker who made this map did so to defend his community’s claim to it and right to be on it. The Farmers vs Covarrubias gets its name from the 1569 court case in which the two named parties appealed to a colonial court to settle a dispute about the boundaries of property. Made just under fifty years after the Spanish military conquest of the Americas, the Farmers vs. Covarrubias map shows us how race was mediated by property lines in the earliest moments of Spanish occupation. Maps produced to support legal claims to territory in court cases demonstrate how Spaniards attempted to control the Indigenous population, los naturales, through a system of bureaucracy that was far from natural. As an example of this type of map, Farmers vs. Covarrubias shows how an Indigenous mapmaker, who represented the people of Tultepec, made claim to space and navigated a bureaucratic web using a system of picture-writing that was illegible to the Spanish court system. -- Ricardo Padrón and Risa Puleo

Read the full essay in Seeing race before race (ACMRS Press, 2023)

Explore this and other maps at our interactive resource Seeing race before race: a closer look

[itscolossal]

Cranbrook Academy of Art Announces Public Lecture Series With Artists, Architects, Curators, and Designers (Sponsor)

The 2023–2024 public lecture series at Cranbrook Academy of Art brings together an innovative group of artists, architects, curators, and designers to address some of the most urgent issues of our time through performance, object making, curation, and critical writing. Together, they encourage us to think expansively about the role of creativity in building community and in shaping the world around us.

The visiting artists include:

October 19, 2023, 6 p.m. Risa Puleo, Independent Curator

November 9, 2023, 6 p.m. Norman Teague, Designer and Educator

November 30, 2023, 6 p.m. Hamza Walker, Director of LAXART

December 14, 2023, 6 p.m. Cannupa Hanska Luger, Multidisciplinary Artist

January 11, 2024, 6 p.m. Yolande Daniels, Associate Professor in Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-founder of studioSUMO 

February 1, 2024, 6 p.m. Ghada Amer, Artist

February 22, 2024, 6 p.m. Andrianna Campbell-LaFleur, Art Critic, Curator, and Historian

March 21, 2024, 6 p.m. Yuri Suzuki, Sound Artist, Designer, Electronic Musician

April 4, 2024, 6 p.m. Roberto Lugo, Artist, Social Activist, Poet, and Educator

[mikunziv]

Language and Resistance: A Review of “eagle, serpiente, nopalli” by Salvador Jiménez ...

Jiménez-Flores and curator Risa Puleo centered the physical layout of the room around the metal sculpture ... fiction and in Baeza's case the ...

[digitalembodiment]

[Image Description: In the first image, Care, a rehearsal for a performance, Curated by Risa Puleo is placed in vinyl on a white wall with two plants emerging from the edges of image. In the second image, a dinning chair balances on four canes in a white room.]

Care, a rehearsal for a performance, curated by Risa Puleo at Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center

Image documentation of exhibition and Harriet Sanderson’s Tilt

Exhibition Description: Care, a rehearsal for a performance “...suggests a choreography of disability as a remedy for maneuvering through institutions that are disabling. The exhibition was inspired by Yvonne Rainer’s Convalescent Dance, a modification of Trio A performed in 1967 while Rainer was “convalescing” from surgery as a protest against the Vietnam War, and Steve Paxton’s Intravenous Lecture, made in 1970 in response to being censored by NYU. In this performative lecture, Paxton (and in 2012, Stephen Petronio) walked around a courtyard in front of NYU attached to an IV line, speaking institutional censorship. These two moments in Judson Dance Theatre’s history are relatively unconsidered and set the stage for a group of artists who are currently making work about mobility and institutional access.The exhibition expands definitions of mobility from physically navigating the world with a disability to include maneuvering through the bureaucracy of health care institutions and moving through social space. Curated by Risa Puleo, Roots & Culture’s first CONNECT curatorial resident, Puleo will live with the work over the course of its exhibition while she writes about an essay unpacking theses ideas.” - Roots & Culture

Debut appearance on July 30, 2016 at Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center

Participating Artists: Valentina Desideri, Stuart Hordener, Carolyn Lieba Francois-Lazard, Jaimes Mayhew (with Macon Reed and Risa Puleo), Park McArthur, Lynne McCabe, Carmen Papalia, Harriet Sanderson, Sarah Sudhoff, and Constantina Zavitsanos, with documentation of performances by Yvonne Rainer and Steve Paxton/Stephen Petronio, and Lauren Beck in the Milwaukee Avenue Window Gallery

Reviewed in “Mobility’s Body Politic” by Brit Barton, New City Art

Images courtesy of Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center

[informalityblog]

The Healthcare Paradox, as Seen Through 'Care, A Performance' at La Esquina

The concept of ‘healthy’ contains a multitude of definitions; asking how human society defines the tools of normalcy for our physical and mental states. Pain is an individual sensation, but its resulting effects are felt by all. We see in this exhibition that one’s mobility, disability, debility, illness and institutional access are social. Returning to “normal” is a paradox as the very idea of…

[kansascityhappenings]

10 Art pieces or galleries to go see in Kansas City this spring

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Spring is right around the corner and that means we’re almost out of hibernation season. For many, winter keeps them homebound, doing minimal activity besides work and school, and catching up on the Netflix queue. Now that the weather is finally warming up, you might be considering what to do outside or what places to visit.

Spring is an excellent time to explore and view art in Kansas City. Art helps you expand your horizons and gives you new perspective, which can be therapeutic if you’ve been cooped up at home for the last few months. The following list has 10 important artworks or exhibits worth seeing this year.

Water Lilies | Claude Monet (French, 1840 – 1926)

  (1) Water Lilies: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art houses more than 40,000 pieces of art. One of the more stunning paintings is one of Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies.” The artist painted around 250 oil paintings for his Water Lilies series. The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny. Monet painted several of the pieces while suffering from cataracts. The paintings from this series are on display at museums all over the world. Seeing the painting at the museum is an entirely different experience than coming across an image of it on the Internet. The detail Monet put into his artwork has a magical feel to it — the colors seem to move and wind seems to rustle grass. Water Lilies are one of the most iconic images of impressionism — a 19th century art moment characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, accurate depictions of lighting, and other aesthetics. Monet wanted to document the French countryside. He deliberately painted the same scenes many times in order to capture new lighting and the passing of seasons.

(2) Olive Trees: nearby the Water Lilies painting, you’ll find one of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings from the “Olive Trees” series. Back in 2017, the museum discovered a small grasshopper embedded in the thick paint of the piece. Researchers discovered it while cataloging the French painting collection at Nelson-Atkins. Van Gogh frequently worked on his art outside, and he often dealt with the natural elements while he painted. This includes wind, dust, grass, trees, flies, and grasshoppers. Curators, conservators, and outside scientists added scholarship on 104 French paintings and pastels at the museum as part of its research project. The online catalogue will be published in installments in 2019 and will offer a wide range of insight about the artwork. Using magnification techniques, Paintings Conservator Mary Schafer discovered the tiny grasshopper hidden in the painting. The insect sits in the lower foreground of the landscape. Visitors cannot see it without some kind of magnification.

Construction | Thomas Hart Benton 1923

(3) Art from Thomas Hart Benton: Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter and muralist. He was born in Neosho, Missouri to an influential family full of politicians. His father, Colonel Maecenas Benton, was a lawyer and he was elected four times as U.S. Congressman. The painter was named after his great-uncle, one of the first two United States Senators elected from Missouri. As a teenager, Benton worked as a cartoonist for the Joplin American newspaper. He spent time in Chicago, Paris, New York City, and other places before settling in Kansas City. He taught at the Kansas City Art Institute. Benton’s paintings often centered around small-town life and the working class. He has several paintings located at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site | Missouri State Parks, includes guided tours

In 1977, Missouri designated Thomas Hart Benton’s home and studio as a state historic site. The state preserved the way his house was following his death. His clothing, furniture, and paint brushes haven’t moved since his passing. The house museum is open for guided tours and displays 13 original artworks.

(4) Julie Blackmon’s Work at the Kemper: Julie Blackmon lives in Springfield, Missouri and is known for her photography. If you’ve never seen her work, it is some of the more delightful art of our time. Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art is holding an exhibit called “Child’s Play: An Exploration of Adolescence.” It includes some of Blackmon’s works. Her photography shows real and imagined aspects of her family life. The exhibit as a whole focuses on concepts brought forth by neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. The exhibit will run till August 4, 2019. It also includes works from Arthur Tress and Kojo Griffin.

Art from Art Alley

(5) Art Alley: Hidden away in Kansas City is a magical world of street art and graffiti. Art Alley is located near 17th & Locust. The ever-evolving hub brings together some of the area’s most talented graffiti wizards. The art in the old business district includes popular characters like Mega Man, Waldo, and Wolverine. It also has plenty of unknown characters — like the image of the woman in this article with the elongated ears, Victorian dress in a teal-like shade, and a moon ridden with craters. The murals are spread out across several blocks. People recommend parking your car and exploring the area by foot. It’s also a hot spot for Instagram worthy snaps.

Art Alley

Art Alley

  Walt Disney’s Original Studio

(6) Disney’s Old Art Studio: Walt Disney had roots in Kansas city and in nearby Marceline, Missouri. It’s worth taking a day trip to his old stomping grounds to check out the Walt Disney Hometown Museum. Disney founded his first professional film studio in Kansas City. The business operated on the second floor of a building near 31st & Troost. There is some art outside the building in memory of Disney and his quest to deliver top notch animations. This is a work in progress, so don’t expect to be amazed. Right now the “Thank You Walt Disney, Inc.” is committed to saving Walt Disney’s KC history to provide a place for art and animation study. There is an effort to restore the Laugh-O-Gram Studio for future generations.

(7) Expedition to the ChimaCloud: the immersive, multimedia experience created for the Nelson-Atkins gives viewers a one of a kind experience. It incorporates technology, identity, ceremonial rituals, and science fiction. Saya Woolfalk’s body of work takes visitors into a fantastical, made-up world. The unique exhibit will stay up through September 1, 2019. The artist will talk about her work May 9th and tickets will be required. The exhibition includes other activities listed on the Nelson-Atkins website. If you’re needing a little more context for this exhibit, the museum describes ChimaCloud as essentially an alternative digital universe created by the Empathics, a fictional race of women.

(8) Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly: the traveling exhibition allows visitors to explore ideas around the defense of Standing Rock and the possibility of a border wall in the near future. The exhibit looks at how the wall presents challenges to people native to the Americas who have been separated into categories of indigenous, immigrant, and assimilated Americans. 42 artists pull from ancestral and cultural memory to take a deeper look at the abstract ways we determine cultural identity. The exhibit also explores centuries-old trade routes that move people along with their goods.

This exhibition is curated by Risa Puleo. It is organized by Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, Nebraska, where it was first presented in December 7, 2017, to February 24, 2018.

(9) History Reimagined at 21c Kansas City: a viewing of contemporary art here could also come with a hotel stay and some fine dining. There are guided museum tours every Wednesday and Friday at 5. It is free and open to the public 365 days of the year. 21c also has locations in other American cities. There are three temporary exhibits up right now. The museum is home to Sky Blue Penguin figurines. The birds are scattered around the museum to accompany visitors on their journey. According to the museum’s website, the sky blue color is significant to both art and science. The website quotes writer Rebecca Soinit in selecting the specific color for the KC museum:

“Light at the blue end of the spectrum does not travel the whole distance from the sun to us. It disperses among the molecules of the air, it scatters in water. Water is colorless, shallow water appears to be the color of whatever lies underneath it, but deep water is full of this scattered light, the purer the water the deeper the blue. The sky is blue for the same reason….This light that does not touch us, does not travel the whole distance, the light that gets lost, gives us the beauty of the world, so much of which is in the color blue.”

(10) Panthéon de la Guerre: the mural was the most ambitious artistic undertaking during World War I. The sprawling painting was completed in 1918. At 402 feet in circumference and 45 feet in height, it was the largest painting in the world.

Artist and museum worker Daniel MacMorris found out the painting was in the United States from a 1953 Life magazine article. After MacMorris acquired it, the painting was cut into puzzle pieces to fit the remaining wall in Memory Hall at the Liberty Memorial. MacMorris said the effort compared to “whittling down a novel to Reader’s Digest condensation.” He repainted many figures and other elements to help unify the work after condensing it. He left several fragments in the National WWI Museum and Memorial’s archives. Portions have not been seen in public since the Panthéon’s last full exhibition in 1940. MacMorris did throw away several pieces that were not used for the painting. He died in 1981.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/03/10/10-art-pieces-or-galleries-to-go-see-in-kansas-city-this-spring/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/03/10/10-art-pieces-or-galleries-to-go-see-in-kansas-city-this-spring/

[tidrywall]

Throbbing heart: Queerness and abstract painting

Contributed by Noah Dillon / In Stamford, Connecticut, Franklin Street Works, a non-profit art space with the curatorial vision of a marquis contemporary museum, is presenting “My Vicious Throbbing Heart: Animating Desire in Abstract Painting,” an exhibition of 34 works by a dozen artists. Curated by Risa Puleo, the exhibition aims, in the words of … read more... "Throbbing heart: Queerness and abstract painting"

[onajide]

#Repost @mocanomi with @get_repost ・・・ Tonight, 14 June, at 7pm is the reception with curator Risa Puleo who gave MOCA’s Staff a walkthrough tour today. To have your chance at a walkthrough tour, swipe left to see additional programming for “Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly.” #contemporaryart #totaldisappearance1905

[demitgibbs]

What’s Hot South Florida: May 24 – May 30

Thursday, May 24

Stonewall National Museum – Wilton Manors presents Movie Night: Free Havana at 6pm. This event is free to attend, but there is a suggested donation of $5.Refreshments courtesy of Barefoot Wine & Bubbly.  Free Havana paints a vivid picture of what it has been like to be gay in Cuba through the candid stories of six gay and lesbian individuals. From the Batista era to the Revolution to the Mariel Boatlift to present-day Cuba, Free Havana exposes the evolution of gay life from a time when homosexuality was considered a punishable crime to current efforts to promote a greater acceptance of freedom of sexual orientation. Honest in approach and poignant in content, the stories of the six Cubans will inform and inspire as they touch your heart.

The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA) will present the group exhibition “Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly” from today through Aug. 5. Curated by Risa Puleo, the exhibition features the works of 37 artists who are native to the Americas separated into conceptual categories including indigenous, immigrant and assimilated. The exhibition focuses on the monarch, the only butterfly that migrates in two directions, as a geographic range and a metaphor. Monarchs (specifically those of eastern North American) fly from southern Canada through the Midwest on their way to Michoacán, Mexico and back.  Admission to MOCA is $5, free for MOCA members and North Miami residents.

Friday, May 25The Pub presents their monthly (last Friday of the month) show staring Electra at 9:30pm, and with Electra you just never know which famous celebrity she will show up as.

Saturday, May 26

As part of their Memorial Day weekend extravaganza Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents “Alibi Underground” with guest DJ Barry Huffine and featuring a live performance of their hit song “Sexy Motha U” by Zhana.

As part of Rumors weekend long celebration of Memorial Day, they present a daytime dance party form 1 to 6 pm starring DJ Ricciardi’s. They invite everyone to come play their favorite outdoor games while listening to the music.

Club Aqua Miami presents their monthly “CumUnion Party” starting at 10 pm.

Ramrod presents guest DJ Vlexxx on the turntables from 10 pm to 3 am.

The Manor presents another one of their famous themed parties entitled “Dominate.” In the Ballroom catch celebrity DJ Tony Moran spinning and a performance by recording artist Emily Perry performing her hit songs “Walk in Silence” and “Summer on Lock.” In The Ivy Dance Room and Patio, Noche Latina Saturdays presents “Dominame” with their queens: Kalah Mendoza (Miss Florida F.I. 2017) and Yeisa Jovovich (Miss Universo Latina 2017) dominating the boys! The night will also star resident DJ Larry Larr, and sexy Latin Go-Go Papi’s. They wil also be featuring a free raffle to win 2 VIP tickets to One Magical Weekend’s Riptide at Typhoon Lagoon.

Sunday, May 27

Rramon Miami presents another one of his famous Bear Splash Pool Party starring DJ Mike James at the Windamar Beach Resort from noon until 6 pm. This will be the last pool party before Windamar closes its doors at the end of May. Admission is $20 and features a complimentary BBQ from 1 to 3 pm.

Rounding out Rumors weekend long celebration of Memorial Day, they present Evan Grushka live on stage singing from 12 to 3 pm. While there don’t forget about their brunch style favorites from award winning chef Robyn Almodovar.

Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents the 1 year anniversary of Crazy Daisy’s P-Town Tea Dance from 6-11pm. Music by DJ Mike James, and featuring hotspots drag go-go boys, pick a pop song and lots of Daisy’s antics.

Wednesday, May 30

Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents the Mr. Alibi Pageant, an official preliminary to Mr Florida M.E. 2018 at 9p.m. The pageant will be hosted by Nikki Adams and Honorary Miss Florida 2017, Michael Cavo with performances by Mr. Florida M.E. 2017, and reigning Mr. Alibi Antonio Edwards, Noel Leon (Miss Florida F.I. At Large, and Jose Vega. The categories are Swimwear, Evening Wear Talent and Q&A. Registration is at 6pm, and there is no entry fee. Contact Antonio Edwards for more information.

This is HOT

The Gospel According To Andre, which is rated PG and is 94 minutes in length opens June 1 at O Cinema Wynwood Miami. André Leon Talley has been a fixture in the world of fashion for so long that it’s difficult to imagine a time when he wasn’t defining the boundaries of great style. Kate Novack’s intimate portrait, takes viewers on an emotional journey from André’s roots growing up in the segregated Jim Crow South to becoming one of the most influential tastemakers and fashion curators of our times.

Novack’s film draws fascinating, heretofore unexplored connections, between the elegance of André’s beloved grandmother and the Black Church of his youth and his later iconic, barrier-breaking work at publications like Women’s Wear Daily, W and Vogue. Weaving together a wealth of archival footage from the most glamorous moments in fashion history with André’s poignant reflections on his life and career, The Gospel According to André is a cinematic monument to one of the most unique figures of 20th Century American culture.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/23/whats-hot-south-florida-may-24-may-30/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.tumblr.com/post/174183811960

[cynthiajayusa]

What’s Hot South Florida: May 24 – May 30

Thursday, May 24

Stonewall National Museum – Wilton Manors presents Movie Night: Free Havana at 6pm. This event is free to attend, but there is a suggested donation of $5.Refreshments courtesy of Barefoot Wine & Bubbly.  Free Havana paints a vivid picture of what it has been like to be gay in Cuba through the candid stories of six gay and lesbian individuals. From the Batista era to the Revolution to the Mariel Boatlift to present-day Cuba, Free Havana exposes the evolution of gay life from a time when homosexuality was considered a punishable crime to current efforts to promote a greater acceptance of freedom of sexual orientation. Honest in approach and poignant in content, the stories of the six Cubans will inform and inspire as they touch your heart.

The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA) will present the group exhibition “Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly” from today through Aug. 5. Curated by Risa Puleo, the exhibition features the works of 37 artists who are native to the Americas separated into conceptual categories including indigenous, immigrant and assimilated. The exhibition focuses on the monarch, the only butterfly that migrates in two directions, as a geographic range and a metaphor. Monarchs (specifically those of eastern North American) fly from southern Canada through the Midwest on their way to Michoacán, Mexico and back.  Admission to MOCA is $5, free for MOCA members and North Miami residents.

Friday, May 25The Pub presents their monthly (last Friday of the month) show staring Electra at 9:30pm, and with Electra you just never know which famous celebrity she will show up as.

Saturday, May 26

As part of their Memorial Day weekend extravaganza Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents “Alibi Underground” with guest DJ Barry Huffine and featuring a live performance of their hit song “Sexy Motha U” by Zhana.

As part of Rumors weekend long celebration of Memorial Day, they present a daytime dance party form 1 to 6 pm starring DJ Ricciardi’s. They invite everyone to come play their favorite outdoor games while listening to the music.

Club Aqua Miami presents their monthly “CumUnion Party” starting at 10 pm.

Ramrod presents guest DJ Vlexxx on the turntables from 10 pm to 3 am.

The Manor presents another one of their famous themed parties entitled “Dominate.” In the Ballroom catch celebrity DJ Tony Moran spinning and a performance by recording artist Emily Perry performing her hit songs “Walk in Silence” and “Summer on Lock.” In The Ivy Dance Room and Patio, Noche Latina Saturdays presents “Dominame” with their queens: Kalah Mendoza (Miss Florida F.I. 2017) and Yeisa Jovovich (Miss Universo Latina 2017) dominating the boys! The night will also star resident DJ Larry Larr, and sexy Latin Go-Go Papi’s. They wil also be featuring a free raffle to win 2 VIP tickets to One Magical Weekend’s Riptide at Typhoon Lagoon.

Sunday, May 27

Rramon Miami presents another one of his famous Bear Splash Pool Party starring DJ Mike James at the Windamar Beach Resort from noon until 6 pm. This will be the last pool party before Windamar closes its doors at the end of May. Admission is $20 and features a complimentary BBQ from 1 to 3 pm.

Rounding out Rumors weekend long celebration of Memorial Day, they present Evan Grushka live on stage singing from 12 to 3 pm. While there don’t forget about their brunch style favorites from award winning chef Robyn Almodovar.

Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents the 1 year anniversary of Crazy Daisy’s P-Town Tea Dance from 6-11pm. Music by DJ Mike James, and featuring hotspots drag go-go boys, pick a pop song and lots of Daisy’s antics.

Wednesday, May 30

Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents the Mr. Alibi Pageant, an official preliminary to Mr Florida M.E. 2018 at 9p.m. The pageant will be hosted by Nikki Adams and Honorary Miss Florida 2017, Michael Cavo with performances by Mr. Florida M.E. 2017, and reigning Mr. Alibi Antonio Edwards, Noel Leon (Miss Florida F.I. At Large, and Jose Vega. The categories are Swimwear, Evening Wear Talent and Q&A. Registration is at 6pm, and there is no entry fee. Contact Antonio Edwards for more information.

This is HOT

The Gospel According To Andre, which is rated PG and is 94 minutes in length opens June 1 at O Cinema Wynwood Miami. André Leon Talley has been a fixture in the world of fashion for so long that it’s difficult to imagine a time when he wasn’t defining the boundaries of great style. Kate Novack’s intimate portrait, takes viewers on an emotional journey from André’s roots growing up in the segregated Jim Crow South to becoming one of the most influential tastemakers and fashion curators of our times.

Novack’s film draws fascinating, heretofore unexplored connections, between the elegance of André’s beloved grandmother and the Black Church of his youth and his later iconic, barrier-breaking work at publications like Women’s Wear Daily, W and Vogue. Weaving together a wealth of archival footage from the most glamorous moments in fashion history with André’s poignant reflections on his life and career, The Gospel According to André is a cinematic monument to one of the most unique figures of 20th Century American culture.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/23/whats-hot-south-florida-may-24-may-30/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2018/05/whats-hot-south-florida-may-24-may-30.html

[hotspotsmagazine]

What’s Hot South Florida: May 24 – May 30

Thursday, May 24

Stonewall National Museum – Wilton Manors presents Movie Night: Free Havana at 6pm. This event is free to attend, but there is a suggested donation of $5.Refreshments courtesy of Barefoot Wine & Bubbly.  Free Havana paints a vivid picture of what it has been like to be gay in Cuba through the candid stories of six gay and lesbian individuals. From the Batista era to the Revolution to the Mariel Boatlift to present-day Cuba, Free Havana exposes the evolution of gay life from a time when homosexuality was considered a punishable crime to current efforts to promote a greater acceptance of freedom of sexual orientation. Honest in approach and poignant in content, the stories of the six Cubans will inform and inspire as they touch your heart.

The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA) will present the group exhibition “Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly” from today through Aug. 5. Curated by Risa Puleo, the exhibition features the works of 37 artists who are native to the Americas separated into conceptual categories including indigenous, immigrant and assimilated. The exhibition focuses on the monarch, the only butterfly that migrates in two directions, as a geographic range and a metaphor. Monarchs (specifically those of eastern North American) fly from southern Canada through the Midwest on their way to Michoacán, Mexico and back.  Admission to MOCA is $5, free for MOCA members and North Miami residents.

Friday, May 25The Pub presents their monthly (last Friday of the month) show staring Electra at 9:30pm, and with Electra you just never know which famous celebrity she will show up as.

Saturday, May 26

As part of their Memorial Day weekend extravaganza Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents “Alibi Underground” with guest DJ Barry Huffine and featuring a live performance of their hit song “Sexy Motha U” by Zhana.

As part of Rumors weekend long celebration of Memorial Day, they present a daytime dance party form 1 to 6 pm starring DJ Ricciardi’s. They invite everyone to come play their favorite outdoor games while listening to the music.

Club Aqua Miami presents their monthly “CumUnion Party” starting at 10 pm.

Ramrod presents guest DJ Vlexxx on the turntables from 10 pm to 3 am.

The Manor presents another one of their famous themed parties entitled “Dominate.” In the Ballroom catch celebrity DJ Tony Moran spinning and a performance by recording artist Emily Perry performing her hit songs “Walk in Silence” and “Summer on Lock.” In The Ivy Dance Room and Patio, Noche Latina Saturdays presents “Dominame” with their queens: Kalah Mendoza (Miss Florida F.I. 2017) and Yeisa Jovovich (Miss Universo Latina 2017) dominating the boys! The night will also star resident DJ Larry Larr, and sexy Latin Go-Go Papi’s. They wil also be featuring a free raffle to win 2 VIP tickets to One Magical Weekend’s Riptide at Typhoon Lagoon.

Sunday, May 27

Rramon Miami presents another one of his famous Bear Splash Pool Party starring DJ Mike James at the Windamar Beach Resort from noon until 6 pm. This will be the last pool party before Windamar closes its doors at the end of May. Admission is $20 and features a complimentary BBQ from 1 to 3 pm.

Rounding out Rumors weekend long celebration of Memorial Day, they present Evan Grushka live on stage singing from 12 to 3 pm. While there don’t forget about their brunch style favorites from award winning chef Robyn Almodovar.

Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents the 1 year anniversary of Crazy Daisy’s P-Town Tea Dance from 6-11pm. Music by DJ Mike James, and featuring hotspots drag go-go boys, pick a pop song and lots of Daisy’s antics.

Wednesday, May 30

Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents the Mr. Alibi Pageant, an official preliminary to Mr Florida M.E. 2018 at 9p.m. The pageant will be hosted by Nikki Adams and Honorary Miss Florida 2017, Michael Cavo with performances by Mr. Florida M.E. 2017, and reigning Mr. Alibi Antonio Edwards, Noel Leon (Miss Florida F.I. At Large, and Jose Vega. The categories are Swimwear, Evening Wear Talent and Q&A. Registration is at 6pm, and there is no entry fee. Contact Antonio Edwards for more information.

This is HOT

The Gospel According To Andre, which is rated PG and is 94 minutes in length opens June 1 at O Cinema Wynwood Miami. André Leon Talley has been a fixture in the world of fashion for so long that it’s difficult to imagine a time when he wasn’t defining the boundaries of great style. Kate Novack’s intimate portrait, takes viewers on an emotional journey from André’s roots growing up in the segregated Jim Crow South to becoming one of the most influential tastemakers and fashion curators of our times.

Novack’s film draws fascinating, heretofore unexplored connections, between the elegance of André’s beloved grandmother and the Black Church of his youth and his later iconic, barrier-breaking work at publications like Women’s Wear Daily, W and Vogue. Weaving together a wealth of archival footage from the most glamorous moments in fashion history with André’s poignant reflections on his life and career, The Gospel According to André is a cinematic monument to one of the most unique figures of 20th Century American culture.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/23/whats-hot-south-florida-may-24-may-30/

[micaramel]

Artists: Gina Adams, Carmen Argote, Natalie Ball, Margarita Cabrera, Juan William Chávez, William Cordova, Rafa Esparza, Nancy Friedemann-Sánchez, Guillermo Galindo, Jeffrey Gibson, Sky Hopinka, Donna Huanca, Truman Lowe, Ivan LOZANO, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Nicholas Galanin & Merritt Johnson, Rodolfo Marron III, Harold Mendez, Mark Menjivar, Ronny Quevedo, Wendy Red Star, Gonzalo Reyes Rodriguez, Josh Rios & Anthony Romero, Guadalupe Rosales, Carlos Rosales-Silva, Sarah Rowe, Edra Soto, Francisco Souto, Marty Two Bulls Jr., Rodrigo Valenzuela, Mary Valverde, Dyani White Hawk,  Nathan Young, Sarah Zapata

Venue: Bemis Center, Omaha

Exhibition Title: Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly

Curated by: Risa Puleo

Date: December 7, 2017 – February 24, 2018

Click here to view slideshow

Sky Hopinka, excerpt of Jáaji Approx., 2015, video, 7 min 36 sec

Full gallery of images, video, press release and link available after the jump.

Images:

Video:

Sky Hopinka, excerpt of I’ll Remember You as You Were, not as What You’ll Become, 2016, HD Video, 12 min, 32 sec

  Sky Hopinka, excerpt of wawa, 2014, HD Video, 6 min

  Donna Huanca, Dressing the Queen, 2009-2010, video, silent, 11 min, 33 sec

  Merritt Johnson and Nicholas Galanin, Exorcising America: Survival Exercises, 2017, Single channel performance video, 8 min, 25 sec

  Gonzalo Reyes Rodriguez, excerpt of Contrapoder #1, 2017, Multi Channel Video; 9 min 35 sec

  Jeffrey Gibson, Like A Hammer, 2016, HD Video, 6 min, 31 sec

  Images and video courtesy of the artists and Bemis Center, Omaha. Photos by Colin Conces.

Press Release:

Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly takes the migration path of the Monarch butterfly, as a geographic range and a metaphor. The butterfly crosses the border of the United States at its junctions with Canada at the north and Mexico in the south along the entire length of both of these conceptual divides. Bypassing the hotter, desert regions of the country, Monarchs flock along its western and eastern coastal edges, but the busiest path of the orange-and-black butterfly is through the center of the United States. The Monarch travels through Midwestern states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, across the Great Plains of Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, onwards through the Texas Hill Country all the way to the state of Michoacan in Mexico. The path of the butterfly also connects the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline where it crosses the Missouri River at the border of the Standing Rock nation to the U.S.-Mexico border, but the butterfly itself is indifferent to these artificial borders and conceptual divisions.

The exhibition Monarchs sees the defense of Standing Rock and the threat to build a border wall as continuous issues that pose challenges to people native to the Americas who have been separated by conceptual categories of indigenous, immigrant, and assimilated. Like the butterfly, which takes four generations to make the complete migratory path navigating its way through the center of the United States by drawing from inherited knowledge, these artists also pull from ancestral and cultural memory to reveal the deep conceptual legacies underpinning abstraction, reorient historical and art historical narratives, and explore centuries-old trade routes that moved aesthetics in addition to goods. Monarchs considers how objects, still and moving images, sound, and performances made by artists living in the path of the butterfly reveal their identities through form, process, and materiality rather than through content. To create the exhibition, Bemis Curator-in-Residence Risa Puleo looked to the butterfly for inspiration for the exhibition’s primary themes:

Migrations: The length of the Monarch’s migratory path is over 3,000 miles long, and unlike any other butterfly, the Monarch makes this path twice. The butterflies cross two international borders and dozens of states. Rodrigo Valenzuela explores the landscape of migration along the U.S.-Mexico border while Sky Hopinka, Francisco Souto, and Wendy Red Star employ road trips as their means of moving across the United States. Other types of movement including immigration to displacement, itinerancy, nomadism, and also the condition of being immobilized are explored by William Cordova, Gonzalo Reyes Rodriguez, Marty Two Bulls Jr., and Cannupa Hanska Luger. Nancy Friedemann-Sánchez and Harold Mendez examine how objects were moved across centuries-old trade routes, bringing aesthetics and styles with them across vast expanses of space.

Inheritance: No one butterfly completes the trek from the U.S.-Canada border across the U.S. to the butterfly forests of Michoacán, where individual butterflies often return to the same Oyamel Fir tree as their ancestors. They do so by drawing from knowledge inherited from butterflies who forged the path before them. Artists in Monarchs also pull from ancestral and cultural memory speaking to an inherited means of production and genealogy of form. Truman Lowe transforms the basket weaving techniques taught to him by his parents while Margarita Cabrera learned the craft of copper hammering of Santa Clara del Cobre, a town in Michoacán. Ronny Quevedo, Rafa Esparza, and Carlos Rosales-Silva incorporate building materials such as drywall, adobe, and plaster respectively into their paintings as an homage to constructing buildings and working-class labor.

Transformation: Over the course of its life, the Monarch butterfly takes on radically different forms, transforming from egg to caterpillar, chrysalis, and, finally, butterfly. Artists like Jeffery Gibson, Mary Valverde, Donna Huanca, and Ivan LOZANO explore how costume and textiles join forces with performance to form the basis of sacred ritual and ceremony that provide passageways to the spiritual.

Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly is curated by Risa Puleo, 2017 Bemis Center Curator-in-Residence.

The Curator-in-Residence program’s inaugural year is made possible by Carol Gendler and the Mammel Foundation. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Link: “Monarchs” at Bemis Center

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from Contemporary Art Daily http://bit.ly/2E41zG4

[taylorhayesmfa-blog]

The Abstract Works of Tomashi Jackson & Mark Bradford

Taylor Hayes | Group One | Fall 2017 | Advisor: Laurel Sparks

Abstract art has traditionally been a genre that refutes or denies political expression, but artists Mark Bradford and Tomashi Jackson implement what Bradford calls “social abstraction” — not abstraction that is inward looking but “abstraction that [looks] out at the social and political landscape” (Tomkins, Jenkins). By giving value to materials of every day life in the inner city and employing the formalist and intuitive nature of abstraction, Bradford and Jackson present a complex visual representation of race and socioeconomics for people of color in the United States.

Born and raised in South Los Angeles, Mark Bradford grew up with a single mother who owned a beauty salon in an all-black neighborhood until he was 11, when they moved to an all-white neighborhood. Bradford’s art practice goes back to childhood but he insists, “it’s not an art background. It’s a making background” of growing up around other makers and working in his mother’s salon after high school (Art21). From early on, he used the materials found around the salon such as the paper rectangles used for permanents, bobby pins, and hair dyes— effectively engaging the discarded materials of urban life in the inner city. His process continued when he began scavenging neighborhood ad posters to use as paper pulp material. While collecting materials, Bradford is thinking “about all the white noise out there in the streets: all the beepers and blaring culture—cell phones, amps, chromed-out wheels, and synthesizers. I pick up a lot of that energy in my work, from the posters, which act as memory of things pasted and things past. You can peel away the layers of papers and it’s like reading the streets through signs” (The Broad). Over time, Bradford’s deeply layered materials transformed his abstract work into complex visuals of race, class, and orientation; today his art practice has grown to include video, installation, and photography in addition to his work in printmaking and collage.

Bradford’s mixed media painting, Scorched Earth (2006), was created after researching the Tulsa race riot of 1921—one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States that was burnt to the ground after a white mob started attacking African-American residents and businesses. The painting is made from billboard paper, photomechanical reproductions, acrylic gel medium, carbon paper, acrylic paint, and bleach on canvas to resemble an aerial map of a location that has been blacked out, a topography of ruins. The Broad gallery which houses the painting adds that “the blackness of this land mass resonates on many levels: black as in the demographics of this neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma… black, as the title suggests, meaning burnt or scorched; black as in redacted; and black as in nothingness” (The Broad). Bradford’s abstract process mimics the construction and deconstruction of African American culture in the United States— Bradford explains that “my practice is décollage and collage at the same time. Décollage: I take it away; collage: I immediately add it right back. It’s almost like a rhythm. I’m a builder and a demolisher. I put up so I can tear down” (Art21).

Tomashi Jackson was born in Houston, Texas but raised in Los Angeles, California; while studying painting and printmaking at Yale University, Jackson noticed that the language Josef Albers used in his instructional text Interaction of Color mirrored the rhetoric of racialized segregation found in the transcripts of education policy and civil rights court cases fought by Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. As a result, Jackson started to use the properties of color perception as a tool for investigating the history of school desegregation in the United States and the contemporary resegregation of public space and violence against the black body. Both Marshall and Albers concluded that color perception is not static but instead is relative and that how a viewer perceives color is determined by the color nearest to it—tools that Jackson employs in her work through the placement of different colors, textures, and materials. ​​

The Subliminal is Now is the exhibit Jackson created in response to her research findings, a series of large-scale abstract works that “connect past and present, formalism and intuition, languages of color theory and human rights legislation” (Shabaka). Jackson combines painting with sculpture, textile, embroidery, printmaking, and photography thoughtful media to comment on the “materiality of resources and how value is created” (Puleo). The body is always present in Jackson’s work— implications of bodies and the law come together through the employment of painted and collaged gauze, a translucent material most often used for repairing injured flesh. The provocative titles, such as “The School House Rock (Brown, et. al. v Board of Education of Topeka) (Bolling v Sharpe (District of Columbia))” reference landmark court cases which addressed civil rights and racial segregation, Jackson evokes the socio-political history of protest and struggle on the part of black people in the United States. The Subliminal is Now investigates color as a vehicle for painting, complex narrative, and emotion meanwhile interrogating the subliminal impact of color perception on the value of human life in public space.

While both artists search for found materials from the street and address institutionalized racism in the United States, Bradford works to rediscover the past as opposed to Jackson who juxtaposes hints of the past with contemporary events. In reference to my current practice, the value of every day, discarded materials and substrates becomes increasingly important to tell the story of a contemporary time and place. Found papers and materials add a complexity to the work and a visual image that becomes abstracted through layers of additive and subtractive processes. Both artists also address painting and collage in a way that does not sit on the wall that same way a traditional canvas might. Jackson’s paintings “hang from rods that position the works away from the wall. When flooded with natural or artificial light, the paintings evoke stained glass, immersing the body of the viewer with their scale” (Art Haps). Bradford’s size and scale are all-encompassing, “twelve feet high by twenty feet long… [the] physical presence [overpowers] everything else in the room” (Tomkins). In my next works, I intend to push the scale to form larger gestures and consider the form of the substrate I create to be more a part of the process instead of simply painting a scene or image on a canvas

Works Cited

Jenkins, Barry. “Mark Bradford.” Interview Magazine, 12 June 2017.

“Politics, Process, and Postmodernism: Mark Bradford.” Art21, 2009, art21.org/read/​​mark-bradford-politics-process-and-postmodernism/.

Puleo, Risa. “The Linguistic Overlap of Color Theory and Racism.” Hyperallergic, 14 ​​Dec. 2016, hyperallergic.com/345021/the-linguistic-overlap-of-color-theory-and-​​racism/.

Shabaka, Onajide. “On Documentary Abstraction and the Art Practice of Tomashi ​​Jackson.” Sugarcane Magazine, 5 Oct. 2017, sugarcanemag.com/2017/10/on-​​documentary-abstraction-and-the-art-practice-of-tomashi-jackson/.

The Broad, www.thebroad.org/art/mark-bradford.

“Tomashi Jackson: The Subliminal is Now.” Art Haps , Tilton Gallery, www.arthaps.​​com/m/show/tomashi-jackson-1.

Tomkins, Calvin. “What Else Can Art Do? The Many Layers of Mark Bradford's Work.” ​​The New Yorker, 22 June 2015.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: A Trans Artist Breaks Down the Walls of Bathroom Stalls

Emmett Ramstad, “You’re Welcome” (2016) removed gender segregated bathroom signage, replaced bathroom signage, dimensions variable (photo by Erin Young)

MINNEAPOLIS — Public bathrooms are sites where private lives meet public space. Central to any space but never centered, bathrooms are incredibly necessary and tremendously fraught. Though seemingly banal and unobtrusive enough to be forgotten after use, bathrooms are simultaneously sites of danger for some. Bathrooms are also places to seek solace, take a break, have sex, do drugs. Because these activities deviate from the engineered purpose — the universal need to void — bathrooms are, more than ever, subject to monitoring and policing.

Artist Emmett Ramstad, a trans artist living in Minneapolis, sees public bathrooms as contested spaces emblematic of how the United States functions. Ramstad’s inquiry into the current politics surrounding bathrooms begins with their formal aspects — the stall “legs,” the space underneath, the ubiquitous beige color — to open a dialogue about privacy, vulnerability, mundanity, serviceability, shame and pleasure, segregation, and access. Ramstad’s sculpture, installations, and participatory actions unpack the architecture of social and moral codes that organize the physical space of the bathroom. He is currently working on an artist book called Quasi-Public, Semi-Private that will be released in November. When debates about bathrooms occupy the Texas legislature and tweets dictate the fates of transgender people in the military, Ramstad’s query is especially timely and relevant.

Emmett Ramstad, “Watching You Watching Me Watching You (Hunting Season)” (2017), hunting stand, ladder, bathroom stall wall, toilet paper cache, smoke alarms, near dead batteries, dimensions variable (photo by Rik Sferra)

Risa Puleo: In works like “Watching You Watching Me (Hunting Season)” (2017) you placed an elevated platform like the ones used as hunting blinds in front of a wall of standard bathroom partitions. While clearly about bathrooms, but not being overtly about trans people, you signal the power dynamics that occur at any policed boundary.

Emmett Ramstad: I built that sculpture in February 2017, right after the U.S. election when a lot of people I knew were talking about how vulnerable they felt, penned in and watched. I built my own wall from bathroom stall components to draw attention to how anti-transgender bathroom legislation distracts us from talking about the ongoing enforcement of exclusionary policies that create walls. Bathroom bills encourage people to police gender by monitoring public restrooms in the same ways that “respectable citizens” are called on to monitor their own neighborhoods for criminals or terrorists (read: people of color, Muslims, or people who look “different”). People are rewarded for exhibiting fear and making themselves monitors. But this is not specific to trans people; it’s a pattern of state securitization. When I built “Watching You Watching Me (Hunting Season),” I wanted to create tension between the position [of] the tower, and the area beyond the wall, the stall. Viewers can climb up into the platform and look over the wall to see what’s there. But they are vulnerable when they are standing alone on the platform. There is vulnerability in both watching and being watched.

RP: In another work, “Safe,” (2016) the open space above and below a freestanding bathroom stall has been filled in by a picket fence. The juxtaposition of the fencing with the bathroom made me think of gated communities and gender neutral, single stall bathrooms. Both models seem to be material manifestations of a neo-liberal agenda and the increasing privatization and isolation of body. Museums in particular like to signal that single stall bathrooms are gender neutral, but is a bathroom really gender neutral if one person at a time can use it?

Emmett Ramstad, “Safe” (2016) Bathroom stall partitions, bathroom doors, peepholes, cedar fencing, welcome mat with daisy, 6’x3’x5’ (photo by Sean Smuda)

ER: That is an interesting question, what is neutrality? Is gender ever neutral? Perhaps these so called neutral ones are actually the segregated ones? I think about how the common bathroom stall colors are variations of “neutral” beige, the same tones that are popular Home Depot carpet colors, siding on homes in the suburbs, khaki uniforms — these product colors are being sold as neutral or customizable but are so industrialized. Stores and commercial buildings buy these steel bathroom partitions so that they are the same, recognizable across different kinds of spaces. Neutral is produced as something you can really see difference against. And, yes, the fence is emblematic of this neoliberal agenda in the United States and the idea that one can purchase safety, privacy, and freedom if you have the means. Single stall “gender neutral” bathrooms awkwardly reflect the institutions that make them. “Just buy those trans people a bathroom so that they stop trying to come into ours; that will fix it. Keep them separate so that we don’t have to feel confused.” I’m not sure this strategy will ever fix the problem, which is so much about segregation, othering.

RP: Of course, we use bathrooms for more than voiding bowels. There is also a banality to the bathroom, and the potential for encounter — sexual, aggressive, congenial, it’s a place to take a break, gossip, cry, talk on the phone. You and I talk on the phone in that bathroom a lot, even for this interview. The phone in the installation “Stall” reminds me that both toilets and phones are two types of portal spaces.

Emmett Ramstad, “Stall” (2016) Bathroom stall, functioning telephone, toilet, sign “If the phone rings, please answer,” 3’x5’x6’ (photo by Erin Young)

ER: Yes, they are portal spaces! I was interested in the ways that phones and bathrooms are similar; they are this way to get away from the present moment. “Hold on, I have to take this call” or  “I’ll be right back, I just have to dot dot dot.” But bathrooms and telephones are also sites for potential connection. In “Stall,” there is a sign that says “If the phone rings, please answer.” I’d call the stall at random times and talk to visitors who choose to enter the bathroom stall to answer the phone. There is a kind of thrill when an art piece is calling you, but also a thrill about doing the illicit act of talking on the phone while you are peeing or taking a poop. This piece was a jumping off point for my next series of participatory works called “Calling Stations” which consist of bathroom stall partitions laid on the floor with a birch wheelchair access ramp, a chair and a phone number handwritten on the wall. The phone numbers in the two companion installations connect participants to each other or to my cell phone. I was answering strangers’ calls all the time, doing any number of mundane things, including going to the bathroom. Encounters now with cell phones feel very different because you can screen every call.

RP: During your exhibitions, you also change the signage of the art space’s bathroom —often in an ad hoc way like marker on printer paper. The form speaks to bathroom graffiti but also shifts the state of sex-segregated bathrooms to gender neutral. Can you speak to the potential of the artist and institutional critique to intervene in public space and legislation?

Emmett Ramstad, “Calling Station II” (2016) ADA sanctioned bathroom stall door, maple flooring, foam, cedar awning, landline princess telephones, telephone numbers, 6’x 8’x 5’ (photo by Rik Sferra)

ER: I realized I was making work about the intimacy of daily life, including materials found in bathrooms like toothbrushes and soap, but I wasn’t addressing the intimacies of the spaces where I was exhibiting. The Rochester Art Center had sex-segregated bathrooms next to where my work was being exhibited. So I proposed to do a piece “You’re Welcome” (2016) which involved replacing the gendered signage with circular mirrors on which I wrote the words “You’re Welcome” in permanent marker. The text addresses the bathroom user. YOU are welcome, as in please come in, or colloquially you’re welcome to the person who says thank you for the unmarked bathroom. I was exerting some rare art privilege by making a piece that alters the institution’s design. Rochester Art Center permanently converted one of their bathrooms to all-gender after my show, as they didn’t have any before my exhibit. I decided to continue variations of this piece everywhere I exhibit now. I have made one at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. I’ve also made super temporary signs that say “the bathroom” that have been torn down. Unlike the move to make single stall bathrooms “gender neutral,” I am making these multi-stall bathrooms “gender together.”

RP: Can you talk about scale in your work? Right now you are working on a miniature model of a line of bathroom partitions? This dramatic shift in scale seems to shift the conversation to access and disablement.

Emmett Ramstad, “Everybody’s Bathroom” (2016) removed gender segregated bathroom signage, replaced bathroom signage, waterfall soundtrack, dimensions variable (Photo by Rik Sferra)

ER: As well as social and sexual spaces, bathrooms are also where trans and disability issues meet. I am curious about how tall or long or big a wall has to be to keep someone in or out. The standard stall size keeps lots of people out, disabled people in particular but also fat people for whom “standard” is always too small. Restroom architecture calculates how much of the population will need an “accessible” stall and how to provide the minimum necessary while maintaining an idea of the “normal” person who can squeeze into a tiny stall. The yet-to-materialize border wall boasts so much strength in length or height, yet it ends at some point. It is symbolic as much as functional. So I thought if I made a miniature wall that looked like bathroom stall components I could have a conversation about these issues together. The miniature wall hangs out on the floor, barely visible: you would trip over it if you didn’t think it was an art piece. I have played with the idea of building a full scale ramp to go over the wall, but also full size ladders–playing with scale, but also ideas of access. I’m thinking about calling the piece “To: Texas,” a gift of an easily built, maintained, and surveyed joint border and bathroom wall. If artists were paid to build the wall, like a WPA project, and we each did it in our medium, this would be mine: easily dismantled, traversed over/thru, knocked-down, comical, demi-bathroom wall.

The post A Trans Artist Breaks Down the Walls of Bathroom Stalls appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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[thesoulofmiami]

Walkthrough with Monarchs Curator Risa Puleo 6/16/18

Walkthrough with Monarchs Curator Risa Puleo 6/16/18

Walkthrough with Monarchs Curator Risa Puleo Saturday, 06/16/2018 – 01:00 pm – Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami 770 NE 125th Street, Miami, Florida 33161 Website Cost: Free with museum admission

The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA) is presenting the group exhibition “Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly” through Aug. 5, 2018. Curated by…

[duggins-blog-blog]

Late Review

The March issue of Modern Painters is on newsstands now. Thanks to Risa Puleo for including a brief review of my last show in their Reviews-in-Brief section which was neither modern nor painting.