queer diasporas: lavender city qb 2022




May 28, 2022, through September 28, 2022

Virtul Exhibition/Live presentations: Spring/Summer 2022 at lavendercity.art

Rubén Esparza Projects and QUEER BIENNIAL 2022 are excited to present “QUEER DIASPORAS: Lavender City of Dreams,” a hybrid virtual and live presentations accounting for a broader range of voices and equitable representation of the much overlooked in the canon of art exhibitions where practice supersedes theory, where identity, experimentation, and the unapologetically personal are on full display, where sharing of anecdotes, genealogies, and intersectional revelations are the focus.

Touching on issues of identity, activism, futurity, and beauty where queerness is the thread that weaves through all these personal -- yet universal perspectives. Realized in imagined (no limits) digital galleries, spaces, and textures as the backdrop, along with up-to-the-minute live performances presented by this diverse group of LGBTQ+ artists.

Artist culled from the California and Mexico region and lineages, representing intergenerational LGBTQ+ creatives with mostly QBIPOC, trans artists, exploring artmaking by formal means including painting, photography, drawing, installation, and performance. This exhibition and happenings are dedicated to bell books.

Including live outdoor/indoor performances at the ONE Gallery, 626 N Robertson Avenue, West Hollywood, CA, 90069. Queer Films at the Tom of Finland Foundation, 1421 Laveta Terrace, Los Angeles, CA 90026, and presentations at Coaxial Arts Foundation, 1815 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90015

“The art object is merely a mirror, giving a glimpse that is also a shadow of what was once real, present, concrete. Shadows become the location of our destiny, outlining the shape of past, present, and future possibilities.”
― bell hooks

All participants:

antonio zaragoza
anuradha vikram
cassils
cesar padilla
daniel samaniego
d i alvarez
emily lucid
fernando escárcega
gosia wojas
imani tolliver
joey terrill
john moletress
jordan
josé tinoco
ken gun min
lechedevirgen trimegisto
lili lakisch
mar coyol
marcus kuiland-nazario
marvel a rex
mikki yamashiro
nao bustamante
nelson morales
nathan birnbaum
nick burger
paul outlaw
patrisse cullors
ron athey
sebastian Hernandez
stuart sandford
sheree rose
soya the cow
texas isiah
traci kato-kiriyama
transexual jesus
tyler matthew oyer
umi hsu
Valerio Gámez
yozmit

Curated/organized by rubén esparza,
umi hsu, marcus kuiland-nazario

Live Perfomances:
ONE Gallery
soya the cow May 28
5 and 6pm

emily lucid June 3

yozmit  June 4

sheree rose Sept 30

john moletress Sept 30

Organized by
rubén esparza,
john moletress, and
marvel a rex
Live Readings:
ONE Gallery, June 4
7pm
anuradha Vikram
cesar padilla
d i alvarez
nathan birnbaum
paul outlaw
ron athey
Organized by
marcus kuiland-nazario

ONE Gallery,  TBA
traci kato-kiriyama
imani tolliver

Organized by
umi hsu
Queer Films:
Tom of Finland Foundation,  Aug 6

Curated by
josé tinoco
stuart sandford


What is this elusive QUEER UTOPIA? What does it look like, feel like? And how do we get there?

Is it about the journey there and the stories we collect? The lives we live, our joys, sorrows, DREAMS?

Will we find ourselves there: our ancestral homeland, our TRIBES, sisters, brothers, and others?

Is it about the stories we share as we weave our collective consciousness as we cruise our way to this LAVENDER CITY OF DREAMS?

There are more QUESTIONS than answers, gaps, and fissures.

― Rubén Esparza, 2021


lavendercity@art— @ruben__esparza — ruben@rubenesparza.com

This program is supported by a grant from the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division as part of the City's WeHo Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival (May 22 - June 30). More info at www.weho.org/pride. With additional guidance and venue support from ONE Archives Foundation and the Tom of Finland Foundation. Curated and care of Rubén Esparza Projects. Additional Curators and organizers include: Dr. Umi Hsu, Marcus Kuiland Nazario, Marval A. Rex, José Tinoco, Stuart Sandford and John Moletress.

lavendercity.art

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