Kenney Mencher

Calendar of events from Queer|Art artists for the month of April. Click here to view in your browser

CONNECT, COMMUNICATE Promotional image for "Opacity," Big Art Group, 2017-2018 LISTENING AND BEING HEARD THROUGH ART Emerging from Winter and rejoining the social scene in earnest brings abundant opportunity to engage and communicate with each other. This month, a natural focus has formed around Queer|Art Mentors and Fellows - four of whom are participating in discussions, Q&A's or readings to help illuminate work and bridge the gap between artist and audience. To kick off April (which is National Poetry month!) QAM Mentor Pamela Sneed has invited her current Fellow Heather Johnson, amongst other artists, to participate in an evening of readings at the Brooklyn Museum. On April 10th, Queer|Art|Film brings us a timely classic from the 80s, presented by singer/songwriter Shea Diamond who just dropped her first single “I Am Her” before her debut EP is released this Summer. To wrap up the month, we’ll be hopping on a train upstate for a weekend getaway to see Caden Mason’s Big Art Group perform as part of the Live Arts Biennial at Bard College. Whether in Brooklyn, Manhattan or the Hudson Valley, this month has plenty of opportunities to kick the Winter blues and see some Queer|Art! Discover more ways to connect below: Official Site Instagram Twitter Facebook Can't see everything? Click here to view in your browser UPCOMING EVENTS IN NYC An exhibition view of "Foundations" KIMBERLY MAYHORN Foundations Artist talk: Saturday, April 1st, 4-6pm Closing reception: Saturday, April 8th, 4-6pm FiveMyles 558 St. Johns Pl. Brooklyn, NY 11238 Current QAM Mentor Kimberly Mayhorn is currently showing work in a two-person exhibition entitled Foundations at FiveMyles, a non-profit exhibition and performance space in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Her work is presented with A.V. Ryan, in a show that allows the artists to reflect on architecture and construction, both theoretically and technically. In this body of work, Mayhorn expressed an interest in "exploring how our environment and geographic influence - such as redlining, dictates how we think, move, and process our ideas and ideologies in the world." The gallery will also host an artist talk with both artists in attendance, moderated by Charlotta Kotik, followed a week later by a closing reception. More on the exhibition and events here (from left:) t'ai freedom ford, work from "I Hate the Way You Love Me" by Heather Johnson, Timothy DuWhite PAMELA SNEED & HEATHER JOHNSON An Address of the Times   Saturday, April 1st, 7pm Brooklyn Museum 200 Eastern Pkwy Brooklyn, NY 11238 Current QAM Mentor Pamela Sneed will present and curate a poetry reading program entitled An Address of the Times at Brooklyn Museum. She has invited her current Fellow Heather Johnson, Timothy DuWhite and t'ai freedom ford to share their work to a gathering in front of Mickalene Thomas’ painting A Little Taste Outside of Love. Johnson will be reading an excerpt from her forthcoming poetry book A Survival Guide For Queer Black Youth, which she has been working on with Sneed during the mentorship program. More on the events at Brooklyn Museum here And on Facebook here  Akosua Busia and Desreta Jackson in "The Color Purple," Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1985 THE COLOR PURPLE Presented by Shea Diamond Monday, April 10th, 8pm   IFC Center 323 Sixth Ave. New York, NY 10014   Join co-curators Ira Sachs and Adam Baran for Queer|Art|Film, a monthly screening series that welcomes a guest from the queer art community to show a film of their choosing, followed by a lively and memorable discussion. For April, Shea Diamond will present Steven Spielberg's 1985 film The Color Purple: Spielberg followed up his string of blockbusters with a serious adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the experiences of African-American women in 1930s Georgia, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey (in her debut) and Danny Glover. Though the film’s merits were hotly debated by critics and fans of the book, The Color Purple earned 11 Oscar nominations and over the years became a queer film classic. Singer-songwriter Shea Diamond (who’s releasing her debut LP in 2017) most appreciates the way the film depicts “the struggle of African American women, music and overcoming adversity.” As always, the screening will be followed by drinks and discussion at Julius Bar (159 West 10th St. at Waverly), the oldest gay bar in New York City. For more information and to buy tickets, go here Add to: iCalendar / Google Calendar  Still from "Oya: Something Happend on the Way to West Africa!" Dir. Seyi Adebanjo, 2015 SEYI ADEBANJO Oya: Something Happened on the Way to West Africa! Friday, April 14th, 11am The Graduate Center, CUNY 365 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10016 2013-2014 QAM Fellow Seyi Adebanjo has been chosen to screen Ọya: Something Happened On The Way To West Africa! for the 2017 LGBTQ Scholars of Color National Conference. The film follows Adebanjo to Nigeria to connect with the Òrìṣà tradition and the legacy of the director's great grandmother, Chief Moloran Ìyá Ọlọ́ya. It will be shown in a screening series entitled TRANSfilmers: More Than Meets The Eye, alongside work by Vicky Du, Arkasha Stevenson, Joella Cabalu, Angelo Santos and Jacqueline (Jac) Gares. A Q&A with the directors will follow the films. More on the screening here Watch a clip of the film here  Rick Herron, "Faggotty Copse," 2014-2017 RICK HERRON Abstract Communication On view through: May 6th Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 2-7pm HERE 145 Sixth Ave. New York, NY 10013 2013-2014 QAM Fellow Rick Herron will appear in a group show, entitled Abstract Communication at HERE Arts Center. The exhibition, curated by Dan Halm responds to the question: Faced with multiple ways to communicate with one another, are we sending the right message? Or just getting lost in translation? Herron's pieces, which feature screen capture imagery, joins work by Kat Chamberlin, John Chang, Scott Hug, Amy Richards, Jeffrey Teuton and Quinn Tivey. More on the show here And on Facebook here Thomas Dozol, "RR.38.BW," 2017 THOMAS DOZOL Allow Me to Interject On view through: May 7th Hours: Weekdays, 10am-6pm, Weekends, 12-6pm Lower East Side Printshop 306 W. 37th St., 6th Floor New York, NY 10018 A print by 2012-2013 QAM Fellow Thomas Dozol appears in the group show entitled Allow Me to Interject, at the Lower East Side Printshop (in Hell's Kitchen). The show, curated by David Rios Ferreira, plays with/into the anxieties of how "we are eager to interject, assert our own conclusions, or forced to bear witness to narratives that were seemingly implausible." More info on the exhibition here  UPCOMING EVENTS OUTSIDE NYC An exhibition view of work by Liz Collins in "Made in Turkey"   LIZ COLLINS Made in Turkey Opening reception: Thursday, April 6th, 7pm Hasköy İplik Fabrikası Piri Paşa Mahallesi, Şabanderesi Sok. No:7 D:1, 34445 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Turkey 2016-2017 QAM Mentor Liz Collins will show two pieces in a group show organized by No LaB in Instanbul, Turkey. The show, entitled Made in Turkey, is staged at a converted former yarn factory, and features international artists responding to and incorporating Turkish street culture into their work. More about the exhibition on Facebook here More about No LaB here  SARAH SCHULMAN Conflict is Not Abuse reading Monday, April 17th, Time TBD Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana Location TBD Multi-year QAM Mentor Sarah Schulman will read from her newest book, Conflict is Not Abuse at Louisiana State University. The book, described by publisher Arsenal Pulp Press as "a searing rejection of the cultural phenomenon of blame, cruelty, and scapegoating, and how those in positions of power exacerbate and manipulate fear of the 'other' to achieve their goals," is now available online and in local stores. More info on the reading forthcoming on Facebook here More info on the book here Promotional image for "Opacity," Big Art Group, 2017-2018 CADEN MANSON Live Arts Bard Biennial  Preview Performances: April 27th - April 30th Richard B. Fisher Center Bard College 60 Manor Ave. Annandale-On-Hudson, NY 12504 Big Art Group, the experimental performance ensemble co-founded by 2013-2015 QAM Mentor Caden Manson, will perform special previews of their new show, entitled Opacity. The performances will be part of the second Live Arts Bard Biennial, this year entitled We're Watching, and focused on the concept of surveillance. Big Art Group describes Opacity as "a dark reflection on the new strategies of connection, reverberating with dread, oddness, and seduction as it advances through its own inexorable and absurd logic." The biennial will also feature Alexandro Segade of My Barbarian, past QAF presenters, performing his new play entitled Future St. Bard will be providing the Queer|Art community with a discounted ticket package for all performances on 4/29. Check QA website and social media for discount code after 4/3.  More on the Bard Live Arts Biennial here More on Opacity here ANNOUNCEMENTS   Still from animation for the article by Arisleyda Dilone (Anna Salmi for Buzzfeed News)   ARISLEYDA DILONE Article for Buzzfeed 2014-2015 QAM Fellow Arisleyda Dilone has written an article for Buzzfeed entitled Growing Up Intersex, All I Wanted Were Breasts — But I Don’t Know If I Want Them Anymore. In the article, she writes about her evolving relationship to her body, from childhood, through high school and college, to now, and how that dynamically affected her relationships with family members and romantic partners. Read the article here    STACY SZYMASZEK Lambda Literary Award Finalist Lambda has announced that multi-year QAM Mentor Stacy Szymaszek's book of poetry, Journal of Ugly Sites & Other Journals is a finalist for the Lesbian Poetry category of the 29th Annual Lambda Literary Award. The book was published in 2016 by Fence, as the product of their 2015 Ottoline Prize awarded to Szymaszek. Congrats Stacy! More about the book, including an excerpt, here Read the full announcement of Lambda finalists here