100 single ladies in london. Does anything really need to be said? WOW. -John Sebelius

To Lust: Kanye

KALUP LINZY

Keys to Our Heart

Date: 2008

Description: Digital video on DVD, black & white, sound

Duration: 24 minutes and 18 seconds

Caption Info: Courtesy of the artist and of Taxter & Spengemann, New York

Dates:

23 April – 2 May 2009

Artists: Shaun El C. Leonardo, Kalup Linzy, Rashaad Newsome, and Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz 

Locations:

SALVAGE VANGUARD THEATER:  2803 Manor Rd, Austin, TX

MASS GALLERY: 916 Springdale Rd, Austin, TX

While there are several common threads that run through this exhibition, Localismo asks provocative questions:  What does it mean to capture the live event?  What are the implications?  How do we document the totality of the live performance?  How can one capture the movement, narrative, language of life and translate this into two-dimensional objects, such as film and video?

Each artist in Localismo wrestles with this complex task in unique ways, often challenging classical ideas of theatrical presentation by fragmenting the live experience into discrete performative elements.

What makes these four artists compelling vis-a-vis the exhibition title is the artists' interest in developing relationships with specific cultural localities such as New Orleans in Linzy's work, the Bronx barrio in Ortiz', the Latin machismo in Leonardo's and the richness of casting local talent in Newsome's. There is also a spirit of collaboration among several of the artists: Both Wanda and Shaun have been featured in several of Kalup's video's. Recently Kalup and Rashaad performed a double bill at The Kitchen in New York City this year. This collaboration functions at the level of the intimately social rather than the artificially curatorial in which artists are grouped together around abstract themes. It's a touchy subject I think. It's not a popular practice to group artists together based on a forced idea of common social or cultural identity. However in this case the grouping runs deeper. -Wayne Northcross

To Lust: www.fuseboxfestival.com

To Lust: www.kaluplinzy.net/

To Lust: www.taxterandspengemann.com/

To Lust: www.rashaadnewsome.com/

To Lust: www.elcleonardo.com/

Vee Speers has emerged onto the scene and her latest series entitle "The Birthday Party" is an interesting visual discussion of whether children of the next generation or becoming adult too fast. Speers got this inspiration from watching her children and friends dress up during a party. There is a playfulness and sophistication to each composed shot and each youthful model. -John Sebelius