Mutant Salon

OMG So excited to bring #KellyAkashi out for a public talk at @michiganstateu TOMORROW AT 4pm EST / 1 pm PST. So happy she was one of the first people I met in LA (who happened to be in my small grad school cohort) and immediately connected with her warmth, interest and openness to weirdness and ramen, her collaborative and generous spirit, OH and her art is BOMB, all of which I am so excited to share with you. Her work resonates so deeply w my students and so many others; speaks to our vital need to touch/feel/reach outside the mediated frames of our daily living. This talk and convo is open to the public thanks to @msu_aahd @msucal. Link in bio. Please share widely and see you tomorrow! xx (at Michigan State University) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLpd4ZPFv4b/?igshid=1cv2qsgajlzlk

I’ve been working on a new project at @michiganstateu of new sculptures for which I created molds of the famed monument of the campus mascot the Spartan or “Sparty” with assistance from @nicoleigupit and @l.batdorff. We worked on-site at the statue during election week by coincidence, during which time we had a few intense interactions with passersby (who ignored the barrier and sign informing the public of the project, which was approved by the higher-ups of the institution incl the president of the university) and presumptions of politicized vandalism/desecration of the beloved symbol of campus pride. I’m not trying to destroy this statue/icon/symbol. Rather this is my attempt to engage with the exemplary body of the campus community at a time when so few bodies are actually present on campus; to create an alternative form of viewing and engaging with the politically overwrought symbol of the Spartan in a way that carries multiple meanings and interpretations apart from this intensely politically polarized moment. I hope this will be evident in the final works. Thankful for collaboration with IPF and folks at @msu_aahd. I couldn’t have done this without the help of my assistants, two amazing artists in their own right with whom I had the pleasure to work with and got to enjoy the unseasonably gorgeous warm weather together that week. More soon.💜 #sparty #spartan (at Michigan State University) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHt5ENolKcK/?igshid=1g651wjdgln5

I am so very excited about my sis @elrafaesparza paying a virtual visit to the Midwest this Thursday! rafa has long been a model for thinking through the possibilities for queering and decolonizing art institutions and discourse, and creating deeply meaningful work that speaks to his community often through collaboration. We’ll be looking at and speaking with rafa about his work for the 3rd #MutantSalon Talks as part of my residency in critical race studies in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at @michiganstateu @msucal. Open to the public, no pre-registration required, link & pw in @msu_aahd bio. #rafaesparza (at Michigan State University) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHWqK9dF326/?igshid=v7nl04q0j0az

Tuesday October 27: Proud to welcome good friend and artist and writer reimagining how we see bodies, things, and the world we live in @gordon_hall_ for a talk and convo, part 2 of Mutant Salon Talks, as part of my residency at @msu_aahd. Open to the public, no pre-registration required. Get the link and PW at @msu_aahd ‘s bio or: https://art.msu.edu/galleries/exhibitions/#event|gordon-hall-mutant-salon-talk|5327 Don’t miss this and Upcoming talks by @elrafaesparza Nov 12, and @thejulietolentino Nov 19! #mutantsalon (at Michigan State University) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGtHzVUlNty/?igshid=1g4ml2w7l0hzh

On Tuesday October 27, proud to welcome @gordon_hall_ for a talk and convo as part of Mutant Salon Talks, one of my activities as Artist-in-Residence in Critical Race Studies in @msu_aahd. Open to the public, no pre-registration required. Get the link and PW: https://art.msu.edu/galleries/exhibitions/#event|gordon-hall-mutant-salon-talk|5327 The first talk with EJ Hill @iheartbeuys was 🔥. Don’t miss this and Upcoming talks by @elrafaesparza Nov 12, and @thejulietolentino Nov 19! #mutantsalon (at Michigan State University) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGnK7ZcF1sd/?igshid=2o6cmyj4bssu

Regram @cyknyc @gyopo.us Happy Chuseok! 🍂🍁🌖🍊🍠🌽🥢🍜🥟🍶🇰🇷🏮🎎 Each fall GYOPO collaborates with a diasporic Korean artist on a limited edition artwork benefiting GYOPO, to ensure all of our programs remain free. Today we're launching our 2020 artist edition by acclaimed New York-based painter Byron Kim. 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘴: 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘋𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘶𝘨𝘢, 𝘈𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘋'𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘻𝘢, 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘓𝘶𝘭𝘶 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳-𝘒𝘪𝘮, 𝘔𝘪𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘓𝘢𝘳𝘪, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘸𝘢𝘬, 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘶 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰, 𝘛𝘰𝘣𝘢 𝘒𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘪, 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘮 is a 2-tiered limited edition and original work to benefit GYOPO. Printed by @elnopalpress in Los Angeles, and using @clecosmetics makeup foundation as his medium, Kim has created an edition of 40 prints and three hand-painted works. 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘴 invites us to consider what skin color signifies, the range of shades within our species, and the impossibility of a single portrait to capture the complexity of an individual. In collaboration with Kim, GYOPO selected nine AAPI participants in the US whose skin tones are represented in a grid. The subjects of these portraits (Angela Dimayuga, Aruna D’Souza, Danny Park, Lulu Grier-Kim, Mihail Lari, Young Joon Kwak, Shizu Saldamando, Toba Khedoori, and Peter Som) are an intergenerational, multi-gendered and culturally diverse group of remarkable artists, writers, chefs, students, activists, designers, and entrepreneurs who, as individuals are unique and integral members of the AAPI community, and together, represent the vastness of diasporic Asian identities. Through this abstracted portrait, they have been united to represent a whole, which we believe is a meaningful gesture during this time of racial reckoning and physical distance. Link in bio for more info. ⬆️ #GYOPO wishes to thank Korean-owned CLE Cosmetics for their collaboration and in-kind donation. #clecosmetics @elnopalpress @clecosmetics https://www.instagram.com/p/CFv2VjtFKHS/?igshid=16i1h8md9kmk0

One of my first orders of business as this year’s Artist in Residence in Critical race studies at @michiganstateu is organizing this series of artist talks #MutantSalonTalks featuring some of my absolute fave artists that are shaking us from our basic lives and imagining new worlds better than the one we currently live in. So excited for the students at MSU! Head over to the exhibitions and events page on the @msu_aahd website to find the link and pw; open to the public, no pre-registration required! W/ #EJHill, #GordonHall, #rafaesparza, & #JulieTolentino #slimehouse #mutantsalon Flyer collabo w/ @senormijo (at Michigan State University) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFX_71Mld01/?igshid=otg9d2s8jugk

This was part of an unrealized #MutantSalon project proposal called #WeAreAllMutants: a series of “campaign cards” that included drawings I made and texts bringing together a mix of artists, activists, and mutants from different walks that are trailblazers for social change. Pictured here: #notoriousrbg 😭✊💜 & @sarahgail #ruthbaderginsburg #restinpower #sarahgail (at Supreme Court of the United States) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFX5w9RFCfA/?igshid=76rbmadh8x3t

I’m leading a free online course MUTANT SALON: OBJECTHOOD & THE PERFORMANCE OF AGENCY Saturday (tomorrow) 8/15 at 3 PM PST as part of @commonwealthandcouncil Summer School. The topic is about how we can’t deny the urgency of the need to address that the story of racism, of white supremacy, of capitalist patriarchy as one of seeing groups of people as simple objects to be dominated. Art and my community have taught me so much about re-visualizing the invisible relationships between bodies, objects, and physical and social constructs in order to engage with these problematics in ways that aren’t so painful, damaging, fearful, and isolating. I want to talk about this with y’all and about abject objects, hybrids, assemblages, Trans-Performance Objects, time and space travel, Mutant Salon and the radical contradiction of it all with the hope that this will get a larger and more open discussion going amongst us. I want to talk about thingness and queerness as kin, and by queer I don’t mean LGBTQ queer. By queer I refer to the other outside of the conventional ordering of sex, reproduction, and intimacy, like Mel Y. Chen would say. Or Dale Peck has another way of terming queer which I have an affinity for in saying “we're all queer, if ‘queer was the desire to live in another time, queer was the dream of traveling to another planet, queer was the need to do something.’” So you too can come queer. I’ve been bringing some new things together for y’all and it’ll be cute and weird. xoxo You can sign up on C&C’s website for the link or DM me for Zoom info for the last-minute bbs. #MutantSalon (at Commonwealth and Council) https://www.instagram.com/p/CD5gl3tl4nv/?igshid=7y38ogpmnanx

#blacktranslivesmatter #blacklivesmatter @blmlosangeles (at Hollywood Walk of Fame) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBKK6HXlWv7/?igshid=xekrne5q6b14

I woke up today and was reminded that it was pride month and remembered how the LGBTQI+ movement for civil rights was sparked by #MarshaPJohnson and other GNC POC at #Stonewall. And I thought of @emorydouglasart, the artistic visionary behind the #BlackPanthers, and his beautiful banner that hung outside of @welcometolace above my neon pronouns piece reading “she-her-they-them.” My heart breaks at the depths of their power, love, rage, and solidarity, and wish we could all show the same. #pridemonth #emorydouglas #blacklivesmatter #blacktranslivesmatter #marshapjohnson #georgefloyd It was so deeply humbling, such an honor to have #mutantsalon alongside Emory’s gorgeous show at LACE curated by @essenceh and @dunadarina 🙏💔 https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5o9VIlYSR/?igshid=jpf2foj3ugt1

I’m on a zoom panel with badass QnA art queens @kibumk @xaviercha @wangshui_ tomorrow/Sunday at 8 PM PST Free and open to the public Must RSVP at: qna.la QNA’s Conversations on Community & Culture for API Heritage Month May 31, 2020 (via Zoom) SUNDAY / MAY 31 / 12PM-10PM PST More info at @qna.la #mutantsalon #slaysian (at Mutant Salon) https://www.instagram.com/p/CA1A1T3lAuD/?igshid=su1iqpvdw7oy

Some snaps by @kangkang6255 from our shoot for the new Anna Luisa X Xina Xurner video shot by @courtesytabs #annaluisa #xinaxurner https://www.instagram.com/p/B1AJmTeF6Op/?igshid=wazvivacnoh1

Come be free with me this Wednesday, super excited for #XinaXurner + @colinself + @daviaspain at @navel.la. XX goes on first at 9 sharp! Let’s laugh, cry, sweat, and dance til our heels fall off! 📸: @brownskinhazel (at NAVEL) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0P4N6UFMIY/?igshid=ah0se2uzccga

Throwback to the early days of Mutant Salon (2012-2013?): I was lucky enough to meet so many amazing queer POC artists + performers at #XinaXurner shows at parties like #CoolWorld, meanwhile visiting so-called “SERIOUS” art museums + galleries showing the same tired art + performances (after moving to LA for grad school) that made me wish that the amazing performers I’d witness in underground spots that were so vital to me and our communities could share that platform. I started Mutant Salon initially bc I needed a safe space to get made up and dressed up and to share that space with other mutants; I wanted to build a community around collaboration and caring for each other; where we could let go of the shame and feel valued and respected and embrace our differences; where we could hear each other and help ourselves be heard, and throw free parties & art & performance shows inviting our communities, all-the-while using the institution’s resources and space from underneath their noses, which I knew was temporary. Grateful that I had an amazingly supportive cohort at USC that was all for it and my boo @senormijo who always has a huge hand in everything I do. So much love to everyone and our communities that have been involved in MS over the years—Y’all saved me! #mutantsalon has transformed over the years, she’s still transforming cause we are; more to come... (at IFT Graduate Fine Arts, University of Southern California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz_Nj46lOJM/?igshid=1l9ge8dgeb728

Today was good. https://www.instagram.com/p/ByzHcm7lPgn/?igshid=g3qchr2vbgww

Xina Xurner is DJing Day Goth at Akbar this Sunday the 16th, 4-9 PM. Come hang with us as we try to figure out what goth means to us today. 💜👹🤡🕸💀💄🦄 #XinaXurner #DayGothy (at AKBAR) https://www.instagram.com/p/BymfCzWl05E/?igshid=12vf2dgxq2shf