Tag Archive: spoken word

  1. C4W:2021 Artist Talk

    Comments Off on C4W:2021 Artist Talk

    C4W:2021 Artist Talk Features: Alondra Marisol Garza, Benja Wuest, Katie Robinson, Tchana Pierre & curator Cándida González.

    Our guest curator, Cándida González, and Gamut Gallery’s director, Cassie Garner, sit down for a conversation with C4W artists; Alondra M. Garza, Benja Wuest, Katie Robinson & Tchana Pierre to share about their processes, ideations and perspectives on current events. For Cándida, these selected works embody a form of elemental energy that invites us to drop down from the chaos into the essential foundation of existence as life twists & changes around us. These artworks all create roots in the state of being that we return to in order to help us make sense of the confusion.

    About C4W:2021 – Elemental
    Our annual Call-4-Work exhibition is not a show that influences what art should be. Instead, the chosen guest curator brings their unique perspective and interpretation of the submitted works ranging the full “Gamut” of visual media. Through our guest curator’s lens and perspective, this body of work presented the theme Elemental. The gallery will play host to works that contain the roots of all existing matter – earth, air, water and fire – the essential principles of existence to life, death and human connection.

    C4W:2021 ELEMENTAL ARTIST TALK
    Wednesday, September 22nd ,7pm
    $5     pre-sales ended at 3pm on 9.22.21
    $7door day of event,  FREE for members
    • Pre-sales have closed
    • Entry will be available at the door
    • Masks required indoors

    Alondra Marisol Garza is a Tejana/Chicana artist. She was born on the Mexican side at the Rio Grande Valley borderlands of Mexico and South Texas. She later became a U.S. citizen, obtaining dual citizenship as a Mexican American, and moved to the U.S. She obtained a BFA at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and recently graduated from the MFA program at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Her work has been exhibited internationally across the U.S., Mexico, and Italy.

    Benja Wuest is a Minneapolis based artist working professionally in the field of sculpture and installation. He was trained as a painter and was introduced to three dimensional art forms by studying origami while living in a monastery in Japan. Returning to Minnesota Benja continued his studies at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with a concentration in print, paper and book making so that he could continue to work with paper and utilize traditional printmaking techniques on his sculptures. While utilizing two dimensional printing techniques for three dimensional artwork, Benja naturally became interested in three dimensional printing. Building his own printer’s and being on the forefront of technology, the subject matter of his work developed around science, technology and the digital.

    Katie Robinson (all pronouns) is a student of love, trauma, and transformation. Their academic, poetic, artistic, and community work is curious about and present with individual and collective harm, such that our wounds may be understood outside of a modernist-colonial paradigm. As an abolitionist, they are a servant to transformation that occurs at the levels of the psyche, the nervous system, and the intimate relationship. Katie’s academic work, as a PhD student studying Depth Psychology, with a specialization in Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology, Eco-Psychology and Indigenous Psychologies, has afforded them rigorous exposure to the harms of Western conceptions of mental health, as well as, in turn, a decolonial view of the psyche. They explore these concepts and many more as a co-host of the cute, critical and metaphysical podcast We Are Power Crystals, with Leah Garza and Jaison Perez. Katie lives in Minneapolis with their partner, cat, and dog.

    Tchana Pierre Born Leslie Nembo, Cameroon, 1999. The artist uses the alias Tchana Pierre, after the Cameroonian musical legend to alienate Leslie the artist from Leslie the chemist. Tchana Pierre uses art as a medium for storytelling. The artist’s works are inspired by his Christian upbringing in Cameroon, relocation to Nigeria to flee political violence in Cameroon in 2016 and subsequent relocation to the United States in 2017.

  2. If These Walls Could Talk: Finale

    Comments Off on If These Walls Could Talk: Finale

    ITWCT_Fbcoverphoto

    MINNEAPOLIS – May 31, 2014, 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. – Multi-media installation and spoken word performances complete the finale for current exhibit “If These Walls Could Talk.” This debut of photographer, Cameren Torgerud’s latest series chronicles his Urban Exploring adventures. He has just begun to explore the United States in pursuit of some of the rarest sights, documenting abandoned buildings that defy entrance by the average citizen – some since demolished. Gamut Gallery immediately realized the relevance of his work and devised a plan to sponsor his way to a frontline city on the dispute over urban decay. As Torgerud’s photographs of early and mid-century American ruins hang on the gallery walls, Gamut sends him to document Detroit’s tarnished gems before the wrecking ball strikes.

    From the earliest discussions of this exhibit, Gamut Gallery Director, Jade Patrick felt one city was missing. After enthusiastic responses to the idea of a travel sponsorship for this emerging artist, and after learning more details about Detroit’s current urban challenges, it became clear that Torgerud must go there. A group of architects that visited the gallery pointed out the time sensitivity of the project in the face of mass demolition. Further research into these shocking details were enough to convince the entire Gamut board that now is the time. With the final approval from Torgerud, plans were laid for an expedition within just a few weeks time.

    Every day in Detroit more “blighted” structures are torn down in a covertly controversial money grab for $100 million in Federal funds. According to Capitol Reporter Jonathan Oosting, the funds were diverted into blight demolition from a foreclosure relief TARP offshoot called the Hardest Hit Fund. Not even a fifth of the 500 million awarded to Detroit has actually gone to programs for struggling homeowners. Residents do welcome demolition of fire-prone, structurally unsafe, rat or criminal-filled properties that make children afraid to walk to school. However, there are a significant amount of buildings that neighbors are fighting to keep. Some of these structures exemplify the finest in early American architecture, yet lay vulnerable to vandalization as their historical landmark applications are held up in bureaucratic delay. Many controversial tear-downs are slated for demolition in months or weeks.

    Gamut member and videographer Caleb Timmerman will accompany Torgerud, collecting documentation and audio samples on site. The sounds of each unique location will be mixed into a musical composition by staff and students of Slam Academy: an electronic music school that shares space with Gamut Gallery. The resulting ambient soundscape will accompany projections of the photographs captured in Detroit. The installation will be shown for one night only in the Gamut Studio below the Gallery, during the exhibit finale. A limited number of prints of the projected works will be available for pre-order. Framed art may be taken at the end of the night or delivered.

    Spoken word artists have been invited to respond to the theme surrounding the current situation in Detroit and perform other original works. Featured artists include: Neil Hilborn, Crxo Apollo, Christopher Shillock, Nikolas Martell, Paul Canada & Oliver Renee Schminkey.

    This event and Cameren Torgerud’s travel to Detroit have been made possible by a generous sponsorship from the following companies: Green Rock Apartments  / Altus Architecture  / Isenberg + Associates  / Pabst Blue Ribbon

  3. Black Weirdo: The Party

    Comments Off on Black Weirdo: The Party

    black_weirdosFB
    MINNEAPOLIS–Friday, May 23, 2014, doors at 7:30 p.m., party 8 p.m. – 1 a.m., THEESatisfaction, brilyahnt peace & Purple Hocus Pocus present Black Weirdo: The Party, a national touring celebration of Black Queers and People of Color allies at Gamut Gallery. The shared goal is to create an energizing, unifying and healing home space for Black queers and People of Color from all backgrounds, identities and experiences while being exposed to new ideas, faces and lifestyles. Guests will groove to energetic, intimate performances & DJ sets by Sarah White, Sweetz P, Mamadu (don’t call him Toki Wright), DJ Just Nine, Sassyblack, and Stas Thee Boss. The evening will be hosted by THEESatisfaction, who will also DJ and perform.

    brilyahnt peace and Purple Hocus Pocus are defining what Black Weirdo means to the Twin Cities. Of this event they say: “We’re dedicated to building a party space where we can just be who we’ve always wanted to be. This night, with Black Weirdo, we’re going to resist by dancing and celebrating our lives. This night, we demand to be seen, heard and loved.” Black Weirdo: The Party is both a party and a community. This inclusive evening will offer an atmosphere where Blackness can be wild, unrestricted and unafraid—be healed, be happy, be laid-back, be conscious, be hood—all at once.

    Refreshments will be served, donations requested. Tickets for this 18+ party are $12 and are available in advance at www.eventbrite.com/o/black-weirdo-4302793181—or at the door on the day of the event for $15. UMN students can receive discounted tickets for $8 each by contacting VMerging@gmail.com. The Minneapolis edition of Black Weirdo: The Party is sponsored by Voices Merging and Women’s Student Activist Collective (WSAC).

    Black Weirdo is a national touring party hosted and curated by THEESatisfaction. The party is primarily for Black queers and People of Color allies. Black Weirdo aims to celebrate all forms of Blackness and create a Black-positive, queer-positive space. facebook.com/BlackWeirdo

    THEESatisfaction are Stasia Irons and Catherine-Harris White. Stas was born and raised in Tocoma, WA; Cat in Seattle, WA and Hawaii. They write, produce and perform their own material,funk psychedelic feminist sic-fi epics with the warmth and depth of Black Jazz and Sunday morning soul, frosted with icy raps that evoke equal parts Elaine Brown, Ursula Rucker and Q-Tip. theesatisfaction.com

    brilyahnt peace wants you to think differently. s/he throws events to uplift and expand understanding and spirit. brilyahnt peace is here for Black Women. brilyahntpeace.tumblr.com

    Purple Hocus Pocus is a soulful community organizing a new nightlife space where the young, Brown and sexy people in Twin Cities will be able to connect and vibe to the music. The series will launch in late Fall of 2014.

     SPONSORS: Voices Merging (VM) is a multicultural student-based art coalition at the University of Minnesota, dedicated to all mediums of art and art lovers alike. Best known for their biweekly open mics, VM is moving into the realm of party producer.

     Women’s Student Activist Collective (WSAC) is a student organization at the University of Minnesota. WSAC aims to empower women, transgender, and gender non-conforming people to make positive changes in society by eliminating interrelated inequalities that produce oppression, with a focus on gender and sexuality.

    FEATURED PERFORMERS: THEESatisfaction, Sarah White, Sweetz P, Mamadu (don’t call him Toki Wright), DJ Just Nine, Sassyblack, and Stas Thee Boss