Cruising the Horizon: New York, is a vessel for radical imagination and existence to be shared and witnessed as a way for different worlds and realities to be experienced on the view that the “here and now” is simply not enough. The works in this virtual exhibition move viewers to exist and express themselves freely and radically, without the oppressive conditions, restrictions, and boundaries of normative expectations and performances, especially in terms of gender and sexuality, majoritarian belonging, white supremacy and authoritarian systems. Now, more than ever, there is a greater need to generate and present experimental thoughts, and radical modes of existence.
The exhibition is influenced by José Esteban Muñoz, renowned art critic and queer theorist, and his book “Cruising Utopia,” where he writes that the “here and now is a prison house” and simply not enough. Muñoz calls for dreams and imaginations to drive us forward to a future “then and there,” where true queerness and “greater openness to the world” exists.
Leslie Martinez, Closed Eyes to the Heat no. 2, 2020. Acrylic on jersey fabric, terrycloth, hospital bed sheets, and denim sewn together and stretched; 28 x 26 in. Courtesy of the artist and And Now. Photo by Kevin Todora.
Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, its what heals us, its what haunts us (detail) 2020. Gouache, watercolor, marker, and colored pencil on paper; diptych. Each work measures 45 x 57.5 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Angel Lartigue, 6 Daggers (featuring performance by Farrah Fang), 2019. Video performance, 7:15 min; Ixtli pyramid structure made out of chicken wire & formaldehyde cow eyes, a queen bee & six 3D fabricated daggers. Photo credits: Brenda Edith Franco
Marco DaSilva, Neither here nor there A (detail), 2019. Latex paint, Plastic rhinestones, hot glue and polyurethane on canvas; 65 x 18 in.
Curated by Marissa Del Toro, Cruising the Horizon: New York, Feb 11 – May 14, offers hope and seeks to bridge a dialogue on the potentialities of ‘what can be’ by presenting the visionary works of artists: Amy Bravo, Beatriz Cortez, Marco DaSilva, Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, rafa esparza, ray ferreira, Xandra Ibarra, Angel Lartigue, Cydnei Mallory, Guadalupe Maravilla Leslie Martinez, mujero, Moises Salazar, and Sarah Zapata. Included artists explore layers of radical imagination through video, sculpture, painting, and craft aesthetics in relation to the body, queerness, and cultural identity.
mujero, mujerona, 2020. Photograph, 26" x 34.7"
Moises Salazar, San Puto, 2019.Glitter on Canvas, Yarn, 30”x 40”.
Sarah Zapata, Standing on The Edge of Time, 2019. Natural and synthetic fiber, handwoven fabric, wood. Photo courtesy of the Artist and Deli Gallery.
Amy Bravo, Ritmo de Luna, 2018. Acrylic, collage and oil pastel on wood panel, 16 x 20in. Courtesy of the artist.
Thumbnail Image: Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, its what heals us, its what haunts us (detail), 2020, Gouache, watercolor, marker, and colored pencil on paper; diptych. Each work measures 45 x 57.5 in. Courtesy of the artist.