Live Night: Cruising Bodies, Spirits, and Machines

Arca

Arca is a singularity, a point where our preconceptions and prior knowledge break down, an entrance into a new realm of being. Her transcendent, transgressive body of work has collapsed long-standing barriers that once seemed impermeable: between artist and art, between human and technology, between avant-garde and pop, and between the many disciplines — from music to visual art to fashion and beyond — where she’s made her indelible mark.

A quantum, ever-innovating artist, Arca’s liquid nature sees her continue to thrive in unexpected places. Her 2021 KICK series initiated a new phase in Arca’s career, elevating her from an icon of the experimental fringe into a full-blown global, cultural phenomenon and a vanguard in Latin American music. Since the release of her widely-acclaimed KICK series, Arca’s been nominated for two Latin GRAMMY’s and one GRAMMY. She’s appeared and composed for labels including John Paul Gaultier, Loewe, Acne Studios, Dior, Proenza Schouler, Reebok, Byredo, Ray-ban, Bottega Veneta, H&M and Mugler. She remixed tracks for Lady Gaga, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and  Laurie Anderson and joined Beyonce in Barcelona and Paris to celebrate Renaissance and Madonna at Barcelona and most recently at LadyLand in NYC.  She performed her fall 2023 Park Avenue Armory residency Mutant;Destrudo, followed by her March 2024 performance piece The Light Comes in the Name of the Voice at the Bourse de Commerce in Paris, which was the first time she displayed her paintings, and she performed her first headline show in her hometown of Caracas, Venezuela, followed by a remarkable Boiler Room live set with her Venezuelan friends and DJs.

rafa esparza

rafa esparza (b. 1981, Los Angeles; lives and works in Los Angeles) received a BA from University of California, Los Angeles (2011). Solo exhibitions have been held at Artists Space, New York (2023); Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles (2021); MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts (2019); ArtPace, San Antonio (2018); and Ballroom Marfa, San Antonio (2017). Selected group exhibitions have been held at Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (2023); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2023); Commonwealth and Council, Mexico City (2022); Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson (2022); Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, Houston (2020); San Diego Art Institute (2019); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2017); and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016). esparza is a recipient of Pérez Prize (2022); Latinx Artist Fellowship, Mellon Foundation (2021); Lucas Artists Fellowship (2020); the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (2017); Art Matters Foundation Grant (2014); and California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists (2014). esparza has participated in residencies at Artpace San Antonio (2018) and Wanlass Artist in Residence, OXY ARTS, Los Angeles (2016).

Tim Reyes

Chicharron, the alias of Tim Reyes, is a musician and performance artist born on September 11, 1984. A classically trained percussionist, he has toured extensively, showcasing his diverse musical talents. His work explores the intricacies of Mexican American identity, masculinity, and survival. Raised in East LA during the 1990s and early 2000s, his art navigates the tensions between Catholicism, born-again Christianity, and sex positivity, examining the dualities of hyper-masculinity and submission, as well as the intersection of sex work as both survival and pleasure. As a recipient of the prestigious Creatives Rebuild New York grant, Chicharron’s latest record, God Shaped Hole, boldly examines indulgence in sex without shame, using darker themes as a vehicle for shadow work and personal healing. Currently, he is developing a new EP titled Shadow Worker, further exploring his queer identity through music. His recent solo exhibition, Self Esteem Room, at All Street Gallery in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, seamlessly blended mixed media, photography, and live performance, solidifying his reputation as a groundbreaking and boundary-pushing artist.

MUXX

MUXX is a collective of four independent cells that intersect into a whole, conformed by Lukas Avendaño (performance artist, choreographer, and “Muxe”); EYIBRA (formerly known as Abraham Brody; composer, performer, and multimedia artist); Óldo Erréve (digital artist); and NNUX (composer, producer, and sound artist). MUXX has presented its performances at LACMA and currently has a solo exhibition at Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City.

Nao Bustamante

Nao Bustamante is a legendary artist, originally from a small town in the Central Valley of California, who now resides in Los Angeles. Bustamante’s precarious work is cross-genre. She has exhibited, among other locales, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, the NY MoMA, Sundance International Film Festival, Outfest International Film Festival, The Park Avenue Armory and El Museo del Barrio. She has received numerous awards including, the Anonymous Was a Woman fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow, a Lambent Fellow, and the Chase Legacy award in Film. She has been an Artist in Residence of the American Studies Association, Skowhegan and Artpace. Bustamante was awarded the CMAS-Benson Latin American Collection Research Fellowship, Artist in Residence at UC Riverside and a UC MEXUS Scholar. Bustamante’s 360º mini-series, “The Wooden People” received a producing grant from the Mike Kelley Foundation, and the National Performance Network. TWP was previewed at REDCAT in 2021. She was a fellow with the California Fund for Visual Artists and received the Philip Guston Rome Prize 2024. Currently she holds the position of Professor of Art at USC Roski School of Art and Design. Follow her @naobustamante and @gravegalleryLA for more of everything.  

Exhibition Curator: Daniela Lieja Quintanar

Performance Program Curators: Katy Dammers, Daniela Lieja Quintanar, and Edgar Miramontes

Assistant Curator: Talia Heiman

Technical Director: Adam Matthew

Exhibition Designer: Adalberto Charvel

Graphic Designer: Ella Gold

Publication: REDCAT/East of Borneo

Project Director: Joao Ribas

Additional support for the development of these performances was provided by Laboratorio Arte Alameda in Mexico City.