Vogue-ology

Vogue-ology contains elements which may seem incompatible: aesthetic experience and political activism; community events and forensic activities; public manifestations and private workshops. It is an exhibition presented at Parsons The New School for Design November 17 through 29, 2010, and highlights one of the least understood creative expressions – the dance form of Vogue – practiced usually by one of the most disenfranchised segments of American society, transgender and gay African-American and Latino men and women. Assertive and thriving, vogueing epitomizes the intersection of the personal and the political.

Inspired by poses in Vogue magazine, vogueing emerged in the early sixties and is now a performance genre most commonly associated with the 1990 documentary “Paris Is Burning,” directed by Jennie Livingston or Madonna’s song and video “Vogue” of the same year. Still largely performed by the artistic and social LGBT house/ballroom community in tightly scripted competitions, vogueing enacts class, gender and racial identities. Stylistic shifts register the community’s ongoing social analysis and history of struggle.

Reflective of the curatorial triumvirate at its helm – a member of the house/ballroom scene, a curator and an artist – the exhibition is an aesthetic experience as well as a study of methodologies, in particular participatory, sound-based strategies. Through analysis and codification of vogueing, the show will guide the development of a house/ballroom archive and an advocacy and community service organization.

Curators:

Arbert Santana Evisu, member of House of Evisu
Carin Kuoni, Director, Vera List Center for Art and Politics
Robert Sember, member of Ultra-red sound art collective, Vera List Center 2009-2010 Fellow

Posted on June 8, 2010