Photo by Tommy Lau
Taking Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man novel as a starting point, artist Shaun Leonardo delivers a powerful eulogy about police violence in the United States, with the musical accompaniment of the Berean Community Drumline of the Weeksville and Crown Heights communities of Brooklyn. As Leonardo performs the speech given by the novel’s nameless narrator, the young male percussionists perform a routine that mimics and punctuates the impact of the speech—interweaving the artist’s words with choreographed moments of confusion and disorder. These words serve as a memorial, a rejection, a challenge, and call to action, all at once.
As Leonardo performs the speech given by the novel’s nameless narrator, the young male percussionists perform a routine that mimics and punctuates the impact of the speech—interweaving the artist’s words with choreographed moments of confusion and disorder. These words serve as a memorial, a rejection, a challenge, and call to action, all at once.
Appropriate funeral attire is encouraged.
Artist Sable Elyse Smith will lead a discussion with Leonardo, following the performance.
Shaun Leonardo’s artistic practice is acutely aware of the conflict that surrounds masculinity. For Leonardo, much of this tug-of-war with masculinity stems from arbitrary mandates on how men are to act and appear in the public sphere. Leonardo received his BA from Bowdoin College, ME and his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, CA. His performative works have been presented at Smack Mellon, the Brooklyn Museum, the Queens Museum of Art, and El Museo del Barrio for Performa 07, all NY; and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; among others. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Studio Museum in Harlem, both in NY; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA. His work will be presented in Something I Can Feel, a curatorial project by artist Derrick Adams in the 2016 Volta Art Fair, NY.
Sable Elyse Smith is a Brooklyn-based artist, writer, and educator of Haitian descent. She received her BA from Oglethorpe University, Atlantic, GA; and her MFA from Parsons The New School for Design, New York. She has performed and been a part of exhibitions at the New Museum, Eyebeam, and Specials On C, all in New York; Queens Museum, Queens; and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA. Her work has been published in Radical Teacher, Studio Magazine and No Tofu Magazine. Smith has been awarded fellowships from Skowhegan and iLand as a member of Fantastic Futures.
This program is part of the Whisper or Shout: Artists in the Social Sphere exhibition on view at BRIC House March 17-May 1, 2016.
Venue Information:
The Stoop at BRIC House is a public cultural gathering space featuring free, drop-in programming, and offering a place to sit, observe, and participate in multi-disciplinary work.
Beginning Nov. 1, 2022, attendees of any BRIC House programming will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter the building. Masks are encouraged but not required in all BRIC operated spaces. If you have questions regarding this protocol, please email Safety@bricartsmedia.org