Sometimes it feels like miles away when we are all cozied up in our Napa pads. But I assure you it is worth the trip. This month, one show in particular not to miss: "The Question is Known: (W)here is Latino Art?" at the Mission Cultural Center. On view through May 24, this show features some of the most well known names in contemporary Bay Area art, including 2 Napa artists!
Artist Antony Torres curates this powerful exhibition of 30 artists showing paintings, sculpture, and installations exploring Latino identity. Torres writes that "The Question is Known" "is concerned with making what should be a simple and obvious statement — that Latino artists and art practices are diverse."
Diversity flows in the works of local boys (and pals) Lewis deSoto and Rob Keller. deSoto's piece Pakhan-gyi is a digital print made up of hundreds of stills from porn websites, but the overall image is of the footprints of the Buddha. The work addresses the temptation of lust by examining the simultaneous eroticism and ugliness of the porn industry.
Rob Keller's incredible living sculpture in the show combines a hive of live bees, a fiberglass donkey, "prosperity" wallpaper, and bee boxes. None of us are sure if Rob has Latino heritage but his message about migration and the disappearance of workers is straight brilliance.
After I hit this show, I enjoyed a somewhat steamy performance of the Cuba-Caribe dance festival at Dance Mission. My sexy friend Adrienne impressed me in those 3" gold heels, but so did the half-naked male dancers who inspired "primitive feelings" in most of the female audience! The Fourth Annual CubaCaribe Festival runs April 18 - May 4. Get your tickets through Dance Mission. There's a dance party after the performance on April 26. look out!