STATE OF
State of floats the question of American identity through citations and transformations of the U.S. flag and the national anthem. Moving on and off the pole; boosting, raising and resting the flag; and singing and re-singing the national anthem, three performers interrogate symbols of nationalism, emptying them of their violence and exploring how they might be reclaimed today. State of features Forty Smooth, a longtime collaborator with Gerard & Kelly and one of the innovators of subway pole riding – a 21st-century dance form developed in the New York City subways.
State of, 2019. Performance view: MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art), Los Angeles. Forty Smooth.
State of, 2019. Performance view: BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts, Lisbon. Ryan Kelly, Forty Smooth, Quenton Stuckey.
State of, 2019. Performance view: MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art), Los Angeles. Forty Smooth, Quenton Stuckey.
State of, 2019. Performance view: MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art), Los Angeles. Quenton Stuckey, audience member.
State of, 2019. Digital collage.
2020 | Performance
MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art), Los Angeles2019 | Performance
MAAT: Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia, Lisbon, presented by BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts
2019 | Performance
Centre chorégraphique national d’Orléans, France 2017 | Performance
Palais de la Découverte, presented by Festival d’Automne and Parades for FIAC
MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art), Los Angeles2019 | Performance
MAAT: Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia, Lisbon, presented by BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts
2019 | Performance
Centre chorégraphique national d’Orléans, France 2017 | Performance
Palais de la Découverte, presented by Festival d’Automne and Parades for FIAC
CreditsConcept and choreography: Gerard & Kelly | With Forty Smooth, Quenton Stuckey, Ryan Kelly, Evan Wendell (trumpet) | Costume design: Rio Uribe / Gypsy Sport and Stacey Berman | Pole dance instructor: Roz “The Diva” Mays | Production manager, Sheridan Telford | Coproduction: MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art), Los Angeles; Centre chorégraphique national d’Orléans; BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts, Lisbon; Festival d’Automne à Paris, Parades for FIAC | With the support of Fondation Fiminco, Mona Bismarck American Center, and Chashama’s Space to Present program