“In the past, androgyny was a privilege of deities, angels, holy rulers, and their lovers. They were regarded above all other forms of life because they were not chained to a form of thinking that separated women from men. Humans thought of themselves as limited and found comfort in such limitations, which they celebrated and around which they structured their knowledge of the world. Divinities, instead, fluidly moved above all those simplistic categorizations: they could embody them all without boundaries. They were wise and ever alluring as they acted regardless of any labeling, which breaks life and blocks desire. (Humans claimed such interruptions as natural without realizing that nature itself is a product of culture).
Today, sexual and gender labels are no longer seen as natural, and their politics have been rejected. Young people especially explore androgyny to access the vital power and truthfulness to which androgyny can gain access. They rediscover cultures and voices for which androgyny was not just a feature of the past but has been, and still is, embodied in the everyday. Those models identify fashion as blurring expectations and producing new, liberated bodies. Fashion is thus rediscovered as a privileged field of inquiry precisely because often it is the very practice that reiterates sexual and gender binaries. But once it is freed from such obligations, fashion emerges as capable of a new creative mission that has the power to disrupt self-limiting lives and grant access to a new, wholesome one.”
- Professor Emanuele Lugli teaches art history at Stanford University and writes about the history of painting, gender, politics, and science.
A donation has been made to the Ali Forney Center, which is a direct aid group for homeless LGBT youth.
Ana Martínez Orizondo is a visual artist and writer living in Shelter Island, NY. Ana is fascinated by trees, animism and mystical states of in-betweenness. Her tree stories series explores themes of ecology, spirituality and transformation. Specifically, she sees trunks as bodies, and bark as cosmic memory. She is fascinated by liminal states, development in time, portals to otherness, and amorphous forms. The textural play between soft and hard pastels on cotton rag paper adds to the push and pull of her creative process, and its alchemical power.
Born in Cuba, raised in New York City with a stop in Miami, Ana returned to the Big Apple in 2017 for an executive position in higher education. After two successful careers as an Emmy award winning television producer and a non-profit executive, in 2020 she took the big leap of leaving her post to dedicate herself full-time to her art practice. She has exhibited in New York, and internationally online. Her work resides in private collections and has been featured in Orion Magazine, Artist Talk Magazine and The Hopper Magazine.
It is her hope that, through her art, she brings awareness to the climate crisis and awakens a sense of intimacy with our living planet. Her artwork calls the viewer to see trees and all non-human forms as beings, as sacred and necessary for the health of our planet and spirit.
SET DESIGN
Groundswell is a social justice organization that uses the arts as a vehicle to promote youth development and empowerment. The nonprofit was founded in 1996 by a group of New York City artists, educators, and activists with the belief that art creates community, and community creates change. Groundswell brings together youth, artists, and community partners, to create public art that advances social change, for a more just and equitable world. Their projects beautify neighborhoods, engage youth in societal and personal transformation, and give public expression to historically underrepresented ideas and perspectives.
With the partnership of Groundswell’s Artivist Pathways program, artist Kristy McCarthy created a unique, site-specific runway for our show.
Kristy McCarthy is a professional muralist, teaching artist and community organizer. Painting under the moniker “D.Gale”, she utilizes art as a powerful tool to build community, raise awareness about social and environmental justice issues and question the ways in which we interact with each other and our environments.
Groundswell’s Artivist Pathways program re-engages Groundswell alumni ages 19-24 in paid mural projects. In addition to the values and processes present throughout their studio programs, Artivist Pathways supports the personal and professional growth of these emerging artists.
To find out more about Groundswell and support their work visit: www.groundswell.nyc/donate
OFFSETTING PARTNER
The carbon emissions from this show will be offset through Climeworks. Climeworks uses a technology called ‘direct air capture’ to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air. When removed air is combined with underground storage, it allows the permanent removal of excess and legacy CO2 emissions, which can no longer contribute to climate change.
The Autumn Winter 2022 Runway Collection was made of 49% of deadstock and recycled materials.