Artist Sable Elyse Smith Hosts A Listening Party With Anaïs Duplan, Telfar Clemens & More At NO BAR
By Something Curated2018-2019 Studio Museum in Harlem artist in residence Sable Elyse Smith invites visitors to a sonic exploration of the themes in her latest body of work, currently on view in MOOD. Using video, sculpture, photography, and text, Smith points to the carceral, the personal, the political, and the quotidian to speak about a violence that is largely unseen, and potentially imperceptible. On Thursday 8th August from 8–11.30pm, readings and DJ sets pay homage to alternate economies, everyday violence, and mundane poetics to activate the Angela Dimayuga-led NO BAR for a night of listening, dancing, and convening.
Trans poet and visual artist Anaïs Duplan kicks off the evening with a special reading. Duplan is the author of a forthcoming book of essays on black art and creativity entitled Blackspace, 2019, as well as a full-length poetry collection and a chapbook. His writings have been published by Hyperallergic, PBS News Hour, the Academy of American Poets, and the Bettering American Poetry anthology.
The night concludes with DJ sets by Skype Williams, Telfar, and more. Queens-native Williams has made a name for himself in NYC’s queer nightlife scene, DJing parties like Papi Juice, Bubble_T, and Spectrum, as well as in the art world, with projects at galleries like 47 Canal and sets at institutions including MoMA PS1 and Performance Space.
Since winning the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2017, designer Telfar Clemens’ eponymous label has gone from strength to strength. Most recently, Clemens transformed Irving Plaza for NYFW to present his Fall/Winter 2019 collection. In collaboration with playwright Jeremy O Harris, the performance-fashion-show brought out a four-part monologue by Harris, choreographed dance routine by Xavier Cha, and more.
Throughout Smith’s night, NO BAR will be offering signature cocktails inspired by the artist’s multidisciplinary practice and the sights and sounds of Harlem.
8 August 2019 from 8–11.30pm at NO BAR, The Standard, 25 Cooper Sq, NY 10003
Feature image: Sable Elyse Smith, Coloring Book 19, 2018 (detail); screen printing ink, oil pastel and oil stick on paper, 60 by 50 in. Sable Elyse Smith at JTT, New York (via JTT NYC)