RASHAAD NEWSOME: STANDARD PROJECTION
Press Release
The Conductor, 2005-11, Six-part video-installation with sound; RT 6:19
Untitled (New Way), 2009, Single channel video, RT 6:48
Untitled, 2008, Six-part video-installation with sound; RT 6:19
Rashaad Newsome’s multi-media work – which has been on display at the Whitney Biennial, The New Museum, MoMA PS1 and Colette, and focuses on recontextualizing marginalized communication forms. In The Conductor, Newsome digitally enhanced and edited music videos from hip-hop greats to focus solely on the artists’ hands. The backing track is composed of typical hip-hop sounds weaved through Carmina Burana, a staple of classical music composed by Carl Orff in 1936.
Untitled and Untitled (New Way) comprise of a two-part series documenting contemporary vogue culture, each highlighting a different form of the movement. In 2010 Newsome brought this exploration to life with Five, a live performance that reinterpreted vogueing, involving a handful of NY’s most prolific voguers and live accompaniment by an operatic singer and classical musicians.
Newsome has created renaissance reminiscent collages inspired by bad bitches Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim and last month hosted a rap joust in NY, an open call for aspiring MC’s, the winner of which will appear on a mixtape he’s curating with artists including Diplo and Erykah Badu. His solo show at Marlborough was the gallery’s first with a video and performance artist and more than half his work sold before the show even opened.
Words via The Standard Hotel
