US Premiere
Performance artists Violeta Luna, Roberto Sifuentes, and Guillermo Gomez-Pena photographed by Zach Gross, 2007
Saturday Dec 6th @ 7pm
Special Event — Formal Opening of New Performance Space
The New Barbarian Collection appropriates the format of an X-treme fashion show, complete with red carpet, runway, and paparazzi. The work engages the audience with a variety of fashion-inspired stylized performance personas stemming from problematic media representations of foreigners, immigrants, and social eccentrics, as both enemies of the state and sexy pop-cultural rebels. Ten invited artists from the San Diego/Tijuana region will develop the performance personas during a five-day interdisciplinary workshop with Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Violeta Luna, Michele Ceballos, and Rene Garcia.
Founded in 1993 by Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Roberto Sifuentes and Nola Mariano, La Pocha Nostra is an ever morphing trans-disciplinary arts organization based in San Francisco with branches and factions in many other cities and countries. With an international performance history of over 800 events, La Pocha seeks to provide both a support network and forum for artists of various disciplines and ethnic backgrounds. La Pocha Nostra is neither an ensemble, nor a troupe, but more of a conceptual laboratory; a loose association of rebel artists thinking together, crossing borders, exchanging wild ideas, and political aspirations.
Guillermo Gomez-Pena is a performance artist, writer, and the artistic director of La Pocha Nostra.
Violeta Luna is a performance artist from Mexico City. Her work explores the relationship between theater and performance art.
Michelle Ceballos is a choreographer, dancer, educator, visual and performance artist and founding director of Opendance.
Rene Garcia is an Los Angeles-based VJ Tekno-artist who creates real-time narratives using historical film footage in performance settings.
