Top Five: July 9, 2020. What Artists Are Listening to Right Now

Christopher Blay and William Sarradet reached out to some Texas artists, including Lauren Cross, Heyd Fontenot, and Francisco Moreno among others, to find out what’s on their current playlists. Christopher and William like what they hear.

“Me and my wife walked down the aisle to the instrumental version of Frank Ocean’s ‘Super Rich Kids’.”

To watch last week’s Top Five in which Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss artists taking on the American flag, please go here.

For the complete playlist of artist picks, check out our Spotify playlist here.

 

1. From Lauren Cross: Artist: Teni; Song: Case

“My music selection has absolutely changed. I have been in a West African R&B mood these days. Listening to these artists has me thinking of family and home. Here are my faves, from Ginger Me playlist on Spotify. I keep this playlist on repeat.”

Cross is Senior Lecturer for Interdisciplinary Art and Design Studies at the University of North  Texas.

 

2. From Heyd Fontenot: Artist: Betty Davis: Song: They Say I’m Different
“I have never been able to stop listening to Frank Ocean (Blond) who I will marry someday, and Joni Mitchell. New Interest, Betty Davis’ They Say I’m Different … holy fuck!”

The recent San Antonio Casa Chuck Resident, Fontenot is currently working on a video series with Ruby City San Antonio and a future project with Blue Star Contemporary.

 

3. From Doug Land: Artist: William Onyeabor: Song: When the Going is Smooth & Good

Doug Land currently has an exhibition on view at Terrain Dallas, an outdoor space run by Iris Bechtol in Oak Cliff, south of the Winnetka Heights neighborhood. The show is called Front Yard Museum and it’s “kind of an envisioning of the curated lawn space of suburban texas treated with the calculated and careful labeling of a museum curator.” It’s on view through August 23.

 

4. From Hector Ramirez : Artist, Piero De Benedictis; Song: Los Americanos

Ramirez’s most recent work, ENTRE PIEDRAS Y COPIA, was on view at Blind Alley Projects in Fort Worth. Entre Piedras y Copia “is a memory of a place where I grew up. The exhibitionis rooted in the vernacular of a Mexican American working class. Its sculptures explore the aesthetic and material adaptations worked through cultures, necessity or language.”

 

5. From Michelle Cortez Gonzales: Aritst, Frank Ocean: Song: Blond (Full Album)

“I think through everything going on right now, my playlist has stayed the same. It has been a strange year and I have really wanted to listen to music that I have loved throughout my life and that has remained constant for me.”

Gonzales received an MFA from the University of Dallas earlier this year, and her most recent work Tactile Nostalgia: Michelle Gonzales and Richie Peña, was shown at the 500X Gallery in Dallas.

 

Bonus Picks:

1. From Francisco Moreno: Artist, James Baldwin; Audiobook: The Fire Next Time

“I start the day listening to electronic meditation music like the artist Alaskan Tapes, the Shape of Things. There is a lot going on right now, and this calm music allows me to process. Also I have been listening to audiobooks. Right now I’m listening to a lot of James Baldwin. Just listened to The Fire Next Time, and Nobody Knows My Name. Watching Arthur Jafa’s Love is the Message has also got me listening to Kanye’s The Life of Pablo. Again.”

Moreno’s work can be seen in the current group show For a Dreamer of Houses at the Dallas Museum of Art.

 

2. From Travis Iurato (Tino Ward): Artist, Eddie Harris; Song: Don’t Want Nobody.

Tino Ward’s work is currently on view at ex ovo in Dallas.