March 1 - 16, 2024
From DiverseWorks:
“DiverseWorks is pleased to announce Hello, My Name Is ___, a multi-channel video and sound installation about art and work by artist and composer Anthony Almendárez, open to the public from March 1-16, with a live performance at 8 PM on March 8, at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston, 3400 Main Street, Houston, TX, 77002. There will also be an Opening Reception at 6 PM on Friday, March 1. The video & sound installation public hours are 5-8 PM, Thursdays-Saturdays from March 1-16th.
A musician and visual artist, Almendárez experiments with unconventional modes of storytelling to reveal the nuanced, layered, and complex realities of how we construct our identities. He often employs strategies that challenge the hierarchy between audio and visual stimuli, opening new pathways to interpret our environment.
Parallels and contradictions between predominantly accepted notions of work vs. artistic labor are explored in Hello, My Name Is ___, a multi-channel video and sound installation for which Almendárez asked performers to recite survey questions related to employment and labor policies in the United States as a lead up to an interpretative sound performance using their instruments of choice. The installation presented at DiverseWorks at the MATCH brings together videos of different iterations of Almendárez’s project performed in Houston, TX, and investigated across multiple U.S. cities and internationally in Banff, Alberta, Canada; Paris, France; London, UK and Dublin, IRE.
Hello, My Name Is ___ is part of DiverseWorks’ spring 2024 dialogue around how different forms of labor are valued, or undervalued, including the work of artists. This dialogue includes a panel discussion moderated by Xandra Eden with Anthony Almendárez, Laura Gutierrez, and others titled, Art is Work on March 16, at 3 PM.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Anthony Almendárez is an artist and composer working with sound, improvisation, performance, video, photography, and writing. His work has been presented at the local, national, and international stage including the Cité International des Arts, Paris, France; the Virginia Center for the Arts, Amherst, Virginia; the Banff Center for the Arts, Banff, Alberta, Canada; and CIRCA, London, UK. He is the recipient of artist grants from Bard College, YES Contemporary, and the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance. Writing on his work has been featured in publications including Moving Image Art London, The Invisible Archive, and Glasstire. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Almendárez is based in Houston where he is an Administrative Coordinator and Artist Facilitator for Nameless Sound and Musical Director for TEATRX. He received his BA in Music Education from California State University, Dominguez Hills; his MA in Music Theory and Composition from Marshall University; and his MFA in Music/Sound from Bard College.”
Reception: March 1, 2024 | 6–8 pm
Panel: March 16, 2024 | 3–4 pm
Panel discussion moderated by Xandra Eden with Anthony Almendárez, Laura Gutierrez
3400 Main Street, Suite 292
Houston, 77002 TX
713 223-8346
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