This evening in class Lyle was in Buffalo doing a reading for his book/catalogue “Blow-Up” and in his absence Pradeep Dalal stepped in. Pradeep, originally from India, is an artist who focuses on photography and video. He presented several different artists who deal with performance, familial issues, politics, the environment and what I perceive as “proposed nostalgia”. A few artists who stood out to me are; Lorraine O’Grady, Ken Gonzales-day, Dulce Pinzon, and Kalup Linzy whose videos I’m featuring above. All of these artists utilize either their bodies or the bodies of others as vessel to tell a particular narrative or express his/her own individual story. I first saw one Linzy’s videos at the Armory about two years ago. The video at the time didn’t capture my interest as much as these works above. His role playing is hysterical and he re-invents stereotyping, by becoming an active participant while also commenting on the ridiculousness of pop-culture and daytime T.V.


Dulce Pinzon, Maria Luisa Romero from the State of Puebla works in a Laundromat in Brooklyn New York. She Sends 150 dollars a week

I also really admire the enigmatic yet powerful photographs of “Superheroes”. She has photographed recent immigrants dressed in costume, and performing “heroic” acts. She features Spiderman, a pudgy Batman, Superman delivery boy, and Wonderwoman, an employee in a laundromat. Under each photograph is a caption revealing the subjects name, location, and how much money that he/she sends back to their native country. A noble chore indeed. The imagery is filled both with a hilarity and poignancy. They stand as a reminder of the real superheroes that are strewn in places you least expect to find them.

More soon….
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