Wardell Milan – Pulse. That’s that Orlando moon, 808 club bass. That’s that keep dancing, that’s that never stop.
Visitors entering the first-floor galleries of The Phillips Collection’s transporting exhibition Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage are greeted by greatness — a statuesque modern Black woman, standing proudly in sneakers, her head adorned in a golden crown composed of cut-out newspaper images and articles depicting Civil Rights-era student protests.
“Headdress 61,” by D.C.-born artist Helina Metaferia, offers a warm introduction to the sprawling show, organized by the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, and featuring 60 works by 49 African-American artists.
Spread across three floors in two buildings, the works — exploring identity, history, memory, sexuality — express each artist’s individual purpose in their approach to the art of collage.
Artist Tschabalala Self’s arresting “Sprewell” suggests, as the curators note, the multidimensionality of Black identity: “One individual being made from lots of different distinct elements,” as Self says.
That might easily describe much of the figurative work, including Yashua Klos’ evocative woodblock print on paper “Uncle Scott,” and Devan Shimoyama’s sexy, psychedelic “Red Haze,” a figure conceived as “both desirable and desirous,” according to the artist.
Shimoyama is one of several queer artists represented throughout the exhibition, and in a gallery dedicated to Gender Fluidity and Queer Spaces, where visitors will find Wardell Milan’s powerful “Pulse. That’s that Orlando moon, 808 club bass. That’s that keep dancing, that’s that never stop,” a tribute to the Orlando nightclub and the city’s queer community that genuinely pulses with life.
Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage is on display through Sept. 22 at The Phillips Collection, 1600 21 St. NW. Admission is $20, with discounts for seniors, students, and military, and free admission for members and children under 18. Visit www.phillipscollection.org.
Following a massive outcry from community members and politicians, the National Park Service has canceled its plans to close down the park at Dupont Circle, long considered the center of Washington, D.C.'s historically LGBTQ neighborhood.
On Monday, June 2, the National Park Service announced that the park at the center of Dupont Circler would be closed to the public from June 5 to June 9, which coincides with the apex of the WorldPride DC 2025 festivities, a global LGBTQ celebration D.C. is hosting for the first time.
Two youths were stabbed in Dupont Circle and an adult man was shot nearby during WorldPride on Saturday, hours after U.S. Park Police removed anti-scale fencing.
Two juveniles were stabbed in Dupont Circle Park and a man was shot nearby on Saturday, June 7, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Police have asked all people, including neighborhood residents and Pride revelers, to clear the park.
Police closed off the 19th Street NW entrance to the Dupont Circle Metro station due to the investigation, reports D.C. ABC affiliate WJLA.
At around 7:02 p.m., a fight broke out between groups of juveniles in Dupont Circle Park. Two people, both juveniles, were stabbed during the fight, and both were transported to area hospitals conscious and breathing, according to a Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson.
As musical protagonists go, Marvin, the central figure of William Finn and James Lapine's Tony-winning Falsettos, is not exactly lovable. He's no Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but the guy does cheat on his wife Trina, and walks out on her and their 10-year-old son Jason, to shack up with his gay lover Whizzer.
At perhaps his lowest, he hauls off and hits his ex. Still, flawed but not forsaken, Marvin is held dear by Whizzer, by Jason, by his lesbian friends Dr. Charlotte and Cordelia, and, in spite of it all, by Trina, who, again and again, grants him forgiveness.
Yet, the bitter chill of the couple's breakup and divorce lingers over their respective attempts to move on with their lives. And that chill wind blows through Keegan Theatre's impassioned new production of Finn and Lapine's landmark sung-through musical.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.