DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ALL OF THIS?
Ále Campos
Lane Meyer Projects is pleased to present Do you see yourself in all of this?, a solo exhibition featuring artwork by Ále Campos
September 30, 2022 - November 13, 2022
Opening Reception: Friday, September 30, 2022, 8pm - Late, Performance at 9:30pm
For Immediate Release:
Lane Meyer Projects is proud to present Do you see yourself in all this?, a solo exhibition by Chicago-based artist Ále Campos. In their Denver debut, Campos will present a variety of works including photography, a two-channel video work, poetry and a live drag performance as Celeste.
With a hybrid practice focused in performance, Ále Campos’ work walks the line between live entertainment and fine art. A seasoned nightclub performer as the enigmatic personality Celeste, eroticism, drama, and sensuality culminate in emotionally charged experiences. Both performed live and for video, works included in Do you see yourself in all this? serve as both a love letter to El Salvadorian heritage and hypnotic melodrama.
Visibility and invisibility are recurring themes in Campos’ work, and are explored in the photo series that lines the gallery. Colorful vignettes of once worn sculptural headpieces emphasize the power and risk of being seen. In what Campos describes as “veiled armor,” whimsical headpieces documented as art objects heighten performance ephemera to new levels as they hold their own as photographic works.
Titled after a question posed to Campos by their mother while on vacation in El Salvador, Do you see yourself in all of this? is a tender tribute to the self’s multitudes. The power of witness and the truth behind and within all performance comes to the forefront. With nods to the past, present, and future Ále Campos questions the body’s potential as a living landscape, challenging each of us to not only look, but to see.
Written by Marsha Mack
About the artist
Ále Campos (also known as Celeste) is a multi-disciplinary artist and performer currently based in Chicago, IL, where they recently received an MFA in Performance from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. They take a fluid, non-binary approach to making, generating live performances, which are often processed through the virtual stream and the camera, as well as works encompassing sculpture, text, sound, video and print media. At the core of their studio practice rests a commitment to drag, the drag community and their persona. Their work is fortified by their role as curator, producer and host of a variety of happenings and events that center drag and queer performance. In 2018, they started a still-standing, monthly queer performance evening in Hudson, NY called Queer Night of Performance; it continues to nurture a wide range of live queer acts and is a staple of the town. In the summer of 2020, they received a grant from the City of Hudson, NY to design and create a queer operated, mobile stage project called HI-BEAM, to host and financially support a variety of artists and performances outdoors during the pandemic. In July of 2021, they published a large archive of images and texts from the Queer Night of Performance series, in the form of a book through Printmedia Institute with the support of Buddy Chicago. After arriving in Chicago to complete my MFA, in October of 2021, they were invited by Guillermo Gómez-Peña to perform with the legendary performance troupe, La Pocha Nostra at Jane Addams Hull House for a durational activation of his Casa Museo exhibition. In December of 2021, they were invited to co-curate a night of drag and dj sets by queer, BIPOC artists with Jeffrey Gibson at Kavi Gupta Gallery in Chicago, IL. They were most recently named resident performer as part of RUMORS, an internationally-recognized, Chicago based nightlife collective and monthly happening.
All photos taken by Erynn McConnell
