Quiet Before - The Brown Vanguard

Quiet Before is a series of panels co-ordinated by Nancy Bulalacao that examines anti-Asian violence by “capturing history through conversation.” Recently the series featured artist Lambert Fernando, poet Louisa Lam, and Abang-guard (with me and Jevijoe Vitug) as we talk about our groundbreaking work inspired by being museum art guards and the community we have built along the way.

Continuation - A Tribute to Colin Chase

Colin Chase was my advisor and close mentor. My encounter with him was the main reason why I chose City College to pursue my MFA degree. Continuation, a tribute exhibition honoring him, is on display at CCNY Compton-Goethals Gallery from April 14-May 4, with an opening reception on Thursday, April 20, 5-9pm.

This image that I made titled Allegory of the Cave is dedicated to him. Colin prompted me to perceive objects through its many layers of relations; not only its materiality but also the intangible shadows connected to it. Not only its historicity but also what is sensed and unsaid. It made me think about how dark matter is unseen and yet holds all that is seen in the universe. How a shadow in Plato’s cave can be both an illusion and a revelation.

RU 2023 NYC-Based Artists-in-Residence

Thrilled and honored that my collab Abang-guard (with artist Jevijoe Vitug) is part of Residency Unlimited’s (RU) 2023 NYC-Based Artist Residents. Other artists that were selected include Tatiana Arocha, Miatta Kawinzi and Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow.

The cohort was selected from an open call for artists who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color who have research-based practices that fill in gaps in historical knowledge. During the three month residencies from April 3 - June 30, 2023, Abang-guard will focus on the research and development of the history of Little Manilla in Woodside, Queens, and the intersections of immigration, labor, and visibility. We will be participating in a culminating group exhibition at PS122 Gallery in June.

The artists were selected from more than 180 applicants by a panel of three arts professionals: Elvira Clayton, Rachel Gugelberger, and Dario Mohr.

2022 Recap: Osmosis Exhibition

During November, I was part of OSMOSIS, an exhibition which highlighted the art of guards in New York City’s most acclaimed museums. The show ran from November 11-13 in Art Cake and was presented by Gentle Cowboys and organized and curated by Gabriel Sehringer. Highlighting the rich artistic lives of cultural workers within museums is a valuable resource in creating personal connections to communities which institutions serve.

PUSH / PULL PERFORMANCE AT AROS PUBLIC ATELIER

On September 8, Flux Factory at ARoS Public Atelier in Denmark featured PUSH / PULL, which is a collaborative project/performance dialogue between me and artists Abdul Dube, Makoto Chill Okubo, and Wren Noble. PUSH / PULL is a multimedia performance that examines the interplay between constraint and attachment, tension and dependency through different acts of tethering and marking. Through the lens of queerness and charting astronomic movements, the piece explores personal histories and interrelations between bodies. The performance was followed by a film screening of Makoto Chill Okubo’s Moippen Mama!

Art of the Guardians Panel Discussion at the Smithsonian

It was an honor to be a part of the “Art of the Guardians” panel discussion at the Smithsonian on Tuesday, October 18, as part of the National Conference on Cultural Property Protection. The session explored how creativity and a love for the art that guards protect enabled museum security personnel to respond to, endure, and recover from the most acute challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. Panelists from The Metropolitan Museum included my colleagues Lambert Fernando @lambfern, Jevijoe Vitug @jevijoe, Emilie Lemakis @emiliebunnyl, and Louisa Lam.

During the discussion I mentioned that what I've learned to value during this difficult time is the complex humanity of my colleagues who deserve respect and admiration beyond being a body in a uniform. We've learned to look out for each other more and care at a deeper level. We have learned that each of us have rich lives and artistic visions that is in itself an untapped living cultural asset within museums. Through their lived experience, museum workers’ provide a valuable educational source that would further inspire and connect visitors to the art within cultural institutions. 

Featured in The Met Museum's Perspectives

An edited transcript of Abang-guard’s performative talk on Asian American Modernism accompanied by recordings of Louisa Lam’s poems is featured in The Met Museum’s Perspectives.

Video Projects in The Met Museum’s Art Work Exhibition

I’m excited to be part of The Met Museum’s Art Work: Artists Working at The Met exhibit highlighting museum workers with two collaborative video projects including artists Jevijoe Vitug and IV Castellanos. The show is part of a long-standing tradition of art worker creatives sharing their work within The Met community since 1935 and will be open for viewing to the public for the first time. The exhibition runs from June 6-19, 2021

Artists on Artworks at The Met : Abang-guard

Thrilled that Jevijoe Vitug and I as Abang-guard will be doing a performative lecture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We will be discussing works by four Asian American artists in the museum’s collection specifically Bumpei Usui, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Isamu Noguchi, and Martin Wong as well as creating a cross-dialogue through movement to poems by writer Louisa Lam.

After Image - Sensing Brownness

Amber Jamilla Musser writes about my Dark Matter photography series for her essay Sensing Brownness: On Racialization, Perception, and Method. She states that “visibility comes down to a question of valuation. In this way, Catbagan reminds us that our experience of art, museums, and even knowledge production more broadly is framed by work, people, and spaces that are often marginalized.” Her article is featured in the March 2022 issue of After Image.

Object II Body Studies on view at La Mama Galleria

Object II Body Studies is currently on view in La Mama Galleria’s Window Videos Program from 02.20-03.06.22 curated by C. Finley.

Object II Body Studies is a collaborative performance and video project with artist IV Castellanos that utilizes industrial objects found in various art institutions, restructuring their use to investigate the multiple dynamics between labor and tension. The movements focus on intimate object to body transfers.

The Family Show at La Mama Galleria

Catch my piece at the final days of The Family Show at La Mama Galleria at 47 Great Jones Street, NYC. The show, which runs from December 17, 2021 - January 7, 2022, is a long standing tradition to celebrate community.

Founded in 1984, La Galleria is a nonprofit gallery committed to nurturing experimentation in the visual arts. La Galleria encourages an active dialogue between new media, performance, the plastic and visual arts, curatorial projects, and educational initiatives. It serves the East Village community by offering diverse programming to an inter-generational audience, and expanding the parameters of a traditional gallery space. As a non-profit, La Galleria is able to provide artists and curators with unique exhibition opportunities that are largely out of reach in a commercial gallery setting.

Performance is Alive x Satellite Art Show - Art Basel and Miami Arts Week

Object II Body Studies, my performance and video collaborative project with artist IV Castellanos, screened at Performance is Alive x Satellite Art Show, Miami’s only Performance-Based Art Fair during Miami Art from 11/30-12/4.

Curatorial Statement: “In the wake of the pandemic, this program represents the re-emergence and reclamation of the body. The selected artists recognize the revolutionary power of the body through actions that often serve as a release from the trauma inflicted through centuries of heteronormative and colonial conditioning. In addition, this year’s program seeks work that actively rejects the systems perpetuating injustice and serves as a safe space for historically marginalized communities. This is the liberation of the body.” -Quinn Dukes

Grounding and Automatic Drawing at Governors Island

Halloween Sunday was a magical day to connect and draw with the earth.

Thank you to everyone who was part of Sympoietica, specially @sholehasgary for linking us with sonic atmosphere and @e.connolly123 for the videos and pics, @governorsisland, @flux_factory, #CityArtistCorps, @nyfacurrent, @NYCulture, @madein_ny, and @queenstheatre.

Sympoietica Performance

Join me for a grounding meditation and automatic drawing event on Saturday, October 31, from 2-3pm @governorsisland with soundscape by the amazing @sholehasgary.

Sympoietica is a participatory performance that creates a space of solace, recuperation, and creative expression through our relationship to the earth and its multi-species inhabitants. The audience is invited to participate in a guided soundscape, movement, and reflection exercise that connects them to Governors Island’s biodiversity and history while expressing their associations through automatic drawing. The performance combines the connective practice of earthing, the Surrealist technique of automatic drawing, and feminist theorist Donna Haraway’s concept of sympoiesis or "making-with.” Through sound, movement, and reflection, the performance generates a collaboration between bodies, place, and other living things that center systems of care, embodied knowledge, and collective well-being. Sympoietica is made possible by the New York Foundation for the Arts’ #CityArtistCorps Grants. Special thanks to @flux_factory, @nyfacurrent, @NYCulture, @madein_ny, and @queenstheatre.

America is in the Heart Performance for Enduring Apocalypse

On October 16, my collab project Abang-guard Duo performed “America is in the Heart” based on Carlos Bulosan’s novel for the “Enduring Apocalypse” performance marathon curated by Jenna Hamed at the Abron’s Art Center Amphitheater. Artists responded, contended with, expanded on all of the ways apocalypse befalls us, and ways to endure the ongoing man-made disasters happening to us and around us. Special thanks to @j7md and @abronsartscenter. Photo by @e.connolly123.

Object II Body Studies - Works in Progress

Object II Body Studies is a collaborative performance project with artist IV Castellanos that utilizes industrial objects found in various art institutions, restructuring their use to investigate the multiple dynamics between labor and tension. The movements focus on intimate object to body transfers. The project is a series of works in progress for the Flux Factory Residency in ARoS Museum in Aarhus, Denmark and Art Quarter Budapest in Hungary, Budapest.

Artist Talk with Sholeh Asgary at Real Time & Space

I’m excited to have a conversation with artist, Sholeh Asgary as we relate our work to the multiple conceptual and cultural aspects of shadows, fog, and immaterial art. Real Time & Space will be hosting the event via Zoom on Wednesday, July 28 5-7 pm PDT / 8-10 pm EDT.

Every Woman Biennial x Superchief Gallery NFT

The 2021 Every Woman Biennial is presenting MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE, its 1st NFT Biennial, taking on and diversifying the NFT world. Their aim is to give women and non-binary artists a platform to experiment with new technology and mint NFTs. The exhibition is presented at Superchief Gallery NFT’s online platform as well as its physical space from June 24-July 3 in New York. Click on the above image to view my first NFT work.

Brooklyn Rail - Art Books Review

Amber Jamilla Musser reviews all three shows at the Center for Book Arts Spring 2021 exhibition including my show Lights, Tunnels, Passages, and Shadows. She connects them as manifesting “theorist Donna Haraway’s concept of sympoiesis and use the forms of the book to enlarge what constitutes knowledge and being together.” The review is featured in the June issue of the Brooklyn Rail.