Las Reinas, 2016, original score and lyrics sheet. Courtesy the artists, Mariachi Real de Mexico, and Mariachi Imperial de Bogotá.
Las Reinas, open rehearsal performances. Courtesy the artists, Mariachi Real de Mexico, and Mariachi Imperial de Bogotá. Photo: QM Curatorial Staff.
Las Reinas, open rehearsal performances. Courtesy the artists, Mariachi Real de Mexico, and Mariachi Imperial de Bogotá.
For Las Reinas, Benavente and Castelblanco collaborate with two Mariachi bands, one in Queens and the other based in Bogotá, Colombia, to write a new song in real-time via online video chat. Working across cultural, social, and economic borders, the collaborating bands and artists will reveal the pervasiveness of the Mariachi genre, a Mexican musical tradition that is steeped in poverty, pride, protest, and community, but has been widely adapted to the needs of a globalized tourist economy.
Open rehearsals and conversations will take place at the Queens Museum throughout the exhibition, culminating in a live performance by Benavente and Mariachi Real de Mexico (Queens), with Castelblanco and Mariachi Imperial de Bogotá connecting via video conference. At the end of the collaboration, the new song, Las Reinas (The Queen), will be set into the informal oral distribution networks as a new Mariachi tradition, passed from band to band across North and South America, as a means of examining the phenomena of cultural (re)appropriation and (mis)translation.
Presented with Espacio Odeón, Bogotá.
Open Rehearsals (Queens Museum Theater):
April 10th, 2-3:30pm
June 4th, 1-2:30pm
Performance (Queens Museum Atrium):
July 31st
1-2pm
Jesus Benavente received an MFA from the Mason Gross School of Art at Rutgers University (2013), attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2012), and obtained a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin (2010). Recent exhibitions and performances include Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia (2015), LTD Los Angeles (2014), Find & Form Space, Boston (2014), Performa 13, New York (2013), Socrates Sculpture Park, New York (2013), Chashama, New York (2013), Shin Museum of Art, Cheongju, South Korea (2013), Vox Populi, Philadelphia (2013), Kingston Sculpture Biennial, New York (2013), and Austin Museum of Art, Texas (2011), among others.
Felipe Castelblanco received an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University (2013), attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2012), and obtained a BFA from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia (2008). He has had solo shows at Royal Academy Schools, UK (2015), Negros Museum, Philippines (2015), and Practice Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (2014); in collaboration at San Diego Museum of Art, CA (2013), and group exhibitions at Kala Art Institute, Berkeley CA (2015), Columbus Museum of Art, OH (2015), Sumter Gallery and Bivouac Project, SC (2014), Urban Arts Space Gallery, Columbus, OH (2014), and José Marti Gallery, Cuba (2013). He has received numerous fellowships including from the Royal Academy of Art, UK (2014), Greater Columbus Arts Council, OH (2014), US Cultural Emissary to the Philippines (2014), and ARTECAMERA Salón, Colombia (2007).