Curated by Dulcina Abreu, both in-person and virtual experiences drives us through different eras of Queer Latinx Club Culture and fashion. If you have any accessibility needs for this event, please email us at latinxproject@nyu.edu.
Through digital paintings, material culture, photography and curated mixtapes these artists will open a portal to their intimate exploration of the self and its ultimate impact in the collective imagination.
Estilazo highlights the works of Latinx artists: Angel Añazco, Louis Dorantes, Juan Arango Palacios, Chiquitita, Oscar Nñ and Oscar 1992. They collectively narrate the stories of interconnected creative circuits in Latinx Club Culture, exploring avenues for self-expression, entrepreneurship, activism and reclaiming space for queer collective joy. Each one of these artists are/were active participants and organizers of parties such as GHE20G0TH1K, 1992 The Party, Ragga NYC, Papi Juice, Angelito collective, Maricón NYC, and Chiquitita. These parties have been building a network of sanctuary spaces for their queer communities within the urban fabric of New York and its diasporas.
As a connecting thread, the title creates an emphasis on the artist's way of carrying themselves. Extracted from an interview of Dominican artists Tokischa Peralta, Estilazo embraces the fluid capacities of artists to express themselves and empower through art and adornment, developing new worlds to define their unique style, as the ones existing could not grasp the acute appreciation for the styling and their quasi-sculptural existence. Embracing the word, this show aims to historicize these communities’ intellectual labor and celebrate their artistic imprint in contemporary culture.
Join us to celebrate the legacy of these parties and artists, confronting the silos of white corporate america through autonomous spaces, carving avenues for more independent economic systems, while expanding our imaginarium of gender identity notions of sensuality, and queer fiction.
About the Curator
Dulcina Abreu is a Dominican-born independent curator, artist, and museum advocate currently based in Baltimore, MD. She graduated with a MFA in Curatorial Practice from the Maryland Institute College of Art, focused on digital platforms and a BFA in Fine Arts and Media from Parsons, The New School. Prior to living in New York, Dulcina studied at The National School of Visual Arts and Altos de Chavon School of Design, both in the Dominican Republic. Abreu’s work explores 21st century visual and material culture from the Caribbean Diaspora in the US, immigration, LGBTQI+ community organizing, mutual aid economies, and digital activism. During her time with the Smithsonian, Abreu managed the NYC Latino 9-11 collecting initiative and NYC Latino COVID-19 project which aims to expand the national narrative with Latino/a New Yorker stories and material culture; served as the Consulting Curator for the September 11th, 2001: An Evolving Legacy project at the National Museum of American History; and co-founded the International Coalition of Museum Professionals and Communities alongside Armando Perla. She most recently served as the exhibit coordinator for the Latinx Youth Movement project at the Family Latino Gallery at the National Museum of the American Latino. Abreu was awarded a 2022 curatorial fellowship from The Latinx Project at NYU and will be presenting Estilazo: An Overview of a New York era with the work of Latinx artists and organizers from NYC queer collectives as Papi Juice, Maricon NYC, Chiquitita, 1992 The Party, and others.