User:Frockconsciousness/Rafa Esparza

Work
In 2018, Esparza's collaborative exhibition and performance event de la calle was his first solo museum presentation at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Esparza used the museum's gallery for exhibition, production, and collaboration, where selected local artists and nightlife personalities worked collaboratively to produce works to display at the museum and for performance. The performance, *a la calle*, took place in the Fashion district of downtown Los Angeles Santee Alley. '''Esparza, other artists, and queer nightlife personalities were involved in the construction of various garments, which ranged from a translucent rainbow dress to an orange hoodie with mechanical puppies strung around the neckline. '''

On September 21, 2019, Esparza held a performance in Washington named the Indestructible Columns. It was held on the south side of the White House on the 52-acre park, Ellipse. He was wearing a black blazer, a possible reference to the abolitionists of the 18th and 19th centuries, while encased in a concrete cylinder from the waist down, made by Timo Fahler, and spent two hours chipping away at the concrete to free himself. Esparza said that this was his way of deconstructing the supporting systems that have upheld the inhumane white supremacist ideologies. Esparza did this performance to make a statement about the 45th president separating families at the border in intolerable conditions.

The performance started at Elysian Park in Los Angeles where many car enthusiasts cruise with their lowriders, but also many gay men cruise for sexual encounters. This location was the perfect intersection for both worlds. To end this performance esparza performed a dance alongside Sebastián Hernández at the Mayan Theater. Both of these performances focus on how there is lacking feminine and queer expression in this hyper-masculine space. 'The revision of the original Corpo RanfLA'' (2018) includes a cyborg component that subverts the traditional narrative of the mechanical aiding the human. He demonstrates how technology can aid human efforts to plan seeds for the future. He is also interested in conveying the history of anthropomorphology, which is prevalent in Indigenous communities. The practice of performance art effectively allows him to map out the complex relationships between people and things. The lack of feminine and queer expression in this hyper-masculine space is the focus of both these performances, as well as the photoshoot accompanying the feature piece about Corpo RanfLA in the Los Angeles Times. This shoot, documented by Estevan Oriol, features esparza wearing an outfit designed by Barbara Sanchez Kane. In her signature sculptural and subversive manner, Sanchez-Kane designed a metal cyborgian piece of armor for one of esparza's hands, along with a white billowing dress. esparza's collaborators, including Guadalupe Rosales and Karla Ekatherine Canseco, are also in Sanchez-Kane pieces that challenge notions of gender norms, gaze, and shape.'''

Style
'Along with the way he dresses the body in Indestructible Columns and both renditions of Corpo RanfLA'', esparza embraces fashion and style as a fundamental element in his practice. He believes that fashion is the manifestation of a plethora of religious, sexual, and racial identities and narratives. In this way, esparza and his collaborators are giving a voice to those marginalized historically and in today's society. His fashion performance in 2018, a la Calle, merges the personal with the public by meshing streetwear with elegance. esparza speaks to the role of adornment and fashion within the wider queer community. Fashion functions as a way of expressing one's identity in a heteronormative world, and queer expression emerges even in the vibrant colors of low rider cars.'''