Beau McCall – REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT

REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT spotlights the Black LGBTQ+ experience in America through the collages of creative artist Beau McCall and archival material. The collages are drawn from McCall's debut artist's book, REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT which honors the legacy of ten of McCall's deceased friends. Each collage is created by hand using McCall's personal archival photos and papers, along with images from his button-embellished artwork. Once completed the works are then scanned and printed on metal for luminosity. The collages capture the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, from Philadelphia to New York, during the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the height of disco music, and the AIDS crisis. 

Additionally, McCall has included select collages from his series, "Diva Worship." These works transform photos from public archives to celebrate iconic divas who have inspired, empowered, and captivated McCall, his friends, and the LGBTQ+ community. Their inclusion speaks to the ways in which personal memories and historical moments–particularly within the LGBTQ+ community–are often tied to divas. Thus the "Diva Worship" collages provide another lens through which the Black LGBTQ+ experience can be viewed and interpreted.   

Finally, select collages are paired with archival items which frame McCall's personal memories and experiences within historical and social contexts. This pairing draws a parallel between the personal narrative of McCall and his friends and the larger historical moments that impacted their lives. Collectively, McCall's collages and archival materials reflect the joys and struggles of the Black LGBTQ+ community and demonstrate how art and archives can be used as tools to better understand our lives, find connections between the past and present, and imagine a brighter future.  

Beau McCall creates wearable and visual art by applying clothing buttons onto mostly upcycled fabrics, materials, and objects. His artworks, offering commentary on topics such as pop culture and social justice, have been included in exhibitions at The Museum at FIT (New York, NY); Nordstrom; the African American Museum in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA); Houston Museum of African American Culture (Houston, TX); Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (Detroit, MI); Stax Museum of American Soul Music (Memphis, TN); Black Fashion Museum (New York, NY); the Langston Hughes House in partnership with the inaugural Columbia University Wallach Art Gallery Uptown triennial and StoryCorps (New York, NY); and Rush Arts Gallery (New York, NY). McCall's work is held in the permanent collection of public institutions and by private individuals, including the Museum of Arts and Design (New York, NY); Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA); Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK); The Museum at FIT (New York, NY); Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York, NY); Amistad Research Center (New Orleans, LA); The Museum of Modern Art Library (New York, NY); Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (New York, NY); Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library (Fort Lauderdale, FL); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Library (San Francisco, CA); Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Residence; Debbie Harry of Blondie; Jeffrey Gibson; and Cristina Grajales. For more information on McCall, please visit www.BeauMcCall.com. 

REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT is curated by Souleo, who has been hailed as an "Icon of Harlem" (Ruth Millington, art historian and author of Muse) and "Harlem's Heart & Soul" (NY Daily News). An acclaimed creative, curator, impresario, consultant, and muse he seamlessly merges the worlds of art, fashion, literature, media, and music to document and amplify the stories of the emerging and underrepresented via exhibitions, events, and writing. Souleo has collaborated with noteworthy institutions and brands, including New York Public Library (New York, NY); Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York, NY); Brooklyn Public Library/Center for Brooklyn History (Brooklyn, NY); Museum of Arts and Design (New York, NY); Columbia University (New York, NY); Barnard College (New York, NY); Newark Museum of Art (Newark, NJ); Stax Museum of American Soul Music (Memphis, TN); Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (New York, NY); Nordstrom; and AARP. Souleo's work has been widely covered in outlets including the Associated Press; NY Times; The New Yorker, New York Magazine/The Cut; ESSENCE; EBONY; and NBC. For more information on Souleo, please visit www.SouleoUniverse.com. 

Please join us for a reception with Beau McCall and Souleo, Saturday, June 1, 4-6pm. The reception is presented in collaboration with The History Project, an independent community archive focused exclusively on documenting and preserving the history of New England's LGBTQ+ communities and sharing that history with LGBTQ+ individuals, organizations, allies, and the public.