On January 31st, the Walker hosted a fantastic event inspired by the chameleon-like work of artist Cindy Sherman, whose 35-year retrospective of identity-bending photographs is on view in the galleries through February 17. Working in collaboration with fashion designer and curator Emma Berg and Mother Paris Legion (aka Vision Model Management booker/stylist Xavier Rucker), we staged our very own ball. The response was overwhelming.
The Ball scene sprang from the GLBT community in New York in the 80s, and combines high fashion, drag, dance and vogueing. The myriad characters Sherman conjures through self-transformation in her photographs were the perfect inspiration for the event. The local ball scene in Minneapolis has more recently gained momentum, and through conversations with Xavier Rucker and House of Legion, we realized that a ball could intersect beautifully with questions around drag and performing identities in Sherman’s show. “Pick Your Persona: A Cindy Sherman Ball,” invited members of the ball community and general public to participate in runway walk-offs based on categories responding to Sherman’s various bodies of work, including “High Society Butch Queen in Drag,” “Movie Vogue/Femme Fatale” and “European Runway.” (see full description here).
Here’s a small sample of the night.
If these photos whet your palette, you can see and read more here or here on vita.mn or the Star Tribune, or watch a brief video on MMSP-TV.
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