Visibility Project at Downtown Art Walk Tonight

What does the face of a typical queer Asian female look like?

The answer is, as demonstrated by Mia Nakano and Christine Pan with The Visibility Project, there is no answer. Their project is currently showing at Infusion Gallery and the opening reception is tonight-- all the more reason to check out Downtown Art Walk.

The Visibility Project is a collection of photography portraits that are part documentary, part activism, and all heart. Bold and beautiful individuals from the Asian & Pacific Islander queer women, transgender, and genderqueer communities have come forward to share their diversity and to be visible. By being visible and by being out, they increase their presence, their voice, their power in the culture at large. They self-represent. They are active and affected participants of social issues locally, nationally, internationally.
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There is power in numbers and this project aims to capture images across the country to show that API queer women, trans, and genderqueer folk make up a viable, palpable community with limitless contributions to offer.

I heard about this project while I was traveling earlier this year and wanted to participate, but I was in San Francisco while they were seeking subjects in Los Angeles and vice versa. I'm looking forward to seeing the exhibit after having only browsed the online galleries.

Infusion Gallery
719 S. Spring St.
90014
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 13 (6p-9p)
General Hours: Wed-Sat (12-6P)

Thursday: Downtown Art Walk!

I went to my first Downtown Art Walk last month and it made me regret missing the last six walks that have taken place since I moved to SoDo.

(Tangent: As the LA Times points out in this article about the nebulous "South Los Angeles," having distinct nomenclature is important for neighborhood identity, so I'm trying to nurture mine.)

I rode my bicycle up Main Street last month and was amazed to see how many people were in the streets, walking from gallery to gallery, hanging out at Lost Souls Cafe, standing around listening to bands perform on the sidewalk.

Even more amazing to me was the fact that there was so much life in downtown after 8PM.

The images in this post are from the LAMP Art Project. This exhibit struck a particular chord in me. The politically-charged pieces reflected the people of this city who are largely ignored, abandoned, and abused. The collage of images and words communicate the voices of the silenced, and I appreciated seeing a reflection of these ideas during the walk. While the LAMP Project is what resonated most with me, there were many interesting exhibits at the various galleries and I encourage folks who haven't gone before to check it out, to get out and enjoy this wonderful cool spell we're having if nothing else.

Downtown Art Walk
July 10
12PM-9PM
(2nd Thursday of Every Month)
Admission: Free (as access to art should be)