Call for Performers for Rashaad Newsome: Shade Compositions

For immediate release

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Rashaad Newsome, renowned New York-based artist, will make his Pittsburgh debut of Shade Compositions on Wednesday, December 12 at 8 p.m. at Carnegie Music Hall. In partnership with PearlArts Studios, The Warhol will be hosting a series of castings for Newsome’s ongoing performance project. Staged throughout the United States and internationally, Shade Compositions features 18-20 performers and artists who are cast locally. For the Pittsburgh rendition, Newsome is seeking charismatic and energetic self-identifying black females and femmes between the ages of 18-40, who are serious, highly committed and professional, to perform in Shade Compositions. Artists, singers, performers, models and actresses are strongly encouraged to apply. This is a paid project, which also provides performers with the opportunity to work with other talented, creative individuals in the industry of art, fashion and performance. Early registration is available online at warhol.org/shade-compositions-artist-application.

Shade Compositions is an ongoing performance project that combines culturally-specific gestures of “shade” with improvisational orchestral music, live video, and sound mixing. Newsome, acting as the conductor, shapes body language into a musical score with hacked video game controllers and live editing. Lifting gestures from their specific context, Newsome asks the audience to experience these sounds and movements anew. Newsome deconstructs the codes of body language and transforms his staged performers into aesthetic figures, who function together as a collection of universal codes.

“Rashaad Newsome’s Shade Compositions brings the themes of celebration and joy to life and the castings are a meaningful opportunity for the Pittsburgh community to be directly involved. My hope for the public programs for the fall exhibition, Devan Shimoyama: Cry, Baby, was to find a way to take the exhibition out of the museum and into the community,” said Jessica Beck, The Warhol’s Milton Fine curator of art.

Castings will take place at The Warhol and PearlArts Studios on the following dates:

The Warhol:
Wednesday, November 14, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Thursday, November 15, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Friday, November 16, 12–7 p.m.

PearlArts Studios, 201 N. Braddock Avenue, Pittsburgh:
Saturday, November 17, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Sunday, November 18, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Monday, November 19, 12–4 p.m.

This event is organized by Jessica Beck, The Warhol’s Milton Fine curator of art in conjunction with the exhibition Devan Shimoyama: Cry, Baby.

Shade Compositions is co-presented with PearlArts Studios.

The Warhol receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; and The Heinz Endowments. Further support is provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District.

The Andy Warhol Museum

Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the place of Andy Warhol’s birth, The Andy Warhol Museum holds the largest collection of Warhol’s artworks and archival materials and is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. The Warhol is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

Established in 1895 by Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is a collection of four distinctive museums: Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum. The museums reach more than 1.4 million people a year through exhibitions, educational programs, outreach activities, and special events.

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