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Juried Competition Honorable Mention Christian DeFonte is a photographer from San Jose, California. He received his BFA in Photography from Bard College in 2012. Christian is currently based in Brooklyn but makes work wherever he goes. “These photographs are from short trips to New Orleans to visit my father, Vinsantos. He, she, or as Vinsantos has been called, It, moved to New Orleans from San Francisco, almost a decade ago. With the move he brought with him his unique style of drag that he developed in the 90’s as an integral figure in the Trannyshack scene. However, his peculiar form of drag was not widely embraced by the pageant-dominated drag scene in New Orleans. As someone who is pretty much allergic to conformity in any sense, Vinsantos started the New Orleans Drag Workshop to carve out a space for himself and anyone with a desire to explore the art of drag, regardless of their gender or sexual identity. This selection is part of a body of work that grows with each visit I make." 📷: ‘Untitled (my first time in drag),’ 2014. @deathfonte #baxterstccny #photography
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Juried Competition Honorable Mention Christian DeFonte is a photographer from San Jose, California. He received his BFA in Photography from Bard College in 2012. Christian is currently based in Brooklyn but makes work wherever he goes. “These photographs are from short trips to New Orleans to visit my father, Vinsantos. He, she, or as Vinsantos has been called, It, moved to New Orleans from San Francisco, almost a decade ago. With the move he brought with him his unique style of drag that he developed in the 90’s as an integral figure in the Trannyshack scene. However, his peculiar form of drag was not widely embraced by the pageant-dominated drag scene in New Orleans. As someone who is pretty much allergic to conformity in any sense, Vinsantos started the New Orleans Drag Workshop to carve out a space for himself and anyone with a desire to explore the art of drag, regardless of their gender or sexual identity. This selection is part of a body of work that grows with each visit I make." 📷: ‘Untitled,’ 2018. @deathfonte #baxterstccny #photography
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Juried Competition Honorable Mention Ken Castaneda is an artist working and living in Brooklyn, NY. He holds a BFA in Photography and Video from the School of Visual Arts. “My work deals with language, possibilities, and the familial. The images are pointed at through not only a Latinx American lens, but through a Queer lens. In relation to my family, this newfound Queerness is a conversation between their newly founded American identities and how our actions and attitudes are dictated by the identities we choose to wear in the public and in the private. Not only do I focus the lens on my family but onto myself – subverting traditional roles of machismo, of masculinity, through staged performances of sport and gesture, specifically Lucha Libre, a form of Mexican wrestling." 📷: ‘Mama,’ 2018. @kenslens_ #baxterstccny #photography
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Juried Competition Honorable Mention Ken Castaneda is an artist working and living in Brooklyn, NY. He holds a BFA in Photography and Video from the School of Visual Arts. “My work deals with language, possibilities, and the familial. The images are pointed at through not only a Latinx American lens, but through a Queer lens. In relation to my family, this newfound Queerness is a conversation between their newly founded American identities and how our actions and attitudes are dictated by the identities we choose to wear in the public and in the private. Not only do I focus the lens on my family but onto myself – subverting traditional roles of machismo, of masculinity, through staged performances of sport and gesture, specifically Lucha Libre, a form of Mexican wrestling." 📷: ‘Loteria,’ 2018. @kenslens_ #baxterstccny #photography
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Juried Competition Winner Sacha Vega (b. 1991) is a photo-based mixed media artist. She was a recent resident of ARTHA Project, class 2016-2017. She received her BFA in Photography from Pratt Institute and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. "I grew up in a Catholic Asian American household that held familiar comfort with mystic or supernatural belief, modes of thinking I have always thought to be at odds with each other. As a photo-based artist, I became fascinated with this idea that the people I trust navigate the world with faith in manifestations, that do not hold “proof” in a traditionally photographic capacity. Through photographing and interviewing my family in the Philippines, I was curious if I would be better equipped to articulate the origins of this spiritual tension. That said, conversation and debate sparked only more questions and ultimately this work prescribes value to the colorful and complex space that thrives between your certainty and someone else’s." 📷: ‘IV,’ 2017. @sachachavega #baxterstccny #photography
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Juried Competition Winner Sacha Vega (b. 1991) is a photo-based mixed media artist. She was a recent resident of ARTHA Project, class 2016-2017. She received her BFA in Photography from Pratt Institute and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. "I grew up in a Catholic Asian American household that held familiar comfort with mystic or supernatural belief, modes of thinking I have always thought to be at odds with each other. As a photo-based artist, I became fascinated with this idea that the people I trust navigate the world with faith in manifestations, that do not hold “proof” in a traditionally photographic capacity. Through photographing and interviewing my family in the Philippines, I was curious if I would be better equipped to articulate the origins of this spiritual tension. That said, conversation and debate sparked only more questions and ultimately this work prescribes value to the colorful and complex space that thrives between your certainty and someone else’s." 📷: ‘II,’ 2017. @sachachavega #baxterstccny #photography
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Check out ‘DAYBREAK: New Affirmations on Queer Photography’ @leslielohmanmuseum co-curated by Ka-Man Tse. On view now through September 2nd. Included in this show is artist and Baxter St at CCNY 2018 Workspace Resident @elliottjeromebrownjr. Ka-Man is also a participating artist in our auction benefit at Baxter St this October! @tsewhat_tsewhat #leslielohmanmuseum #photography
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Juried Competition Honorable Mention Justin Schmitz is an artist living and working in Chicago, Illinois. He received an MFA from Yale University in 2013 and a BFA from Columbia College Chicago in 2004. "Airsoft is a live-action version of first-person shooter video games. I am interested in the enactment of make-believe roles that look and feel like actual military special operations. The boys precisely recreate the look of a contemporary soldier and carry seemly realistic weaponry–confusing the line between reality and imagination. At times, their fantasy game takes on realistic proportions and these young men appear as soldiers. In other instances, their age, ill-fitting clothing and physique reveal them as children. The performance of a video game in physical space further conflates the distance between fantasy and reality. The missions, scenarios, and personas are make-believe, but the targeting and tactics involve the development of skills that can be used outside of the game. Young people playing with guns in war games is not a new phenomenon, however contemporaneously, these photographs allude to the menacing potential of young men. I contemplate the discipline that is being learned, the empathy that is being shown, and how these boys will interpret the world they will grow into." 📷: ‘Fog,’ 2017. @justinschmitz #baxterstccny #photography
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Juried Competition Honorable Mention Justin Schmitz is an artist living and working in Chicago, Illinois. He received an MFA from Yale University in 2013 and a BFA from Columbia College Chicago in 2004. "Airsoft is a live-action version of first-person shooter video games. I am interested in the enactment of make-believe roles that look and feel like actual military special operations. The boys precisely recreate the look of a contemporary soldier and carry seemly realistic weaponry–confusing the line between reality and imagination. At times, their fantasy game takes on realistic proportions and these young men appear as soldiers. In other instances, their age, ill-fitting clothing and physique reveal them as children. The performance of a video game in physical space further conflates the distance between fantasy and reality. The missions, scenarios, and personas are make-believe, but the targeting and tactics involve the development of skills that can be used outside of the game. Young people playing with guns in war games is not a new phenomenon, however contemporaneously, these photographs allude to the menacing potential of young men. I contemplate the discipline that is being learned, the empathy that is being shown, and how these boys will interpret the world they will grow into." 📷: ‘Guise,’ 2017. @justinschmitz #baxterstccny #photography