CASSILS, rafa esparza | Visiting Artist Lecture Series

CASSILS

CASSILS is a transgender artist who makes their own body the material and protagonist of their performances. Cassils’s art contemplates the history(s) of LGBTQI+ violence, representation, struggle and survival. For Cassils, performance is a form of social sculpture: Drawing from the idea that bodies are formed in relation to forces of power and social expectations, Cassils work investigates historical contexts to examine the present moment. As trans person navigating the US immigration system, they have glimpsed firsthand the unjust, meritless, financially motivated, bigoted and dehumanizing nature of the US immigration system.

rafa esparza 

Esparza is an artist who lives in Los Angeles. His work often takes the form of physically exhaustive performances and installations constructed out of adobe bricks. Esparza also frequently works with collaborators, including members of his family. Esparza has exhibited in several public parks, nightclubs, sidewalks, galleries, and museums in Los Angeles and internationally.