I Am Le’Andra LeSeur | OPEN CALL 2021 | THE SHED

Le’Andra LeSeur is an artist working primarily with video, installation, and performance. Her work celebrates Blackness, contemplates the experience of invisibility, and seeks to dismantle stereotypes surrounding Black female identity.

Le’Andra LeSeur’s “Open Call” commission is a multichannel video and performance piece titled “There is no movement without rhythm.” It dissects the effects rhythm has on the body in its quest for liberation. Throughout the creation of modern African diasporic music—whether house, jazz, or blues—there are hints of a retrieval of ancient African Islamic religious songs, rhythms of Gnawa musical influence, and nods to the sounds of Black churches throughout the United States. Fueled by the oppression and silencing of their voices, African diasporic communities have needed to create new languages out of these sources that speak to how their feelings are reflected and honored within society. The inclusiveness of these acts of retrieval shows the important role played by music and rhythm in convening communities, which ultimately offer hope, healing, and transcendence in the midst of everyday barriers faced by Black people. By following this musical journey centering movement, LeSeur’s piece fosters safe, inclusive spaces that nurture a range of emotional experiences through its research into Black spiritual music.

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Visit https://bit.ly/3u4CRi2 for more about “Open Call,” and to discover other original commissions ranging from pop to classical music, painting to digital media, theater to literature, and sculpture to dance.
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Launched as part of The Shed’s inaugural year program, “Open Call” is a large-scale commissioning program for early-career NYC-based artists. For this second iteration, artists and interdisciplinary arts leaders, including Shed staff, selected 27 artists out of 1,500 proposals to present work in 2021 and 2022. Selected artists each received a commissioning fee of up to $15,000 depending on the scope of their projects, robust production support, and resources to further nurture their practices and expand their audiences.

For the first iteration of “Open Call,” 52 artists and collectives selected in 2018 were commissioned to present boundary-pushing new work beginning in May 2019. The presentation of work by some artists was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They will present their work in 2021 and 2022 along with the artists selected in 2020.

Meet the other artists presenting in 2021 and learn more about their commissions here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0_2sMP3p8dgMd_QQGMhHqup-5Jo9JcTZ

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