Elia Alba, Larry Levan (snake), 2006, printed 2010, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum
About this Artwork
Alba’s photographs challenge the straightforward link between how a person looks and who they are. Here several partygoers wear masks depicting the face of Larry Levan (1954–1992), the legendary DJ of the Paradise Garage in New York City. Levan was a key figure of disco, a musical form originally nurtured in gay, black, and Latino communities. By combining the mask of a man and the body of a female, or placing a brown-skinned mask on a white body, Alba contests narrow definitions of race, gender, and sexuality.
Acerca de esta obra
Las fotografías de Alba desafían el vínculo directo entre la apariencia y la identidad personal. Aquí varios enmascarados portan la cara de Larry Levan (1954–1992), el legendario DJ del Paradise Garage de Nueva York. Levan era una figura clave de la música disco, género musical cultivado originalmente entre las comunidades gay, negra y latina. Al combinar la m piel morena en un cuerpo blanco, Alba cuestiona las definiciones estrechas de raza, género y sexualidad.