Artists Studio
Rodney McMillian
October 15, 2022
Veterans Room
History must be remembered, analyzed, and reworked to inform the current discourse and future discourses. This seminal theory lies at the heart of conceptual artist, writer, and performer Rodney McMillian‘s Hanging with Clarence. This performative work combines text from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ polarizing 1985 commencement address at Savannah State University—rich with conservative views on social programs and race—with funk-rock songs written by the artist, George Clinton and Fuzzy Haskins, and others. Performed by McMillian and talented back-up singers Tekeytha Fullwood and Shauna L. Howard, the resulting happening is part musical theater salon, part rock concert, and part spiritual testimony that all perfectly intertwine to further the artist’s ongoing exploration of history, race, and identity politics.
Performances
Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 7:00pm & 9:00pm
“[Rodney McMillian] has rigorously honed his craft.”
Hyperallergic
Gallery
Support
The 2022 Artists Studio series is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Also in the Series
Artists Studio
Joan Jonas
A pioneer of performance and video art, multimedia artist Joan Jonas presents out Takes: What the Storm Washed In, composed of both unseen and historical video strung together like beads on a string, connected by poetry, music, and performance.
Artists Studio
Jason Moran
Pianist and composer Jason Moran returns to the Armory’s Artists Studio series for a night of solo piano and jazz, his first solo program at the Armory since the series’ inception in 2016.
Artists Studio
Camille Norment & Craig Taborn
Multimedia artist Camille Norment is joined by improvising pianist, composer, and electronic musician Craig Taborn for Infinitive, which uses touch, pronouncing silence, and sonic feedback as dynamic instruments to experience the extremes of sound.