Last semester, renowned flamenco and performance artist Niño de Elche did a short residency at the Graduate Center’s James Gallery, for which he created a new work, “En un cuartito los dos.”

Video of that performance has been put online, so be sure to watch it if you missed it. The work was created specifically for the James Gallery space. You can read the artist statement below.

The notion surrounding the Spanish term cuarto –partially translated for “room” in English– is the main premise for this project. The cuartos flamencos used to be marginalized performing spaces where dissident bodies and practices used to take place in fin-de-siècle Spain. Related spaces such as cafés cantantes contributed to articulate traditional imaginaries on Iberian culture which ignored the individuals who inhabited them. Niño de Elche aims to explore the non-normative practices spaces censor by working on sound experimentation and performative actions in the gallery space. By calling on other cuartos such as black holes and dark rooms he will explore notions such as tradition, intimacy, and queerness.