STRANGE DEMOCRACY: An Evening with Spoken Word Brujo Guillermo Gómez Peña

Born in 1955 and raised in Mexico City, Guillermo Gómez-Peña came to the United States in 1978 and established himself as a performance artist, writer, activist, and educator. Much of his work—which includes performance art and photography, audio, video, installations, poetry, journalism, critical writings, and cultural theory—explores the culture and politics of the U.S.-Mexico border. In a larger sense, Gómez-Peña’s art and writings address the confrontations and misunderstandings that occur whenever two or more cultures, languages, or races meet.

Gómez-Peña’s performance and installation work has been presented at over seven-hundred venues across the world, and, in 2009, the Mattress Factory was honored to host Strange Democracy: An Evening with Guillermo Gómez-Peña. In this solo performance, Gómez-Peña tackled the end of the Bush era and the formidable challenges facing Obama. Using his body, language, and wit as his primary tools, Gómez-Peña reflected on identity, race, sexuality, pop culture, politics, and the impact of new technologies in the post-9-11 era.

For the past twenty years Gómez-Peña’s groundbreaking works (which critics have termed “Chicano cyber-punk performances” and “ethno-techno art”) have contributed to debates on cultural diversity, identity, and U.S.-Mexico relations. So we are excited to announce that Gómez-Peña will return to Pittsburgh this December, first for a lecture at CMU, then for a performance and audience discussion here at the MF on Thursday, 12/2 at 7:00PM entitled Strange Democracy: An Evening with Spoken Word Brujo Guillermo Gómez-Peña!

Strange Democracy: An Evening with Spoken Word Brujo Guillermo Gómez-Peña
Thursday, December 2, 2010
7:00PM
Mattress Factory, 500 Sampsonia Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
The cost is $10. As always, MF Members and Pitt and CMU students are free!

Hope to see you there!