How Abstract Sounds

Celebrate Black History Month with an afternoon of cool jazz and conversation inspired by Joe Overstreet’s 1970 sculptural painting Boxes, featured in It Takes 2: Unexpected Pairings. Join art historian Bentley Brown and musical greats Edsel Gomez and Felipe Luciano as they explore the pioneering role of Black artists and creative spaces in New York’s contemporary art movements from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s.

The program opens with a jazz performance by Gomez and Luciano, followed by a discussion on the dynamic collaborations between artists, musicians, dancers, and poets of the era. After a Q&A, enjoy a second set of live jazz in the gallery.

Bentley Brown, a multidisciplinary artist and curator, is an Adjunct Professor of Art History at Fordham University and a PhD Fellow at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Edsel Gomez blends salsa roots from Puerto Rico, Brazilian influences, and collaborations with legends like Dee Dee Bridgewater and Eddie Palmieri. Felipe Luciano, an Afro-Puerto Rican poet, activist, and journalist, brings insights from his work with the Young Lords Party and The Last Poets.

#HRMBlackHistoryMonth

Support provided by Art Bridges.