5/19 @ 7:30 PM | Artist Talk: Intimate Futures in 'black/backroom'

This program marks a symbolic homecoming for Cruz, who was an inaugural PES Artist in Residence from 2015 to 2017.

Cruz will be joined by PES Co-Directors Jasmine Wahi & Rebecca Jampol to discuss the exhibition, which continues his unveiling of Queer-Brown-Histories, reflecting on how his work shapes potentialities through intersecting themes of loss, desire, and legacy. The conversation will explore the personal and collective histories embedded in the installation—from the ghostly flora of Philadelphia, Puerto Rico, and New York that line the gallery walls, to the chandeliers that have evolved from his earlier candelabra series for the 2025 Badass Art Women Awards..

Their discussion will contend with how the landscape of art for queer-Brown identities has shifted, and in some ways devolved, over the course of the past decade. Moreover, they will consider the significance of this exhibition as Cruz’s practice has evolved in this same timeframe while working in community with PES, to underscore how black/backroom points toward an abundant future.

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