Bazuco June 19th 6:30 –- 10:00pm

On June 19th Boots Contemporary Art Space will be the next hot spot for the art collective, Bazuco. This exhibition will include a storefront headquarters filled with T-shirts, skateboards, zines, posters and stickers from the American Flags collection, Professor Bazuco's latest book, CDs and singles by Juan-ex-Band, DrumKit, Nofuturo and Los Famosos. Plus a special release of a limited edition vinyl single by the band Drumkit, both for sale and visual delight. Behind this storefront, a continuous rotation of video projections featuring live shows by Bazuco Bands, clips from the BZC TV web show and video commercials. Opening night will feature a double shot of Bazuco live music: American band DrumKit will bring their casual pop-punk style while the Colombian Latin mash-up duo DEAD DRUGLORDS will finish the party with their narcotic ensemble. Dead Druglords is a one-night party/event involving a dj set, Latin mash-up and live performers with a visual and interactive show. The presentation develops a narco-aesthetic language, heavily influenced by the imaginary of the Latin drug lords of the 80s and 90s in the USA. Visiting dead drug lords Pablo Acosta and Amado Carrillo Fuentes will dance from the dead while an airplane piñata waits to be smashed down by the St. Louis crowd. Live video projections of animated sequences and DJ sets of Salsa and Reggaeton-mashups will entertain and engage the public.

About Bazuco

Bazuco started in Bogotá, Colombia in 2005, as a response to a lethargic art scene full of victimization and false folklore. Aware of a cultural trend based on the business of selling "exotic" and misery-based images by the South to the North, and realizing how this "cultural tourism" was only a reformulation of third world subordinates and neo-nationalism, artist Juan Obando and designers Juan Rios and Juan Ospina decided to "flip the coin" and present their work under the ultimate icon of first-world domination: a Media Company. Deterritorialized, ubiquitous and free, Bazuco has ventured into fashion, radio, prints, music, and video production, creating a variety of live and web shows. These products speak clearly to and about a new hybrid, deterritorialized generation defined by consumption and commercialism. After being selected for Colombia's "Salon Nacional de Artistas" in 2008-2009, Bazuco now tours the US in hopes of putting its flag on the land of the free.

Opening reception: Friday, June 19th 6:30 - 10pm

With support from:

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Boots Hours:

Wednesdays + Saturdays
12 - 5 pm

Other times by appointment

Boots News:

• New Boots web log! Click here.

Boots Contemporary Art Space announces the fourth issue of the international artist-run publication dedicated to cogitations, initiatives and information around contemporary art.

For Volume Two, Issue Two, Boot Print contributors have set their sights on the structures of art pedagogy. This study section of primary sources includes interviews with Jan Kaila of the Finnish Academy of Fine Art (KUVA), Jean-Baptiste Joly of the Academy Schloss Solitude, Els van Odijk of the The Rijksakademie, and James Elkins of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to these institutional perspectives on Artist Residencies and the potential of the Fine Art PhD, Matthew Buckingham shares his thoughts as an artist pursuing his PhD at Malmo Art Academy, and Clementine Deliss discusses the alternative Future Academy.

Sotirios Bahtsetzis presented the ongoing question of gender and queer identity in contemporary art to Bruce LaBruce, Tim Stüttgen, Susanne M. Winterling, and Jørgen Callesen.

Upon the release of A Couple Thousand Short Films About Glenn Gould, Cory Arcangel sat down for an Instant Message interview regarding his book project released under the same name by Film and Video Umbrella.

In addition, Asma Kasmi has provided reflection on and translation of two stories from the Pakistani writer Manto, appearing for the first time in English from Urdu.

As always, Boots exhibitions and special projects also appear in this issue, including the third international artist in residence at Boots Contemporary Art Space, Isil Egrikavuk with her performance and video installation The Interview. Boots participated in the Front Room project this season at the St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum with the Shoebox exhibition of performances by Deva Eveland and video screenings curated by Tim Ridlen, and by three curators previously featured in Boot Print Volume 1/Issue 2, Cacilia Canziani, Elpida Karaba, and Jan van Woensel. Last but not least, the Mexico City-based musician and performer Silverio topped off the exhibition season with a raucous visit to our home city of St. Louis.

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About Boots

Boots Contemporary Art Space is an art-laboratory on the south side of Saint Louis, Missouri. Located in the historic Antique Row District on Cherokee Street, this shotgun brick building was once a shoe repair shop in the early 1900's. The fading images of boots on the storefront served as the inspiration for the name.

Boots was founded in April 2006 by Juan William Chávez (St. Louis, MO) in collaboration with artists Bryan Reckamp (San Francisco, CA), Georgia Kotretsos (Athens, Greece / Johannesburg, South Africa) and Jon Peck (Miami, FL).

As an artist run space our mission is to provide emerging to mid-career artists and curators, local, national, and international, with an art lab that will support them in creating and showcasing new work. Through programming and exhibitions we attempt to stimulate a creative dialogue between the Saint Louis art community and the contemporary art world. Saint Louis was our choice of location due to the contemporary art boom in the community over the last few years. We wanted to invest and contribute in that growth.