Get to know Justin Hicks, who presents "Outside" as part of "Open Call" at The Shed, August 18 – 20.
Justin Hicks is a Drama Desk–nominated singer-songwriter and sound artist who makes music and performances that investigate identity and value. He’s collaborated with notable artists such as Abigail DeVille, Kaneza Schaal, Mimi Lien, Andrea Miller, Lynsey Peisinger, Meshell Ndegeocello, Charlotte Brathwaite, Hilton Als, Bill T. Jones, and Steffani Jemison. His work has been featured at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Public, Baryshnikov Art Center, Festival steirischer herbst (Graz, Austria), and The Albertinum Museum (Dresden, Germany). Most recently he was the composer for Lynn Nottage’s latest play Clyde’s on Broadway. Hicks was a member of Kara Walker’s 6-8 Months Space and holds a culinary diploma from ICE in New York City.
In "Outside," for "Open Call," Hicks works to understand friendship, healing, and the city dweller’s relationship to the natural world. Outside uses songs to reflect on the ways urbanites encounter nature. Inspired by his neighbor’s hiking hobby and their long friendship, the performance pulls together stories and musings generated on hikes throughout the city and beyond, unpacking how “nature” lives in Black bodies and minds. Hicks asks: How do we engage open space that allows us to express our humanity in ways that defy the structures built to define and corral? How is nature activated as impulse? How do we enjoy our surroundings?
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Visit [ Ссылка ] for more about “Open Call,” and to discover other original commissions ranging from pop to classical music, painting to digital media, theater to literature, and sculpture to dance.
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Launched as part of The Shed’s inaugural year program, “Open Call” is a large-scale commissioning program for early-career NYC-based artists. For this second iteration, artists and interdisciplinary arts leaders, including Shed staff, selected 27 artists out of 1,500 proposals to present work in 2021 and 2022. Selected artists each received a commissioning fee of up to $15,000 depending on the scope of their projects, robust production support, and resources to further nurture their practices and expand their audiences.
For the first iteration of “Open Call,” 52 artists and collectives selected in 2018 were commissioned to present boundary-pushing new work beginning in May 2019. The presentation of work by some artists was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They will present their work in 2021 and 2022 along with the artists selected in 2020.
Meet the other artists presenting in 2021 and learn more about their commissions here: [ Ссылка ]...
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