Billy Hawkins Hosts “Our Fêtes”
Mixed Media Artist + Dancer Choreographs into Chinatown with Visually Explorative Extravaganza!
There is no greater feeling than witnessing the fluid evolution of an artist, across mediums, and across time and space. I first met Billy Hawkins around the summer of 2015, nearly a decade ago in Greensboro, North Carolina as part of a synchronous trifecta of unprecedented queer liberation. Coming from quite the conservative background of my upbringing I vividly remember just how intoxicating it was back then to be apart of Billy’s orbit at 3C on the third floor of the Campus Crossing apartments. Only a walking distance away from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, their undergraduate women’s liberal arts college is widely known as a haven for artistic types no matter their gender identity. There was such an unbothered, almost ritualistic, ancestral knowledge of movement. Along with their sisters, set after set commenced of eight-counts which were drilled into memory and practiced countless times, comparative to the cheerleaders of Winston Salem State University, Golden Delight, Alvin Ailey, the New York Ballet, or any other storied organization of physical performance. Unbridled, unbounded, JOY is what I remember radiating from that atmosphere. A balance of safety and belonging. No fear was tolerated. If you had even a smidgeon of rhythm in your spirit, it was required to let it out. Any seeming hesitation was eradicated almost immediately.
“SONIC WOMB: Leaving Gender on the Dance Floor” photographed by Carlos Hernandez
The impenetrable, underlying notions of “Just do it! Wear it! Be it! Say it!” permeated throughout our bodies. Whether that was a neon-pink colored wig with a bang, a slick black bob cut sharply at the ears, or a waist-length blonde silk unit! That fearless expression of defiant artistry is the same tonic that healed my once-shamed identity a decade ago and is the same feeling that resonates from Billy’s Sonic Womb: Leaving Gender on the Dance Floor at PES FUTURES, expertly curated by Alyssa Alexander of the Empty Space Feminist Future’s Program. The show couldn't have been made whole without the contributions of Taylor Alexis Smith, Riley Marc Jacobs, NYC Prince Evan Versace, Jamal Bull, Legendary Yummy Xclusive Lanvin, Jacquelyn Batten, Pandora West, Ziggy, and Tai Kelly. Our Fêtes is a resounding triumph of an artist who has maintained their jubilance as part of their ethos and expanded it with greater intensity over time with lived experience and the inevitable flowering from academic incubation and fervent exploration. The exhibition calls forth the storied history of queer rebellion/community within New York’s underground ballroom movement of the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s — but somehow keeps it current, as well as radically poised for a bright, enthusiastic, future. Sumi Ink drawings evoke classic snapshots of Vogue movements. A giant disco-ball shimmers, signaling anyone entering the space to gather together in unity and applause.
The nightlife of New York is beyond what can be assumed as “just another” leisurely activity for wanderers. While the dance floor does classify as something fun to do in your spare time, it also doubles as a safe space for those who may or may not cooperate within the ecosystem of the LGBTQIA+ housing systems and sense of sorority. Unless you have lived it, no one can imagine the feeling of relief that occurs after finally checking ones bags at a coat check upon hours of aimlessly walking the streets of Manhattan when you have nowhere else to go. That sense of togetherness, relief, and the temporary disappearance of issues once the thumping music vibrates in your ears is like no other. The coexistence of the bodies of your fellow human, no matter what one identifies as in the spectrum, gathered together under one roof is a feeling I wish could be bottled up into a perfume to re-spray on life’s darkest moments.
Our Fetes by Billy Hawkins, MFA 2024 Pratt Institute singlehandedly encapsulates that restorative feeling of intrinsic euphoria. Masters at Work — The HA Dance instantly plays in the mind, as well as VOGUE for ME. “10’s Please stand to the side,” a classic chant wrangling together those who have won their respective categories lays on the floor of the gallery to the right side. Singular bamboo sticks border this signage, paying homage to Hawkins beautiful Blasian heritage. Abstract expressionist markings in blue, black, and grey also surround which add to Hawkins’ overall narrative of childlike freeform drawing. Their work evokes the feeling of simply creating whatever you want, not because of what may be expected due to supply or demand. The work is a natural extension of the artists already lived humanity and experience. In a tiny corner strips of Matrix-like coding hang at the edge of a rectangular section with the text “that black queer” in red, green, and blue. The face of Taylor Alexis Smith’s (they/them) centers the left wall with micro sporadic colorings gently highlighting her appearance. It all feels like one enormous GLITCH of glamourous celebration.
In this space, any semblance of internalized, chaotic, erasure of sacred presence is extinguished. Malcolm Mclaren’s Deep in Vogue (introducing Lourdes & the legendary Willie Ninja) serving unapologetically wearing chic silhouettes of the mid-90’s Mugler surfaces into the subconscious. This environment is a rallying cry for divine connection across the confines of humanities limitations and separations. Hawkins particular use of shading is masterful. They assemble a congruent cast of characters who have gathered together on the pier, presumably the Chelsea along the Hudson, chanting — calling out to one’s sister or brother, and expressing themselves through movement in a way exclusively intrinsic to NYC’s collective.
Center to the gallery is a vivid rendering of an operatic performance of Diva Plavalaguna in 1997’s neo-futuristic film “The Fifth Element.” The painting summons the attention of the public much like Beyoncé in her legendary 2023 Renaissance tour. That same space-camp perspective is what will surely be imprinted in the hearts and minds of any wayward/curious soul who visits PES FUTURES at 128 Baxter Street in new York’s infamous Chinatown until June 7th and again until June 18th - August 18th. You never know the full process for how an artist arrives at their innermost fulfillment of output. Hawkins work, however they get there, is a guaranteed experience of fabulosity, intentionality, and interconnectedness. As they continue to explore their dynamic forms of authenticity, the work will likely transport the observer (mind, body, and soul) into a catapulted inner expansion: sashaying, dipping, dancing, prancing, and posing their way into freedom.