Culture Vulture 

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Multiverse comes to the MAG
An infinitely ‘grammable installation by Yayoi Kusama is the Memorial Art Gallery’s big fall exhibition.

Immersive installations are always crowd pleasers, providing opportunities for audiences to not only view artwork, but to lose themselves in a built environment. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama takes this concept to the next level with her otherworldly Infinity Mirrored Rooms, allowing viewers to really see themselves in the art.

This September, the Memorial Art Gallery (900 University Ave.) will host Kusama’s 2017 work, “Infinity Mirrored Room — Let’s Survive Forever,” in its Docent Gallery. The installation will transform the space with mirrored walls as well as dozens (or is it hundreds?) of stainless steel orbs placed on the ground and suspended from the ceiling, creating a seeming multiverse of endless reflections. Bright LED lights will simulate a blinding void above, the light bouncing off of the silver spheres before being absorbed by a twin void of dark carpet below. Expect the work to repeat itself across Rochesterians’ social media.

All of the funhouse elements and selfie-bait aside, Kusama’s work is an invitation to consider complex ideas about the universe, existence and our place within it all. It’s the depth of her concepts that have earned the Tokyo-based nonagenarian world renown, a place in global museum collections, nods from the avant garde fashion world, and Japan’s highest cultural honor, bestowed by the Imperial family.

This won’t be Kusama’s first appearance at MAG. Back in 2013, the Memorial Art Gallery acquired Kusama’s “Statue of Venus Obliterated by Infinity Nets,” a sculpture that nods to antiquity as a replica of the Venus de Milo statue, while it is fully contemporary in its concept.

As though a flipped picture of her Infinity Rooms, that work is not about replicating and repeating light and images across the universe, but about flattening objects and space, entropy, and erasure.

See the work Sept. 14, 2023 through May 5, 2024. Visit mag.rochester.edu for details.

Ice cold cuts: Collage art is elevated at Vayo
Artist Celia Crane made a tiny gallery in her garden shed, but Vayo Collage Gallery is about to get new digs.

When COVID upended the world, just about everyone was left holding the disparate pieces of their lives and trying to piece them together in a new way that made sense. Local collage artist Celia Crane took her chosen artform to a new level when she converted her tiny garden shed into Vayo Collage Gallery, a wee-walls space that would, for the next three years, host exhibitions of collage art from around the world.

Bikes and animal nests were evicted, inner white walls were installed, and back-lit cotton attached to the ceiling simulated dreamy clouds. Crane created calls for work, and the mail began to roll in. She accepted submissions from cut-and-paste artists around the world, created a virtual space to share the work during the pandemic, and allowed cautious by-appointment-only visits to the physical space. Now, as participation in exhibitions steadily grows, Crane is about to retire her shed.

Originally planned for June, the next exhibition, “New Dimensions in Collage,” will be the first show in Vayo’s “newer, larger structure east of town,” according to a cryptic message from Crane. Now scheduled for July 8-29, the show will feature work by dozens of artists from 16 countries—so far. Because the exhibition date was pushed back, submissions are still open, through June 10. Visit vayogallery.com to participate, and look for another update from CITY soon.

Fantasy ‘fits hit Upper Monroe
Suppliers of glam garb to queens and partygoers, local couture shop Luci & Dona is getting a storefront.

A genderfluid clothing boutique is coming to 284 Monroe Ave. this summer. A former kratom shop will soon be filled with custom-made original garments and accessories for all: ready-to-wear headdresses, hot-hued and skimpy attire, structured gowns, soft menswear, and bodysuits with bondage elements will line the racks on the retail side of Luci & Dona, which will also house a studio and workshop.

Founded in 2018, the queer- and Latinx-owned designer clothing company has operated from a studio in The Hungerford Building since 2021 . Freshly returned from vending at RuPaul’s DragCon in L.A. in May, owners Josean Vargas and Mikey Rodriguez have created custom clothing for clients since 2013 under the name J. Vargas. They presented full runway collections at Peppermint’s Sewn Seeds Fashion Showcase from 2013 to 2017, and since 2014 have annually showcased full runway collections at Fashion Week of Rochester.

In 2017, the duo began to focus on creating looks for drag queens and in 2018 rebranded to Luci & Dona, named for their own drag identities (Rodriguez is "Lucida Brite" and Vargas is "Donatella Mirage"). Their client base includes Rochester-based queens Aggy Dune, Wednesday Westwood, DeeDee Dubois, Ambrosia Salad, and Eva Flow. Their threads have been worn on national television by Darienne Lake, Mrs. Kasha Davis and Ginger Minj on “RuPaul's Drag Race” and by Ada Vox on both “Queen of the Universe” and “American Idol.”

When the pandemic hit, Vargas and Rodriguez pivoted to join the army of folks creating cloth masks and opened a website at lucianddona.com to sell ready-to-wear designs. The studio became a popular shopping stop for folks getting ready to hit local underground queer dance parties after the pandemic waned. The new shop will continue to offer items off the rack and also cater to clients for custom designs, camp and cosplay.