Sweety’s Radio: Edición Especial Curated by Sweety’s members Bryan Rodriguez Cambana, Julia Mata, Eduardo Restrepo Castaño and Ximena Izquierdo Ugaz.

On View: June 27 through July 30, 2017 Interview Dates: Friday, June 30, July 7, July 14 and July 21 from 6-8P Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 12-6P

Episode 3: Emanuel Xavier On View: July 11 through July 16, 2017 Interview: Friday, July 14 from 6-8P, hosted by Sweety’s member Ximena Izquierdo Ugaz

This year marks the 20th anniversary Emanuel Xavier’s self-published chapbook Pier Queen, a poetic manifesto about his personal experiences coming of age as a former street hustler, drug dealer/addict, homelessness and survivor of child abuse. To celebrate this LGBTQ Latinx and POC milestone, Rebel Satori Press has reissued the book with brand new cover art featuring a photograph by Richard Renaldi that captures the spirit and defiance of the Christopher Street West Side Highway piers. As part of Sweety’s Radio: Edicion Especial we will be honoring the anniversary of this chapbook with an exhibition and reception. On Friday, July 14, Xavier will be joined by percussionist Joyce Jones to recreate the spirit of late 90s poetry readings from the book Pier Queen in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of this landmark collection by a former homeless pier queen who went on to become one of the most significant voices of the LGBT and Latinx poetry movements.

Drawn from Xavier’s personal archives as well as artists in conversation with his work, the exhibition spans several bodies of work from throughout Xavier’s career; from videos, event flyers, fan notes, memorabilia from that era as well as photographs by Richard Renaldi and artwork by Gabriel Garcia Roman.

Sweety's Radio is a live talk-show/installation project developed by Sweety's - a curatorial initiative conceived by artists Julia Mata, Bryan Rodriguez Cambana, Ximena Izquierdo Ugaz, and Eduardo Restrepo Castaño that since 2013, works on seeking out spaces and producing events dedicated to the labor of black and brown artists.

At Cuchifritos, the collective will host Edición Especial, a special iteration of Sweety’s Radio that focuses on Spanish speaking cultural producers, as a means to bridge the conversations taking place amongst black and brown (Spanish-speaking) communities in and outside of the U.S. From June 27th through July 30th Sweety’s programming will consist of weekly interviews featuring four invited artists whose work will take over the Cuchifritos space for each week, culminating in a collaborative installation by the four members of Sweety’s.

In response to the local community surrounding Cuchifritos and Essex Street Market, as well as the history of the Lower East Side as Loisaida, and the curators’ personal investment as immigrants and first generation, Sweety’s brings together four artists: Cecilia Gentili (June 27th- July 2nd), Raul Gonzalez III (July 4th- 9th), Emanuel Xavier (July 11th-16th), Elia Alba (July 18th-23nd).

* * * EMANUEL XAVIER, an LGBT History Month Icon and Gay City News Impact Award recipient, is the author of the poetry collections Radiance, Nefarious, Americano, Pier Queen, If Jesus Were Gay and the novel Christ Like. A former homeless teen involved in NYC’s ball scene in the 90s and one of the first openly gay poets, he has been a longtime gay rights activist, AIDS activist, and homeless youth advocate. He was featured on Presents Def Poetry, has spoken at The United Nations, was a featured TEDx speaker and was filmed for a soon-to-be-released documentary on poets from around the world. He continues to perform at colleges and universities throughout the country and his books are often included in LGBTQ and Latino Studies courses.

Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space is a program of Artists Alliance Inc., a 501c3 not for profit organization located on the Lower East Side of City within the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center. Cuchifritos is supported in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This program is made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. We thank the New York City Economic Development Corporation and individual supporters of Artists Alliance Inc for their generous support. Special thanks go to our team of dedicated volunteers, without whom this program would not be possible. For more information, visit artistsallianceinc.org