In Conversation: Lisa Melandri with Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy

Join Lisa Melandri, CAM Executive Director and co-organizer of the exhibition Shinichi Sawada: Agents of Clay, for a conversation with Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy, curator, writer, and arts administrator who wrote a scholarly essay for the exhibition’s accompanying publication. The two will discuss Sawada’s singular sculptures and the various avenues for appreciating and contextualizing his work.

As part of the evening, Artists First, an inclusive, non-profit art studio, will showcase works of art created in response to Shinichi Sawada: Agents of Clay. Artists First empowers artists of all abilities and uses creative self-expression to build equity, equality, and empowerment in the Saint Louis region and beyond. Artists from Artists First took inspiration from Shinichi Sawada’s exhibition and created multimedia artworks in response. The multimedia sculptures represent the beauty of diversity and inclusion. These works will be on display and for sale throughout the event.

Registration is encouraged; please click here to sign up. Doors open at 5:30 pm.

About the speakers

Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy (she/her) is a New York-based curator, writer, art historian, and arts and grants administrator. Her practice advocates for underrepresented communities, stories, materials, and approaches in the art world. Her research investigates the “aesthetics of optimism,” the subversive power of humor, cuteness, and leisure as tools of protest. She is the Director of the New York City Department of Transportation Art (NYC DOT Art). Vizcarrondo-Laboy also served as Assistant Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD,) NY, where from 2016 to 2022, she was part of MAD’s curatorial team, helping organize over twenty exhibitions and projects. During her time there, she also led MAD’s Burke Prize, a prestigious contemporary craft award. Vizcarrondo-Laboy authored the essay “Shinichi Sawada: An Open-Ended Question” for the exhibition catalog Shinichi Sawada: Agents of Clay.

Lisa Melandri (she/her) is the Executive Director of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, the region’s premier contemporary, non-collecting art institution. Since joining CAM in 2012, Lisa has brought both emerging and established artists from around the globe to St. Louis, and has organized such outstanding exhibitions at CAM as Mickalene Thomas: Mentors, Muses, and Celebrities; Salvatore Scarpitta: Racing Cars; Sanford Biggers; Amy Sherald; Christine Corday: RELATIVE POINTS; and Kathy Butterly: Out of one, many / Headscapes. Melandri co-organized the exhibition Shinichi Sawada: Agents of Clay with Jen Sudul Edwards, Ph.D., Chief Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art at The Mint Museum.