CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 5/30/2019

Join us for the launch of Phyllis Galembo's 'Mexico Masks Rituals' at Howl!

Thursday, May 30 from 7–9PM, Howl! Happening will host a book party and signing to celebrate the launch of Phyllis Galembo: Mexico Masks Rituals, published by Radius Books and D.A.P. Publishing. Join us for a festive night of music, projected images and libations to celebrate Galembo's newest body of work!

Since 1985, photographer Phyllis Galembo has traveled extensively to photograph sites of ritual dress in Africa and the Caribbean. In her latest body of work, collected in this new publication, Galembo turns to Mexico, where she captures cultural performances with a subterranean political edge. Using a direct, unaffected portrait style, Galembo captures her subjects informally posed but often strikingly attired in traditional or ritualistic dress.

Masking is a complex tradition in which the participants transcend the physical world and enter the spiritual realm. Masks, costumes and body paint transform the human body and encode a rich range of political, artistic, theatrical, social and religious meanings on the body. In her vibrant color photographs, Galembo highlights the artistry of the performers, how they use materials from their immediate environment to morph into a fantastical representation of themselves and an idealized vision of a mythical figure. In a gorgeous, fascinating photographic survey of Mexico’s masking practices, Galembo captures her subjects suspended between past, present and future, with their religious, political and cultural affiliations—their personal and collective identifications—displayed on their bodies.

Phyllis Galembo: Mexico Masks Rituals Launch Party
Thursday, May 30: 7–9PM
Howl! Happening
An Arturo Vega Project
6 East 1st Street, New York, 10003
Phone: 917.475.1294