In between Sets, Waiting for the Band

Musings | Monthly Muse March 2022

Shizu Saldamando’s In between Sets, Waiting for the Band (2010) reminds me of hybrid moments when a sort of nothingness seems to be going on and, in actuality, any number of things are happening all at once. I wonder if the colored pencil drawing could be a punk rendition of The Three Graces, reimagining attributes of gender, sexuality, strength, power, and wit. What is the figure on the left thinking? “Never Sell Out?” The middle figure has pink tipped, long dark hair and a joyful, stealthy smile. The figure on the left wears emblems of life and death: a red rose pinned to her hair and a skull-emblazoned t-shirt. Saldamando’s work inverts classical Western mythology and art by subverting tropes of feminine bodies, roles, and symbols. In a celestial mosh pit somewhere out there, perhaps Zeus’ three daughters Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia are pogoing.

Suggested Playlist
“Feels Blind,” Bikini Kill
“Hybrid Moments,” Misfits
“Saturday Night,” Misfits
“Never Sell Out,” The Exploited
“Growing Up,” The Linda Lindas
“No One’s Little Girl,” The Raincoats
“Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” The Ramones

Julianne Gavino
Assistant Curator, Langson IMCA