It is the height of summer and some of my favorite things in the city are not necessarily arts related. I have seen most of the summer blockbuster art exhibits, so I have dug down to find some other more off the beaten path. I have been drawn to my desire to be outdoors as much as possible, my runs and yoga have taken be through Central Park, up the Hudson, the beaches of Fire Island and the forest of Purchase College. My favorite piece of art this month (on-going through September) was Morgan Bassichis’ Can I be Frank? at Soho Playhouse. As someone dabbling into the comedic world, I connected directly with Morgan’s whipsmart point of view. There was an certain obsessiveness about his 70-minutes on stage that I gravitated towards. Funnily enough, I often agreed with his take down of gay culture and also celebration of an artist gone too soon. I quickly realized why most of his audience was women. Gay men often don’t like a mirror shone to their lives (and who does for that matter)? I have a similar vision of a 60-minute show taking you through my childhood surrounded in silence, an early loss of innocence involving a handmade bunny rabbit, the process of creating a custom Phantom of the Opera cape, and the subversive not-so-often spoken of patriarchal power structure of American suburbia. From my own experience of open mics and going up on stage, it seems to be a long journey to get there. It feels good to get started. It is something that I think about everyday mixed in with my full-time hustle in design and tech. It has been a fruitful two years uninsured, piecing together rent, and fighting for my New York life. The dream is still alive. Sometimes it is is hard to focus with everything that is going on the world particularly with uncertainty around finances. But, I have found when I am in these spaces of art, it helps me locate something inside myself that is restorative. I wish you all have that restorative practice in the heat of the summer. Sweat it out. Seek it out. Find something that gives to your body and say yes. That might just be enough right now. ART

In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️The Drawing Center Hot Take: Sensual, vibrant, exciting, gayI am so glad I was able to go see this visionary artist’s work. Friends with Georgia O’Keeffe and James Baldwin, Mr. Delaney was a bright spot in his time, but never fully appreciated as it is often with the best of us. His work lept off the paper. I was so motivated by Beauford’s work that I went down the street and bought a gouache kit of my own. Amy Sherald: American Sublime ⭐️⭐️⭐️The Whitney through Aug 10 Hot Take: Textile, textile, textile, & paint on linen!I had no idea painting on linen was so perfect. Her paint on linen was sublime as promised. Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers ⭐️⭐️⭐️Guggenheim through January 18, 2026 Hot Take: Challenging, Interesting, Facing my whiteness I think I need deeper about how to write on this exhibit. I felt implicated. It is on view for a long time, so see it if you are in New York.

Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College ⭐️⭐️Hot Take: surprising, gentle, interestingI was able to visit my friend Christoph who lives with his partner Shaka on the campus of Purchase College this month. I was pleasantly surprised by their art museum (designed by the fraught Phillip Johnson). I tend to love university collections. With their smaller collections, they usually hold great examples of work. You can sit with the prime examples typically overlooked at larger art museums. Purchase has Edward Hopper’s largest canvas, a portrayl of a barber shop, which ironically is not that impressive. He seems to have met his match with scale. I love his more intimate canvases. I was impressed by three installations Proscenium, Liminal In Nature, and Molten Metals beyond their permanent collection that included a great sculpture in neon, a Stephen de Staebler, and Harry Bertoia, much to my delight.

Carrington House on Fire Island ⭐️⭐

Fire Island and Dance: The FortiesHot Take: historic, commercial, and art was overpowered by spaceI have been to Fire Island twice before this visit and I still had not made it to the Carrington House. This house is steeped in art history as the house where Truman Capote wrote “Breakfast at Tiffanys,” Georgia O’Keeffe stayed, among a litany of other great American artists. Both of my visits to the island before had been brief with less of a focus on my deep desire to walk in the shadows of my favorite artists. I finally was able to go and have my brief seance in the attic (pictured above) where I know Georgia sat and I am sure Truman stumbled up drunk one night. Who I am kidding, he was probably drunk the entire time he wrote “Breakfast” like I think Jack Kerouac was when he wrote Big Sur. I live in these artist dreams and I like to go to the places where I think some of those dreams came true. There was a small exhibit of George Daniell’s photographs, but the space overpowered the the black and white photographs, somewhat hung without care. The house spoke for itself.

Queer in Nature at The Arsenal Building, Central Park ⭐️⭐Through August 20th Hot Take: small, hard to get to, interesting setting, and fresh workThe Parks Department hosts art exhibits in their administration building in Central Park. You have to check in with security, get a name tag, and the gallery is located on the third floor. But, I think more administration buildings should host public art exhibits. It seems like it was a great opportunity for younger, less established artists the space to showcase work and they even had a price sheet. I liked some of the references to queerness in nature, some direct and other a bit more abstract. I feel nature is queer inherently because nature will always find a more resilient way to heal and grow. Queer people are constantly fighting to heal against a human society where we are unwanted, undesired, and lack any form of protection from the systems that we expect to create a safety net. In nature, there is nothing wrong with us and we adapt accordingly. And I learned that humpback whales can be gay and that made my day. Walter de Maria ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THEATERJoy: A New True Musical ⭐️Hot Take: confusing, long, silly, unfinished, at times funny I often see things that take me off guard for the wrong reasons. I wonder to myself: Does this story need to exist in this format? It has nothing to do with the cast or creatives, but it does have to do with the capital that produces such pieces of theater and get all the way to full productions Off Broadway or On. I would say I would put Joy in the same vein as this season’s Boop the Musical (another one with an incredible leading lady Jasmine Amy Rogers). These stories are seemingly marketed as arcs of empowered women. But, they aren’t fully actualized characters and lacking the agency I am looking from any empowered person in 2025. I don’t think these stories need to exist in the stage format. The best part of this show is Betsy Wolfe and she is a vision. She is shoe horning this material to work for her instrument and still getting the laughs (and heard some back channeling that she was basically directing it, too). It showed. Unfortunately, they have a few repetitive songs, nothing too catchy, and a lead that never really gets to her “I want” song. I never thought that we needed a new, true musical about a mop and I was right. This was not the story of the entrepreneur or innovator, it was more a story of a white woman who wasn’t supported by any one in their life. Though this is a common story, I don’t think a musical is the best format for it be in the world. I don’t foresee this making a Broadway transfer, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it did somehow. Can I be Frank? Morgan Bassichis at Soho Playhouse ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️July 24 - Sept 13, 2025Get Ticket HereHot Take: weird, smart, gay, funny, emotional I often talk about talk about living in the shadows of my queer heroes. I think of teh art not made. The shows not seen. The dances not danced. The men that died too soon from AIDS. An entire generation of laughs, tears, and forward momentum. I grieve this often in my walks. I feel implicated to create and take up the torch of my gay brothers and creative ancestors. I recently saw the first preview Can I be Frank? by Morgan Bassichis at the Soho Playhouse. The comedic stand-up/performance hybrid is being directed by Sam Pinkleton, fresh off his Tony win for “Oh Mary!” I even greeted Sam afterwards and I just said “thank you” and I fan boyed out as I walked out onto the Avenue of the Americas. It has been a while since I had seen a real piece of performance art. Can I even say that? In ways, stand up comedy is a performance art and who even writes these definitions. I have found art historians lack real humanity when they attempt to define art, hence why most artists resist being labeled when they are alive. And why even try? We name in order to understand. Sometimes, we need to sit with the art before we name it. I think that is an aspect of what Morgan is mining in his new show as he enters into his queer fantasia of performing artist and comedian Frank Maya (source material on YouTube from 1989 :: I was three). Frank was the first openly gay comedian on network television. And his life was cut short. Morgan inhabits his shadow. It is smart, it is funny, and I cried a lot. I cried because Morgan brought Frank back to life even for some mere moments. You could feel it in the room. And if that isn’t a miracle, I am quite sure what is. We all would like to understand at a deeper level what this human experience is at its fullest. I think Frank understood what it means to live to the fullest as a queer person in a world that kept saying no to him. But, what happens if we say yes. Morgan is saying yes to life, yes to Frank, and yes to his audience. Go. Say yes and I would love to hear what comes up for you.

What I am excited about in August: - I am in San Francisco for the month of August, so I am looking forward to previewing Ruth Asawa at SFMOMA before it heads to New York’s MOMA in October. - Walks on Ocean Beach, runs in Golden Park, climbing in the Pinnacles, and taking my friend’s blue heeler Cactus to the Redwoods. - My queen, my muse, my queer icon in Fauxnique. So Relevant. at Oasis, August 13 *SOLD OUT*- I celebrate my 18th Gay Birthday on August 29. It has been 18 years since I came out of the closet in El Salvador. - Reconnecting with my San Francisco community. If you are in San Francisco and want to connect, reach out!

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