Park Nights 2022: Standing on the Corner Art Ensemble
For the final Park Nights 2022 performance Serpentine presented a performance by Standing on the Corner Art Ensemble, featuring Gio Escobar, Brandon Lopez and Austin Williamson.
Standing on the Corner is an Earth-based Art Ensemble founded in 2016 by Shamel Cee Mystery, AKA Gio Escobar. Inspired by, made for, and consisting of all people of the African diaspora, Standing on the Corner thrives in fugitivity: they can appear on any night as the beat of one drum, as an orchestra of 30, or as a ghost, and are always on the run. The ensemble produces musical, visual and experiential works that link hyper-local incidence to the wisdom of the cosmos. Visiting sites of emotional resonance under the weight of subjective histories and traumas, the Art Ensemble seeks to uncover the mysteries and the ghosts of hidden truths through focused interpretation. In 2016, they released their eponymous first album, followed by Red Burns in 2017. They have collaborated with musicians such as MIKE (2017, 2018), Earl Sweatshirt (2018), Solange (2019), and Danny Brown (2021).