In Performance: Bassoonist Joy Guidry in response to ‘Lorna Simpson. Earth & Sky’

In response to the exhibition ‘Lorna Simpson. Earth & Sky’ at our 22nd Street gallery, we were thrilled to collaborate with The Kitchen to present a musical performance by bassoonist and performance artist Joy Guidry. ‘Earth & Sky’ debuts Lorna Simpson’s new body of work exploring our relationships—physical and metaphysical—to unseen forces that work upon us individually and generationally, alternately challenging and empowering our sense of our own humanity. The exhibition encompasses a series of massive paintings inspired by a 1929 textbook ‘Minerals from Earth and Sky,’ along with a pair of monumental paintings depicting the impact of fired bullets. Joy Guidry’s solo performance within the exhibition takes inspiration from different forms of Black music, such as jazz, gospel, zydeco and ambient music, and uses the bassoon and electronics to build a reality grounded in expansion and curiosity. The bassoon is typically used in a classical setting, however in Guidry’s practice the instrument is used to expand the sonic possibilities through electronic manipulation and genre-defying styles of music. Guidry pairs the bassoon with low rumbling synths, warm electronic sounds, and poetry that reflect the artist’s lived expanse as a Black trans woman from the South.