This is the last week to immerse yourself into Charlotte Street’s newest exhibition, Miss/They Camaraderie 2024. Curated by Charlotte Street Foundation Fellow Yashi Davalos, this innovative exhibit converges the worlds of Black beauty pageants and drag performance, offering a compelling exploration of intersectionality and identity.
The exhibit unfolded with a captivating satire-laden pageant performance on February 9, featuring artists Korea Kelly, Boi Boy, and Alej Martinez. The show originally opened on January 9th.
Davalos conceptualized the exhibit while researching Black Archives, unveiling a poignant absence in the Kansas City narrative. The exhibit’s design layout, reminiscent of a maze, serves as a deliberate nod to its satirical underpinnings and invites viewers to engage with its subversive storytelling
The exhibit features installations from Boi Boy (Kansas City, MO), John Brant (Kansas City, MO), Delaney George (Los Angeles, CA), Jackob Graves (Kansas City, MO), Nasir Anthony Montalvo (Kansas City, MO), Sun Young Park (Kansas City, MO), and Trenity Thomas (New Orleans, LA), accentuating the exhibit’s multidimensional approach and diverse creative voices.
Montalvo’s installs—titled “Lord, Lady, Labia” and “Realness”—include material from {B/qKC}, a Black queer archival project they’ve created through The Kansas City Defender. These installs examine Black queer pageantry through the lens of Black masculine lesbians, drag queens, and guided by video histories told by Tisha Taylor—local Black queer elder and shareholder in {B/qKC}.
The last day to view Miss/They Camaraderie 2024 will be this Saturday, March 2 at Charlotte Street’s Art Gallery–located at 3333 Wyoming Street Kansas City, Missouri.
