New exhibition shares San Antonio's love of counterculture music
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"Mosh Now, Cry Later" features a community archive of local show posters. Photo: Megan Stringer/Axios
A new exhibition at the Contemporary at Blue Star showcases San Antonio's longstanding connection to alternative music subculture.
Why it matters: Independent and alternative rock genres (like punk, emo, shoegaze and more) are integral to San Antonio, having influenced generations of local artists and young people who built community around the alternative music scene.
- Latino youth have long made up a big part of the alternative music community in San Antonio, which intersects with other parts of Latino culture — like rasquachismo and the grito.
What they're saying: Curator and exhibitions director Jacqueline Saragoza McGilvray tells Axios she grew up in San Antonio's music community.
- When curating "Mosh Now, Cry Later," she chose not only artists who were a part of the local scene, but also people whose work she saw as influenced by alternative music.
- "A lot of people would define this as a very important part of the cultural scene in San Antonio," she says.
- At the same time, the work is accessible to people who aren't familiar with the local scene, she added.
The big picture: All 14 artists in the exhibition are from San Antonio, and about half are Latino, Saragoza McGilvray says.
- She first had the idea for the show in 2020, having seen so many musicians use extra time during the COVID-19 pandemic to create new work.
- Now she thinks the local alternative music community — and its in-person shows — holds extra importance for young people, who have grown up on social media and face an epidemic of loneliness.
State of play: Many artists got their start in the music scene designing show posters or album art or taking concert photography, Saragoza McGilvray says.
- A central part of the exhibition is a listening room called the Mosh Pit, which features a wall covered in show posters submitted by locals.
- Visitors can put on headphones to listen to music on old iPods while they browse. At the center are beanbags for lounging.
Zoom in: Exhibition artist Angela Fox tells Axios that going to punk shows in San Antonio offered her an outlet when she was younger — but now painting is that outlet.
- "It's bright and celebratory, but it expresses a lot of deeper, darker things," Fox says of her work. "I think that's what a lot of the music scene does."
Fun fact: Details about each work — like the artist's name and materials used — are written in pencil next to each piece, a further nod to the rebellious nature of counterculture music.
What's next: A performance that's part of Justo Cisneros' "Harmonic Gutter" will take place April 17. The sculptural work in the exhibition is accompanied by contemporary dance performers.
- Doors will open at 6:30pm for the 7pm performance.
If you go: "Mosh Now, Cry Later" is on view through June 8.
- Admission to Contemporary at Blue Star is free.