12 x 12 Artist Talk: Edra Soto

About

Artist Edra Soto discusses her work and ideas during this informal gallery talk. Soto's UBS 12 x 12 New Artists/New Work installation, The Chacon-Soto Show, focuses on Iris Chacon, the charismatic Puerto Rican performer who starred in the 1970s variety television show El Show de Iris Chacon. Despite sexually provocative costumes and performances, the legendary diva became a popular family entertainer. Flamboyantly dressed and flanked by male back-up singers and dancers, Chacon became a symbol of the liberated Puerto Rican woman. For this work, the artist analyzes issues of sexuality specific to 1970s Puerto Rican culture through the double filter of her adult understanding of American feminist issues and childhood memories of Chacon on television.