Ryota Matsumoto

@ryota

As an artist, designer, and architect, Ryota Matsumoto is internationally recognized as one of the progenitors of the postdigital art movement. Born in Tokyo, he was raised in Hong Kong and Japan. He received a Master of Architecture degree from University of Pennsylvania in 2007 after his studies at Architectural Association in London and Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art in early 90’s. Over the years, he has studied with Manuel DeLanda, Vincent Joseph Scully Jr., Cecil Balmond, and Giancarlo De Carlo, among others. Matsumoto has previously collaborated with a cofounder of the Metabolist Movement, Kisho Kurokawa, and with Arata Isozaki, Peter Christopherson, and MIT Media Lab. As a designer and consultant of Nihon Seikei Inc. and Japanese railway, he has worked on high-profile projects including Kyushu University Ito Campus masterplan (2003-2005), Shinjuku redevelopment project in Tokyo (2009-2012), Bach Mai hospital in Hanoi (2000), and Qingdao mixed-use development in China (2011). He has presented his work on posthumanism, multidisciplinary design, and visual culture at the 5th symposium of the Imaginaries of the Future at Cornell University, the Espaciocenter workshop at TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts, iDMAa Conference 2017, and NTT InterCommunication Center as a literary critic and artist. As a video producer and designer, he has worked with Peter Christopherson of Coil and Hipgnosis for Japanese Nike commercial and contributed to his first solo album, Form Grows Rampant as Threshold Houseboys Choir. His academic career started as a teaching assistant for Vincent Joseph Scully Jr. and his seminar, the Natural and Manmade in 1993. During his visiting fellowship at the Glasgow school of Art, he has been engaged in research on the process of integrated urban regeneration under the guidance of Giancarlo De Carlo and Isi Metzstein. He continued his pursuit in urban studies and participated in seminal research projects with MIT Media Lab and KieranTimberlake exploring high-rise modular housing, sustainability, and design interventions for Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2005. He has served as the MFA advisor of Transart institute, University of Plymouth and teaches at Asagaya Institute of Art and Design as a director of the Interdisciplinary Art and Design Lab. Matsumoto is a research associate at the New Centre of Research & Practice found by Mohammad Salemy, Jason Adams, and Reza Negarestani. He has been active as a guest critic on design reviews at Cornell University, Cooper Union, Columbia GSAPP, Rhode Island School of Design, and Pratt Institute. Matsumoto is the recipient of Visual Art Open International Artist Award, Florence Biennale Mixed Media 2nd Place Award, Premio Ora Prize Italy 5th Edition, Premio Ora Prize Spain 1st Edition, Donkey Art Prize III Edition Finalist, Best of Show IGOA Toronto, Art Kudos Best of Show Award, FILE (Electronic Language International Festival) Media Art Finalist, Lynx International Prize Be Art Builder Award, Lumen Prize Finalist, and Western Bureau Art Prize Honorable Mention. He was awarded the Gold Artist Prize from ArtAscent Journal, the 1st Place Prize from Exhibeo Art Magazine, and the Award of Excellence from the Creative Quarterly Journal of Art and Design in 2015 and 2016. His work is part of the permanent collection of University of Texas at Tyler. His work, writings, and interviews were published in Kalubrt Magazine, University of North Carolina Wilmington Journal Palaver, Furtherfield.org, The Journal of Wild Culture, Studio Visit Magazine, Fresh Paint Magazine, H+ Magazine, International Artist Magazine, Made In Mind Magazine, Arizona State University Journal Superstition Review, Creative Review, Next Nature Network, Rhizome.org, Carbon Culture Review, KooZA/rch, Supersonic Art, Post Digital Aethetics (Berry and Dieter ed.), Drawing Discourse (University of North Carolina Asheville), Highlike (SEPI-SP editors), and Drawing Futures (The Bartlett UCL), among others. Matsumoto's multidisciplinary projects have been exhibited recently at Meadows Gallery University of Texas at Tyler, S. Tucker Cooke Gallery University of North Carolina Asheville, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, National Museum of Korea, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Van Der Plas Gallery, ArtHelix Gallery, Caelum Gallery, Limner Gallery, the Cello Factory, University of the District of Columbia, Lux Art Gallery, Studio Montclair, Manifest Gallery, Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Art Basel Miami, ISEA International, FILE Sao Paulo, Nook Gallery, and Arts and Heritage Centre Altrincham. He had solo exhibitions at BYTE gallery Transylvania University (2015), Los Angeles Center of Digital Art (2016), and Alviani ArtSpace, Pescara (2017).

Tekrema Center for Art and Culture

@tekremaarts

The mission of Tekrema Center for Art and Culture is creating a legacy of artistic excellence, scholarly achievement, and community responsibility through the study, maintenance, development, and perseverance of African and African Diaspora art and culture.

Lukas Spady

@lukasgs10

I am Lukas Spady, a fashion designer guided by memory, feeling, and sustainability. For me fashion is a gateway. It has opened doors into art, storytelling, world building, and engineering. My work is rooted in personal experience and often explores the idea of reconnecting with the inner child. I see clothing as a space where care and creativity meet, where fashion becomes both a reflection of who we are and an invitation to imagine who we could be.

Khi Van Allen

@nellanav

Khi Van Allen is a textile artist and designer based in New Orleans. His practice blends fashion, storytelling, and social commentary, exploring themes of rebellion, cultural identity, and empowerment. Specializing in knitwear and denim, Khi creates unique, narrative-driven garments using natural dyes and sustainable techniques. His work challenges traditional textile design, often incorporating unconventional materials to push boundaries and engage with current social issues. Khi’s artistic journey began with an internship at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he first explored his creative practice in a professional setting. Since then, he has developed a deep commitment to sustainability and craftsmanship, focusing on creating long-lasting, ethically produced garments. Khi is also passionate about community engagement, organizing artist-run markets that provide a platform for independent textile artists to showcase their work. His long-term vision is to build a permanent space for designers in New Orleans, celebrating sustainable fashion and artistic innovation.

FERRARA SHOWMAN GALLERY

@ferrarashowmangallery

JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY is a collective environment of creative visions featuring monthly exhibitions of (inter)national, emerging to established, contemporary artists. Since its inception, the gallery has focused on forward thinking artists with a sense of purpose, mission, and message. The gallery is known for its stimulating and provocative exhibitions in a wide variety of media, having been featured in The New York Times, Art In America, The Art Newspaper, The Associated Press, ArtNews, NPR and many other international publications. The gallery regularly exhibits at art fairs in the US and Europe and works with museum and institutions to present its artists’ works.

Huebian

@huebian

Born in the Midwest and raised in the South, Huebian is a Jamaican-American singer/songwriter who captures the colors of life through image and sound. More comfortable on stage than walking down the street, she began writing as a way to seek refuge from the outside World she never quite seemed to fit into. Huebian is based in New Orleans where she is currently recording her debut solo album. With experience writing and performing across multiple genres in various capacities, she has worked as a session writer and session vocalist for artists, both independent and signed to labels. She has also provided supporting vocals and toured with artists, including The Honorable South and Ms. Charm Taylor. She has independently secured SYNC Licensing and film placements, and performances include venues such as the world famous Tipitina’s and The House of Blues in New Orleans as well as The Almanett in Gulfport, MS , appearances opening for artists like Macy Grey, Charlie Wilson and Keith Sweat, and festivals including The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. She is constantly refining and redefining her artistry and is certain her best is always a sunrise away.

Daniel Lee

@danielwklee

Born Lý Phụ Cường, (Originally 李富強, later changed to 李華強 in Traditional Chinese, 李华强 in Simplified Chinese) in Kuching, Malaysia, Daniel is a third generation refugee going back to his grandparents on both maternal and paternal sides from Guangdong province, China to Vietnam; his Saigon-born parents became refugees in Malaysia after the purge of ethnic Chinese from Vietnam during the late 1970s before settling in the United States. Raised in the western suburbs of Chicago (first in Forest Park, Illinois and later in Downers Grove, Illinois) along with his older and younger sisters in a mish-mash of Cantonese, Vietnamese, and American cultures, Daniel eventually moved to New York City in August 1996 to attend New York University, where he received his BA from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. After undergraduate studies, he would apply his skills in the dot com and arts non-profit worlds, at OUT magazine, as a freelance market editor, infrequent fashion stylist, a product manager, and creative director in the licensed toy/stationery/gifts/watches/clocks/arts & crafts industry. In 2006, Daniel earned his MFA in Creative Writing from The New School whose creative thesis became the basis of his first book’s manuscript. In 2013, he worked as a campaign manager for a Green Party candidate for New York City council, and not long after in February 2014, Daniel left the Big Apple, his home of 17 years. He likes to say he is originally from Kuching, raised in Chicagoland, but grew the fuck up in New York City. Daniel relocated to Seattle, Washington in March 2014 and after a little over five years in the Pacific Northwest outdoor adventure-seeking, he and his preposterously beautiful whippet Camden moved to New Orleans in December 2019. His creative work has been widely published online and in print, including the Lambda Literary Award-nominated anthology TAKE OUT: QUEER WRITING FROM ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICA, the Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology I DO/I DON'T: QUEERS ON MARRIAGE, and most recently: THE NEW YORK TIMES, LOVEJETS: QUEER MALE POETS ON 200 YEARS OF WALT WHITMAN, as well as BERKELEY POETRY REVIEW, FLOATING BRIDGE REVIEW, WHITE STAG, FOURTEEN HILLS, and the UK’s OXFORD POETRY and AGENDA. ANATOMY OF WANT, published by the QueerMojo imprint of Rebel Satori Press in November 2019, is Daniel’s first book of poetry.