LOS ANGELES — “Speak boldly!” says musician and composer Julius Eastman within the 1981 prelude to his musical composition, “The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc.” In REDCAT’s latest exhibition, World of Echo: Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell, Eastman’s daring speech is usually heard solely in echoes: between the current and the previous, the lifeless and the dwelling— and, most prominently, between the exhibition’s essential topics, longtime buddies and musicians Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell. What outcomes is a vibrant polyphony culled from ephemera, recordings, and video documentation, a refrain that charts Eastman and Russell’s careers as solo artists and collaborators previous to their premature deaths within the early Nineties, each from issues associated to AIDS.
The exhibition unfurls round a 10-channel video and sound set up within the room’s middle, that includes three taped performances by Russell and Eastman: Russell and Phill Niblock’s “Terrace of Unintelligibility” (1985); Andy de Groat and accompanying dancers’ efficiency of “The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc” on the legendary — and nonetheless operational — NYC nonprofit the Kitchen in 1981; and a cello efficiency of the prior Eastman piece, blended and recorded final 12 months. Their show phases myriad connections between the pair, even between compositions they didn’t develop collectively. In “Terrace of Unintelligibility,” Russell’s repetitive, practically indecipherable vocals start to resemble Eastman’s “Joan d’Arc,” which stars an operatic vocalist who repeats the phrases “he says” and “she says” till the phrases themselves sound as summary as a cello.
Arthur Russell, “Instrumentals” (1975) (picture courtesy Steve Knutson/Audika Data and REDCAT CalArts Theater)
Additionally within the exhibition are innumerable artworks, compositions, and musical scores by different artists: A video work by Justin Leroy seems adjoining to a recording of digital musician Julia Holter’s 2009 tribute to Arthur Russell, “You & Me Both,” and throughout the room lies Devendra Banhart’s painted ode to the artists, entitled “Vis” (2025). This overwhelming vary of labor reveals the extent of Eastman and Russell’s affect over a era of musicians, artists, and curators — even when they don’t seem to be alive to see it.
Set up views of Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell (pictures Claudia Ross/Hyperallergic)
Devendra Banhart, “Vis” (2025), acrylic on wooden panel (picture courtesy the artist)
Set up views of Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell (pictures Claudia Ross/Hyperallergic)
Movie nonetheless from Justen Leroy, “X’ene’s Witness” (2023) (courtesy the artist and Land)
Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell continues at Redcat CalArts Theater (631 West 2nd Avenue, Los Angeles, California) via Could 4. The exhibition was organized in collaboration with LA Phil Perception and Wild Up. It was curated by Katy Dammers with Elizabeth Cline, Talia Heiman, Mark McNeill, Christopher Rountree, and Julia Ward.
