Prompt: While MoMA was temporarily closed for renovations, MoMA PopRally initiated the project MoMA PopRally × New York, a creative journey across New York City. From Staten Island to the Bronx, MoMA PopRally headed to each of the five boroughs to explore local art, music, food, film, and more. For the third event, PopRally and the Andrew Freedman Home presented Beauteous, a site-specific, immersive theatrical presentation. Beauteous explored issues of perception, community branding, and the dynamics of hype, incorporating narratives of LGBTQ subculture, rap, hip-hop, and DJing to reflect the cultural evolution of the Bronx. Guests experienced an imagined urban future through theatrical vignettes, musical performances, and art installations set amid the faded glamor of a Gilded Age mansion located on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Beauteous culminated on the mansion’s rooftop with a dance party hosted by Pauli Cakes and DJ She Marley Marl, featuring DJ sets by BRUJAS and friends with DaDa Coz and gnarianna, DJ Red Alert, and Grandmaster Caz.

Image credit: Dominic