ISSUE presents the premiere of three audiovisual compositions by Matt Mottel (2010 AIR). These works bring Mottel’s distinct artistic sensibility into dialogue with formative figures in his life and in New York’s avant-garde, tracing a lineage that is both deeply personal and central to ISSUE’s history.
Monarch Butterfly by rocío sánchez (2026 AIR) features Melissa Almaguer (tap dance and percussion) and Kenneth Jiménez (double bass). Together, the trio explores the elusive monarch’s migratory journey through sound and movement, with each instrument articulating distinct states of motion.
Isabella Thorpe-Woods presents "Envelop/e," her second program as ISSUE’s 2026 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow. Bringing together choreographers Jade Manns and Ella Dawn W-S for site-specific duets, they navigate presence and absence, repetition and rupture, and the tension between inherited geometries and shifting landscapes.
"Spiriting Off" is a new solo work by luthier Webb Crawford (2026 AIR) for electric guitar, tenor banjo, and five-string banjo.
ISSUE closes the summer season with the return of Matana Roberts (2009 AIR). Opening the evening, Ben Vida (2013 AIR) will perform music from his 2026 release, "Oblivion Seekers" with vocalist Sara Magenheimer.
Combining a palette of sources from early Chicago house mixtapes through to musique concrète and psychedelia, Heatsick proposes a live dance music that expands and unlocks the senses. Ned Rothenberg performs solo improvisations, engaging a range of wind instruments as melodic, rhythmic and harmonic engines.
An evening of improvised duets featuring Marina Rosenfeld closes electronic composer Ben Vida’s 2013 residency. A leading voice in the increasing hybridization between the domains of visual art and music, Rosenfeld performs on turntables. Vida plays a digital/analog hybrid synth.
Electronic artists Chris Madak (Bee Mask) and Fabric's atmospheric synth compositions have emerged from corners of the midwest to international acclaim through many consistently auspicious, sculpted releases. Solo sets from each guarantee a night of hypnotic sounds with a contrarian bent.
Formed in 2005, the trio of Michael Snow, Alan Licht and Aki Onda achieves the all-too-rare alchemy of strong separate identities and shared aesthetics into a holistic unit. Snow, who began his career as a pianist, performs on the CAT synthesizer, with Licht on guitar and Onda on cassette recorders and electronics.
A seminal pioneer in the DIY ethic, R. Stevie Moore has recorded over 400 very original homemade albums of alarmingly idiosyncratic styles— tonight he performs unplugged. Bursting with electro-funk, synth rock, soul, and avant-garde jazz, Gary Wilson's songs celebrate the romance and randiness of born-losers.
ISSUE is pleased to host an evening with three extraordinary singer songwriters: Josephine Foster, Victor Herrero and Ed Askew. Outsider folk legend Askew plays new songs with his trio, joined at times by Foster and Herrero, who each perform solo sets.
Artists-in-Residence 2013
SOLD OUT, tickets for Sunday still available. "This room this braid" premieres, a new work by choreographer devynn emory. Commissioned as part of ISSUE’s Artist-In-Residence program, the piece features devynn emory joined by dancer Aretha Aoki, with sound by Ryan MacDonald, and sets by painter RJ Messineo.
Since 1981 BOMB Magazine has publishing conversations between artists, giving a crucial voice to creative and critical practices of all genres. Tonight BOMB raises funds to make all content free, and to pay online contributors. With David Grubbs, Eli Keszler, C Spencer Yeh, Jules Gimbrone, Ben Lerner & Amy Sillman.