San Antonio-based art collective House of Kenzo has a vision that goes beyond vogue, but vogue culture has become its calling card in its quest for social change through radical self-expression. The group’s first EP, Intro to FUCKWAVE, is for those for whom the word “cuntceptual” resonates, who make the club their athletic stadium — or for those who are in training to do so.
The House’s dancers (many of them classically trained) have been stealing stages from New York to Austin, but things just leveled up with the release of the new EP, a metallic Bladerunner call to arms. “Is that coochie conscious?” asks House of Kenzo’s Ledef-produced track “Conscious Cunt.” This is key. On FUCKWAVE, queer sensual agency is the thoroughfare for social change, “the confidence to cum,” both a byproduct and a prerequisite of the “complete intention for creation” described in TonePatron’s “The Biggest Bang in History.”
“Our goal isn’t only to help evolve this lovely culture, as far as expanding past the typical structure of a ball,” says the House’s Facebook page. “But also teaching individuals how to be one with their vessel.”
In San Antonio, their balls and dance workshops represent something new. That hasn’t been without its challenges. Take for example, the case of San Antonio’s first vogue ball, hosted by House of Kenzo during Independence Day weekend in 2015. A rainbow night of over-the-top looks and battles ended when the police showed up, arresting four of the party’s people including Kenzo’s Breezy Raynae. An enraging video of Raynae being manhandled in her orange tutu, an offensively bland khaki jacket all too metaphorically draped over her painted torso, is now on the historic record.
Deeming the event a creative success despite law enforcement’s intrusion, the collective duck walked away to steal the scene during Mexican electronic label NAAFI’s appearance at The Fader Fort during SXSW (Raynae calls the group their “DJ dads”). This Thursday, the collective looks to display its depth with the first in a trilogy of FUCKWAVE events at San Antonio club Brick, featuring sets by Ledef and TonePatron, a runway with clothes from House of Kenzo’s Rainbow Starchild, and an “organic mutant soundscape.”
The first event in the Fuckwave trilogy takes place Thursday, June 23 at San Antonio’s Brick. The second event takes place July 28, and Death of Fuckwave on September 9. Check out the flyer below, and for more information, click here.
