On June 12 and August 7, Elia Alba will stage The Supper Club at the High Line’s lawn on 22nd street, inviting a select group of artists and cultural leaders of African-American, Latin American, African, South Asian and Caribbean descent for a dinner conversation. Addressing issues of art, life, pop culture, politics, gender and race, her goal is to create forums for meaningful social and cultural criticism, as well as create a critical historical archive, through a broad variety of creative voices, cultural, social, political and economic backgrounds, and a diverse set of critical perspectives.

B.Y.O. (Bring Your Own) is a new series of intimate, unscripted conversations staged in public space. Hosted by artists who center their practice on food and dialogue, these events contribute to an exploration of critical thought, creative exchange, and discourse production. B.Y.O. is inaugurated this year with McKendree Key’s The Breakfast Den, Heather Hart and Jina Valentine’s The Black Lunch Table, and Elia Alba’s Supper Club.

Participating Guests
Jaishri Abichandani
Nicole Awai
Arlene Davila
Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful
Coco Fusco
Deborah Jack
Joiri Minaya
Rachelle Mozman Solano
Justin Sterling
Jasmine Wahi

All conversations will be recorded and photographed, transcribed, and published—both online and in a book produced by The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation and published by Hirmer.

ABOUT THE SUPPER CLUB
The Supper Club is a multi-faceted art project comprised of an ongoing series of socially engaged dinners in which discussions on race and visual culture have taken place since 2012; photographic portraits of nearly 60 artists of color, who have participated in the dinner conversations; and a book of the portraits and text related to the dinner conversations to be published by Hirmer in collaboration with The Rubin Foundation, in October of this year. Since its inception, the dinners have evolved to include over 400 participants. By bringing different perspectives and experiences to the table, the project aims to weigh in on the historical significance of the current moment and the enduring power of art, food, and conversation in our everyday lives. This will be the first time the dinners are open to the public.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Elia Alba was born in Brooklyn, New York. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College and completed the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. She has exhibited throughout the United States and abroad, including the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the National Museum of Art, Reina Sofía, Madrid, and the 10th Havana Biennial, Cuba. She participated in the Studio Museum in Harlem Artist-in Residence Program, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) Workspace Program, and Recess Analog Program, and is recipient of Grants by the New York Foundation for the Arts, Pollack-Krasner Foundation, and Joan Mitchell Foundation.