BIG EARS FESTIVAL

Kite Symphony

a multidisciplinary exhibition by Roberto Carlos Lange and Kristi Sword

Thu   Mar   27   2025 - 12:00 PM UT Downtown Gallery Fri   Mar   28   2025 - 12:00 PM UT Downtown Gallery Sat   Mar   29   2025 - 12:00 PM UT Downtown Gallery Sun   Mar   30   2025 - 12:00 PM UT Downtown Gallery

“Lange, better known as Helado Negro, teams with the visual artist Kristi Sword for a sprawling and inspired project paying tribute to the Marfa, Texas sky.” – Pitchfork

Kite Symphony is a multidisciplinary exhibition by Roberto Carlos Lange and Kristi Sword. The project features a series of drawings called Radio Telescope. Two films, one experimental piece called Star Scores, will be scored live during the Big Ears festival, and a film documenting sculptural interventions during their time in Marfa, Texas. Sound is the throughline between these diverse elements of this long-term project. Lange is a musician (widely known as Helado Negro), Sword is a visual artist, and Kite Symphony is an extension of their collaborative practice where they create work at the intersection of music, performance, and visual art. Parts of the film were originally commissioned by Ballroom Marfa and organized by Sarah Melendez.

Roberto Carlos Lange also known as Helado Negro is a South Florida native, born to Ecuadorian immigrants, and based in North Carolina. Through his music as Helado Negro he sings in English and Spanish creating compositions that straddle ambient bolero abstract lyrical songs to more body moving electro-acoustic rhythmic pieces. His art practice shares parts of his sonic qualities of Helado Negro but involves films, installations and collaboration. In 2019, he received a United States Artists Fellowship in Music and a Grants to Artists award in Music from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Helado Negro released his new album PHASOR in 2024 on 4AD.

Kristi Sword is a visual artist who works on small-scale sculpture and drawing. She frequently works with various material such as mylar, hand-drawn 16mm film, translucent adhesives, and brass to explore the textural and sculptural possibilities these materials offer. Her foundation in metals and jewelry has created a bedrock for methodical processes. Her exploration of different media has extended from large-scale black and white pen and ink drawings to 2D stop motion animation. Kristi has shown her artwork at Ballroom Marfa and has an upcoming show with Roberto Carlos Lange at The ICA Boston.

UT Downtown Gallery

106 S. Gay Street

March 7th – April 5th, 2025

Festival Gallery Hours:

Thursday – Saturday 12p – 9p

Sunday 12p – 6p

BIG EARS
03.27_03.30.25
Knoxville, TN · USA

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