Cristin Tierney Gallery is delighted to announce Shaun Leonardo’s performance at the Queens Museum, The Return of El Conquistador. This performance will take place on November 9th at 3:00 PM as part of the museum’s Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations. The event is free and open to all ages; no registration is required.
El Conquistador vs. El Hombre Invisible (The Conqueror vs. The Invisible Man) was a recurring lucha libre performance unfolding over several years. In it, Leonardo assumed the guise of a Mexican luchador to fight invisibility, both literally and metaphorically. This matchup served as a physical manifestation of internal struggles against societal obscurity and the complexities of the artist's masculine identity.
It has been ten years since Leonardo last wore the luchador mask and twenty years since El Conquistador’s inception, when he first faced El Hombre Invisible at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. According to the lore of lucha libre, there is a special night—Día De Los Muertos—when the retired identities of once-defeated luchadores can be resurrected for battle. On November 9th, El Conquistador will don his mask and return to the ring in Leonardo’s hometown of Queens, where he last fought El Hombre Invisible, offering him a chance to have his hand raised in victory once again. The event will also feature surprise matchups, including a 10-man, over-the-top-rope Battle Royal.
“Amidst the confusion and speed of my transformation into a Mexican wrestler, I could not slow down to analyze all that was occurring to and around me. I am still unsure what it means to have become the very thing I had only, previously, critiqued—to have surpassed that energy which envelops you before and during a performative act that goes beyond the embodiment of a character.” - Shaun Leonardo
Queens Museum
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Building, Corona, NY 11368
Saturday, November 9, 2024, 3:00 PM
