Angel Alcalá & Brett Salsbury, an artistic partnership that blends fashion and poetry and is ripe with possibility.

This collaborative statement encompasses two different artistic approaches: the visual arts, and poetry. As two different artists working separately in these fields --Angel Alcalá in visual art, and Brett Salsbury in poetry.

Alcalá’s work is influenced by both haute couture fashion and the fine arts (sculptures in particular). He works with fabrics such as neoprene, muslin and vinyl and also alternative materials such as paper, plastic, and foam board to create diverse, sculptural fashion pieces that double as wearable visual experiences. His work has been featured in group charity shows (such as Circus Couture, ARTrageous, and the Springs Preserve Foundation) as well as in solo shows. Most recently, he was featured as part of Vegas Cut + Sew, an educational fashion weekend with runway shows and panels at Zappos in Downtown Las Vegas.

Salsbury’s poetry usually explores humanity’s relationship to both their environment and also to fellow animals in both confessional and elegiac forms. His work has been featured in various magazines and journals, such as Posit, GTK Creative, Foothill, Fourculture, and Words Dance Publishing.

Both of our artistic approaches seek to push cultural boundaries and challenge labels that establish an official designated meaning toward concepts, people, and behavior.

Poetry Samples—Brett Salsbury

Museum Label #5
In this work I recorded my voice
every day for six months. I hated it
and I wanted it to take me out
to dinner to apologize. I began to
understand how uneasy it is to
paint: how much it slips away with
all the moist oil in its grasp. I
continued painting further—
when I ripped out the canvas
and spliced it onto a slated piece
of sandstone. This process continued
with even more acts, but that
wouldn’t leave you hanging if I
told you everything.
This work was comprised
of the following materials
(but who knows anymore):
stiletto heels; Tornado Alley;
Bobble-head dolls; pencil; expired
type-AB+ blood; celebrity-chewed
table scraps; brightness;
what you lost; magnetic
tape; magnetism; whiteness
again (like always);
acupuncture needles; and
cloth enough for a mummy.

Museum Label #8
for A.A.
This work could be worn by a mannequin or hanger—by woodplank
tiles resting in the yard, or by the hummingbird drinking dirty nectar.
It’s best expressed by vivacious makeup: metallic bits with dabs from
a hairy brush. I wouldn’t place it on a runway—I would cover it with
magnetic tape and buy it its own airplane seat. It’s a person, you’ll see,
in some shape or form. It won’t even submit its essay to receive credit.
This work is comprised of the following
media: bird feathers; self-help books;
semi-colons; a horizon line; drapery;
plastic canvas; holes; vision; sight; color;
line; wrong-way streets; personality.

Museum Label #20
The artist left us many articles of clothing. Some of them
were breasted with gold plates, while others were torn to shreds and
likely worn as skorts. We are thinking of creating an award to honor
their work—something along the lines of a Pulitzer or Raspberry. The
biggest accomplishments they’ve left us are their knack for rearranging
furniture; their wisdom to only drink coffee with paint thinners; their
adventurous spirit, that claimed many lives; and the memory of their
tongue flaps.
We don’t have any guesses
at the materials here, so
instead, we merely baa.