What do you get when you take eight local illustrators, throw in some improv-style audience participation, and add a panel of three art-savvy judges? You get Savannah’s first ever Lucha Libre-themed art competition where the winner not only takes home arm loads of art supplies, but more importantly, wins the coveted hand-crocheted championship belt of greatness.
On Saturday, July 13, Latin/ Hispanic/Indigenous art collective SOY X SOY (pronounced soy como soy, “I am who I am”) teams up with Starland Yard to present “Art Rumble,” an art battle in seven rounds. The evening begins at 5 p.m. with DJ Jose Ray setting the mood and craft brew “Senor Delicioso” on tap from Service Brewing. Clinton Edminster, Rob Hessler and Madai Rodriquez judge each round.
Artist and SOY X SOY collective member, Tafy LaPlanche, organized the event after having simmered on an idea she’d gleaned years earlier at a science fiction and fantasy convention in Atlanta.
“In 2014 I went to Dragon Con and saw a session listed for 'Cyanide and Happiness,' this online comic I really like,” recalled LaPlanche. “They were putting on an art fight, 30 minutes of comic artists drawing responses to the audience shouting out ideas. Each artist would draw a quick comic narrative based on what was called out.”
LaPlanche was taken with the idea and the artists’ speedy renderings. She knew one day she would find the right people and place to create a similar experience, but in her mind the event would be bigger, with a different competitive aim, yet same goal of selecting winners based on talent shown in the moment. And hopefully, once in motion, it would positively support the Latin, Hispanic, and Indigenous creative cultures growing within the Hostess City’s burgeoning art scene.
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LaPlanche shared the idea with the collective, and it was well received.
Art Rumble was a go.
The event works like this:
At Starland Yard, the art collective will set up a wrestling ring beneath a large tent. There, two “fighters” will go head-to-head in each round. The audience will call out ideas, and after an idea is decided on, the artists work within a designated timeframe to create their interpretation. When time is up, judges make the final determination of who wins each round.
“With this arrangement, the audience can walk around the ring and really see what each artist is making and how they are working,” said LaPlanche. “The judges will be off to the side with microphones, so they can make comments during the rounds. Plus, this is July in Savannah, there will be chairs set up for the audience to watch comfortably.”
In the spirit of Lucha Libre, Mexican-style professional wrestling, each artist has adopted an alter ego for the battle.
Painter Adrienne Berkland comes to the ring as “Brush Breaker Berkland.” In an orange-hued fighter’s portrait, her raised hands wield paint brushes, while in her teeth another brush is tightly clenched. Berkland’s tag line proclaims, “hails from the north… is here for the heat.” Though she anticipates donning some kind of costume in keeping with her persona, she’s not yet sure of the specifics given the sweltering weather.
“We all have colors and characters that add to the theatrics of the night,” said Berkland. “We want crowd participation. We want people to come out and get a team and have fun with us. I can’t say I’ll wear a mask or anything that will be hot, but I’ll have some kind of costuming created around my color.”
Berkland, who is a trained painter, has been working at Tybee Island Marine Science Center with fellow artist Joy Davis constructing a scale model of a North Atlantic Right Whale and currently is revamping the center’s sea turtle exhibit. She also teaches painting at the Telfair Academy, is a member of Sulfur Studios, and sells her work in Forsyth Park.
“Art is like a science experiment,” pondered Berkland. “I like having a hypothesis and seeing how that plays out on the canvas. In this competition, I will have to generate quick hypotheses and get them quickly on paper. I don’t know what’s it’s going to look like, but my goal is to lean into what’s happening, just say yes, and have fun.”
For Julio Cotto Rivera, aka “Senor Peligroso,” the event promises to be a night of theatrics. The Puerto Rican-born artist arrived in Savannah by way of Brooklyn, Miami, Greenville, and Charleston, but loves the Hostess City best for her charm and eclectic art scene. The only concern Rivera has about the rumble are sourced themes from the audience.
“I mean, it’s not a spelling bee, right?” laughed Rivera. “I can use my phone to look up something if I don’t know what it is. My fear is a younger person generating a topic I’m not familiar with like a singer, or rapper, or a video game. But seriously, this is going to be so much fun, and that’s all we really want is to have a fun night making art with friends and supporters.”
Rivera, self-taught, began as a child doing comic book lettering and building from there into elements of graphic novels. As a young adult living in Charleston, he started painting and recently collaborated with Americana duo “Shovels and Rope” illustrating a graphic novel. “C’mon Utah” was published in April and features Rivera’s bright, saturated images that tell the story of a magical, multi-colored horse helping reunite families separated at a border wall.
As for his character “Senor Peligroso,” Rivera chocks it up to some of the employees at Service Brewing.
“Service has this beer called “Senor Delicioso,”” said Rivera. “And some of the Hispanic workers call it Senor Peligroso because it goes down so easily. It’s dangerously easy to drink. And I thought that name would be a good tie in with the event as a character.”
SOY X SOY collective kicked off nearly three years ago with a core group of visual artists. Since then, they’ve expanded to 30 members including writers, DJs, mixologists and more. SOY X SOY partners regularly with Savannah Cultural Arts Center to highlight art and artists each year during Spanish Heritage Month.
Art Rumble sponsors include Starland Yard, Starlandia Art Supply, and Service Brewing. Additional fighters in the Art Rumble include Amy Challis, “Watercolor Witch;” Shannon Snow, “Mee Maw;” Duff Young, “Ookee;” Adolfo, “El Incognito;” Zachary Turner, “Zombie Man Zack;” and Amelia Jamerson, “La Heartist.” Artist Rebecca Cook contributed her crochet skills in making the championship belt.
“This is the first time I know of an event like this taking place in Savannah,” considered LaPlanche. “And our goal is to make this the first annual Art Rumble of many more to come.”
If You Go >>
What: SOY X SOY presents “Art Rumble”
When: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., July 13
Where: Starland Yard, 2411 De Soto Avenue, Savannah
Cost: Free to attend
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