Bring It From the Back: On Ballroom, Texas Nightlife And Resistance
Bring It From The Back features a curated selection of portraits and scenes from Austin-based photographer ScamLikely’s archives. On view at The Future Front House throughout Summer 2024, the exhibit celebrates the profound impact of ballroom and queer nightlife on Central Texas arts and culture.
Continue reading to learn more about the show, as well as Manuel Frayre.
✹ about the show, bring it from the back
From spontaneously captured death drops to curated portraits, Bring It From The Back documents the transformational power of Austin-based ballroom collective House of Lepore, as well as a number of event producers, curators, tastemakers and performers shaping Texas’ ballroom scene, through the lens of photographer ScamLikely (Manuel Frayre).
Documented in Texas Monthly and local publications, House of Lepore has become widely recognized and known for popularizing ballroom in Austin’s underground, bringing the queer cultural practice from New York to Texas. As a member of House of Lepore himself, Frayre’s archive is a unique and clarifying window into the collective’s mission, vision and creative practice through the artists’ own perspectives, stories and lenses.
“BRING IT FROM THE BACK” FEATURES 29 ARCHIVAL MATTE PRINTS by scam likely (@__scamlikely__).
Each print is its own archive, documenting the people and places that have defined Central Texas Ballroom culture from 2019 to 2024. View select prints from the exhibit below (provided courtesy of the artist):
✹ ON ballroom as resistance WITH photographer scam likely
ScamLikely aka Manuel Frayre (he/him) is a Latinx, Austin-based photographer, artist, DJ and event producer. He is a member of the legendary House of Lepore, one of Texas' premier ballroom collectives shaping Central Texas nightlife. Through his work with House of Lepore, as well as producing his own balls, shows and parties at venues like Cheer Up Charlies and Coconut Club Austin, Frayre has become a renowned events photographer and curator trusted by the Austin community. With this unique access and lens, he has built an elaborate documentary archive of queer cultural impact in Texas.
“Ballroom is resilient. It’s the fight of the unheard. It takes commitment and true passion to dedicate to this scene and I have tried to respect it as such.
It’s not just an experience or a party for these people, it’s a livelihood and for some the only way they can exist in this unfair world. The theme is really Queer Expression.
Every performer has a story to tell, with their identity, their looks and their body movements.
’Bring It From The Back’ is a love letter to our fight and an invitation to future generations. Every loss is followed by an invitation to progress. So, this exhibit is also dedicated to all of the Trans and Queer people of color who have been taken from us by the hands of suppression. They live through us, through every trophy.”
Read the entire interview with the Austin Chronicle here.
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