The inaugural season of Oxy Live! opens with internationally celebrated writer, artist and non-binary activist ALOK.
This event is NOT at OXY ARTS. It will take place at Thorne Hall on Occidental College's campus. Address and parking locations will be sent with registration.
Occidental College and OXY ARTS are pleased to announce the launch of Oxy Live!, a conversation series highlighting a diverse lineup of cultural luminaries at the forefront of their fields.
The inaugural season of Oxy Live! opens on Oct. 3rd with internationally celebrated writer, artist and non-binary activist ALOK, in conversation with acclaimed interviewer and cultural interlocutor Paul Holdengräber.
ALOK is an internationally acclaimed author, poet, comedian and public speaker. As a mixed-media artist their work explores themes of trauma, belonging, and the human condition. They are the author of Femme in Public (2017), Beyond the Gender Binary (2020), and Your Wound/My Garden (2021) and the creator of #DeGenderFashion: an initiative to degender fashion and beauty industries. In recognition of their work, they have been honored as the inaugural LGBTQ Scholar in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania and awarded a GLAAD Media Award and Stonewall Foundation Visionary Award. Over the past decade, they have toured in more than 40 countries, most recently selling out their runs at the Soho Theatre in London, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the Kennedy Performing Arts Center. Their show has been described as "provocative and powerful" (Chortle), a "potent combination of comedy and poetry" (The Scotsman), and a "Jaw-dropping celestial event" (To Do List London).
On screen, they will make their feature film debut in Absolute Dominion opposite Patton Oswalt and next can be seen in Emmie Lichtenberg’s film Complicated Order opposite Midori Francis. On television, they have appeared on Hulu’s Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne, ABC’s PRIDE: To Be Seen – A Soul of A Nation, Netflix’s Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness and The Trans List.
Paul Holdengräber is an interviewer and curator. He was the Founding Executive Director of Onassis Los Angeles (OLA). Previously, and for 14 years, he was Founder and Director of The New York Public Library’s LIVE from the NYPL cultural series where he interviewed and hosted over 600 events, holding conversations with everyone from Patti Smith to Zadie Smith, Ricky Jay to Jay-Z, Errol Morris to Jan Morris, Wes Anderson to Helen Mirren, Werner Herzog to Mike Tyson. Before his tenure at the Library, Holdengräber was the Founder and Director of “The Institute for Art & Cultures” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a Fellow at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. He has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Princeton University and has taught at Princeton University, Williams College, Claremont Graduate University among others. In 2003, the French Government named Holdengräber Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and then promoted him in 2012 to the rank of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. In 2010, The President of Austria awarded him the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art.
Oxy Live! events extend an open invitation to the public at no cost, fostering a space for diverse communities to join in the conversation and explore ideas together. A full schedule and reservation information is available at oxy.edu/oxylive.
