Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Search
  • Exhibitions
    • Current
    • Upcoming
    • Past
  • Calendar
  • Learning
    • Artist Residency
    • Bookshelf Residency
    • Digital Projects
    • Public Programs
    • Schools & Community
    • Special Projects
  • Visit
  • About
    • Staff
    • Governance
    • Press
    • Partnerships
    • Opportunities
    • Annual Report
  • Shop
  • Get Involved
    • Membership
    • Patron Groups
    • Institutional Support
    • Artist Edition Series
    • Sustainability
    • Corporate
  • Donate
Yellow Pages

Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

  • Exhibitions
    • Current
    • Upcoming
    • Past
  • Calendar
  • Learning
    • Artist Residency
    • Bookshelf Residency
    • Digital Projects
    • Public Programs
    • Schools & Community
    • Special Projects
  • Visit
  • About
    • Staff
    • Governance
    • Press
    • Partnerships
    • Opportunities
    • Annual Report
  • Shop
  • Get Involved
    • Membership
    • Patron Groups
    • Institutional Support
    • Artist Edition Series
    • Sustainability
    • Corporate
  • Donate
Yellow Pages
Search
Back To Exhibitions
Will Rawls: [siccer] April 05 ➽ August 31
1 Upcoming Events
Back
Will Rawls: [siccer] April 05 ➽ August 31
1 Upcoming Events

Will Rawls: [siccer]

Exhibitions
[siccer] is an interdisciplinary project and immersive installation by artist and choreographer Will Rawls (b. 1978, Boston, MA), who is based between Los Angeles and New York. Marking Rawls’ most significant institutional presentation to date, [siccer] uses dance, stop-motion animation, and sound to investigate the role of media in documenting, exploiting, and erasing the Black body. 
Adopting the techniques and technologies associated with the cinema and the stage, Rawls’ work challenges divisions between the living, the rehearsed, and the performed. Produced with stop-motion animation, [siccer] features an all-Black cast of performers in various states of motion and capture. At once fragmented and continuous, the performers’ gestures glitch in and out of focus across a scaffolding of chroma green frames reminiscent of the green screens commonly associated with film production. While the green screen is traditionally meant to disappear, in [siccer], the screen becomes the setting for both performer and visitor. In this refusal to remain fixed, Rawls recontextualizes how racialized subjects navigate forced states of invisibility. And, as Kermit the Frog reminds us, “it’s not easy being green.” 
Adopting the techniques and technologies associated with the cinema and the stage, Rawls’ work challenges divisions between the living, the rehearsed, and the performed. Produced with stop-motion animation, [siccer] features an all-Black cast of performers in various states of motion and capture. At once fragmented and continuous, the performers’ gestures glitch in and out of focus across a scaffolding of chroma green frames reminiscent of the green screens commonly associated with film production. While the green screen is traditionally meant to disappear, in [siccer], the screen becomes the setting for both performer and visitor. In this refusal to remain fixed, Rawls recontextualizes how racialized subjects navigate forced states of invisibility. And, as Kermit the Frog reminds us, “it’s not easy being green.” 
Convert?format=jpg&w=800&compress=true&fit=max
Installation view, Holland Andrews, Katrina Reid, Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste, jess pretty, and keyon gaskin featured in _Will Rawls: [siccer]_, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, April 5-August 31, 2025. Photo: Jeff McLane/ICA
The project’s title is inspired by the Latin adverb sic, often used within brackets to indicate incorrect spelling within a citation. Through this titular reference, [siccer] illuminates the ways in which Black subjectivity resists standard Western forms of “correction,” suggesting instead a way of being that is both iterative and endlessly becoming. In an image-saturated world wherein our technologies and identities are inextricably intertwined, [siccer] points to the trap of the ever-present camera—echoed in the repeated snaps that resound from the installation’s soundscape—and the intensive labor of becoming an image. This exhaustion of being held in a constant state of fugitivity is further emphasized by the cattails scattered throughout the gallery, which allude to the environment of the swamp. Neither land nor water, but a territory that exists between both landscapes, the swamp represents an ecological site of transformation. For Black and Indigenous people in particul …

The project’s title is inspired by the Latin adverb sic, often used within brackets to indicate incorrect spelling within a citation. Through this titular reference, [siccer] illuminates the ways in which Black subjectivity resists standard Western forms of “correction,” suggesting instead a way of being that is both iterative and endlessly becoming. In an image-saturated world wherein our technologies and identities are inextricably intertwined, [siccer] points to the trap of the ever-present camera—echoed in the repeated snaps that resound from the installation’s soundscape—and the intensive labor of becoming an image. This exhaustion of being held in a constant state of fugitivity is further emphasized by the cattails scattered throughout the gallery, which allude to the environment of the swamp. Neither land nor water, but a territory that exists between both landscapes, the swamp represents an ecological site of transformation. For Black and Indigenous people in particular, the swamp has historically served as a space of refuge, liberation, and self-reclamation.

Embracing the liminality of the swamp, Rawls—together with performers Holland Andrews, keyon gaskin, jess pretty, Katrina Reid, and Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste—explores the limits and possibilities of gesture and language to speculate on collective strategies of narrating the world, uncorrected.

Convert?format=jpg&w=800&compress=true&fit=max
Installation view, _Will Rawls: [siccer]_, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, April 5-August 31, 2025. Photo: Jeff McLane/ICA
Icala 2025 04 09 034
Icala 2025 04 09 005
Icala 2025 04 09 010
Icala 2025 04 09 018
Icala 2025 04 09 031
Icala 2025 04 09 036
Icala 2025 04 09 017
Icala 2025 04 09 042
Icala 2025 04 09 060
icon/arrow copy Created with Sketch.
icon/arrow copy Created with Sketch.
1/9
Installation view, Will Rawls: [siccer], Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, April 5–August 31, 2025. Photo: Jeff McLane/ICA LA
Related Events
Resources
News
Credits & Sponsors
About the Artist
April 10, 2025, 8:30 PM - 10 PM
April 11, 2025, 8:30 PM - 10 PM
April 12, 2025, 8:30 PM - 10 PM
Will Rawls: [siccer]
Performance
Siccer 394

April 05, 2025, 3 PM - 7 PM
Open House at ICA LA
Openings
All Ages
Exhibitions
Openhouse2

May 01, 2025, 7 PM - 8:30 PM
Listening Session with Will Rawls
Performance
Programs
Listening session hero image

May 14, 2025, 7 PM - 8:30 PM
A Closer Look: Will Rawls’ [siccer] and its iterations
Talks & Panels
Programs
A closer look hero image

June 04, 2025, 7 PM - 8:30 PM
POV Tour: Olivia Mole on Will Rawls: [siccer]
Exhibition Programs
Tours
Olivia mole pov tour hero image 2

June 25, 2025, 7 PM - 8:30 PM
Action Interrupted, on Stop-Motion Animation: Will Rawls and Lyndon Barrois, Sr
Exhibition Programs
Talks
Action interrupted hero image

July 12, 2025, 10 AM - 12 PM
A Film for All: Sesame Street’s “Follow That Bird”
Families
Screenings
Programs
Follow that bird hero image

Exhibition Guide (English)
Exhibition Guide (Spanish)
April 07, 2025
How new global tariffs could affect the art market: L.A. arts and culture this week
May 07, 2025
Will Rawls’ “[siccer]” (REVIEW)
April 02, 2025
Our critics’ 29 most anticipated L.A. arts, theater, classical music, pop and comedy shows
April 10, 2025
Share This Facebook Twitter Arts and Entertainment Best things to do this weekend in Los Angeles and Southern California: April 11 - 13
March 01, 2025
Will Rawls’ [siccer] Explores Black Identity Through Movement
May 07, 2025
Will Rawls “[siccer]” at ICA, Los Angeles

Will Rawls: [siccer] is organized by Amanda Sroka, Senior Curator, with Emilia Shaffer-Del Valle, Curatorial Associate.

Lead funding forWill Rawls: [siccer] is provided by the Pasadena Art Alliance, Karen Hillenburg, Sarah and Joel McHale, Dori and Charles Mostov, and Anonymous. Additional support is provided by Tim Disney and John Morace & Tom Kennedy.

ICA LA is supported by the Curator’s Council and Fieldwork Council.

The [siccer] live performances are presented by REDCAT and ICA LA. [siccer] was originally commissioned by The Kitchen in partnership with co-commissioners, The Momentary, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, On the Boards, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

For their production support, artist would also like to thank: Kemi Adeyemi, Dana Doughty, Rebecca Fitton, Jimmy Garver, Maggie Heath, Sasha Okshteyn, Saša Kovačević, Lauryn Siegel, Indigo Sparks and David Szlasa.

[siccer] was made possible, in part, by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The MAP Fund, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and is a Creative Capital Project. [siccer] is also a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project which is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). [siccer] also received substantial developmental support from THINKLARGE.US, a family run nonprofit created by Don Quinn Kelley and Sandra L. Burton to aid in the creation of new work.

[siccer] was developed and supported, in part, by residencies at The Momentary and Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts, with additional support by On the Boards and The Kitchen; a creative residency at Petronio Residency Center, a program of the Stephen Petronio Company; with financial, administrative and residency support from Dance in Process at Gibney with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Movement Research; the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at the University of California Los Angeles and The Hammer Museum Residency; the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University; with production support and residency provided by EMPAC / Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Williams College and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

The forthcoming [siccer] album was made possible with support from the Barbara Streisand Center for the Study of Women at UCLA.

Will Rawls is an artist and choreographer whose multidisciplinary practice explores the ambiguities of Blackness—its visibility and erasure, its performance and abstraction—to reframe the relationship between language and the body. In 2016, he co-curated Lost and Found, a six-week program of performances and artist projects at Danspace Project focused on the intergenerational impact of HIV/AIDS on dancers, women, and people of color. Based in Los Angeles, he currently teaches in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at the University of California, Los Angeles and lectures widely in academic and community contexts. In addition, his work has been exhibited across the U.S., including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; MoMA PS1, New York; Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR; The Chocolate Factory Theater, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Institute of Contemporary Art Boston; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven.
Find us on Facebook and Instagram
⍟ Privacy Policy ⍟
Last updated at Friday, 30 May 2025 4:44 PM, by Amanda Sroka Log in
Database Exhibitions
First Prev 1 2 3 Next Last
Back to top
?
STATUS ID Title Start date End date Featured image Last updated
Active Published
91 Rebecca Morris: 2001–2022 2022-10-01 2023-01-15
Image of exhibition introduction text, Rebecca Morris painting hands in the background.
1:10pm Apr 01, 2024 Page
Active Published
92 My Barbarian 2022-10-01 2023-01-15
Icala 2022 10 06 004
4:57pm Nov 08, 2022 Page
Active Published
90 The Condition of Being Addressable 2022-06-18 2022-09-04
Icala 06.20.220449 edit
12:07pm Aug 04, 2022 Page
Active Published
125 Aquelarre no binario / Non-binary coven 2022-06-08 2023-01-15
View of ICA LA courtyard mural by Ad Minoliti featuring four vertical panels, each filled with abstracted representations of figures in vivid reds, yellows, oranges, purples, and pinks.
9:13pm Jan 19, 2023 Page
Active Published
87 Jamal Cyrus: The End of My Beginning 2022-02-05 2022-05-29
Installation view, "Jamal Cyrus: The End of My Beginning," Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, February 5–May 29, 2022. Photo: Jeff McLane/ICA LA
12:18pm Jul 06, 2022 Page
Active Published
88 Sara Cwynar: Apple Red/Grass Green/Sky Blue 2022-02-05 2022-05-29
Sara Cwynar, "Glass Life," 2021. Six channel 2K video with sound, TRT: 19:02 min. Courtesy the artist; The Approach, London; Cooper Cole, Toronto; and Foxy Production, New York. Installation view, "Sara Cwynar: Apple Red/Grass Green/Sky Blue," Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, February 5–May 29, 2022. Photo: Jeff McLane/ICA LA
5:53pm May 03, 2022 Page
Active Published
83 Witch Hunt 2021-10-10 2022-01-09
Installation view of Witch Hunt, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, October 10–January 9, 2022.
12:41pm May 29, 2025 Page
Active Published
89 Minerva Cuevas: Female Earth 2021-10-10 2022-06-02
Icala witchhunt 2021 10 12 077 (1)
10:47am May 24, 2022 Page
Active Published
81 Queer Communion:
Ron Athey
2021-06-19 2021-09-05
Icala 2021 07 02 009
10:15pm Sep 01, 2021 Page
Active Published
82 Kenneth Tam:
Silent Spikes
2021-06-19 2021-09-05
Icala 2021 07 02 002
11:12am Aug 03, 2021 Page
Active Published
80 The Inconstant World 2021-03-06 2021-05-30
Tiw horvitz
9:42am Dec 22, 2021 Page
Active Published
79 Online Screening: Stanya Kahn’s No Go Backs and Earlier Works 2020-12-09 2021-01-10
Sk1b
4:13pm Jan 22, 2021 Page
Active Published
77 Harold Mendez:
Let us gather in a flourishing way
2020-09-26 2021-01-10
Icala 2020 10 05 014
3:17pm Feb 07, 2022 Page
Active Published
78 Stanya Kahn:
No Go Backs
2020-09-26 2021-01-10
Sk1a
6:46pm Dec 04, 2020 Page
Active Published
69 Ree Morton:
The Plant That Heals May Also Poison
2020-02-16 2020-07-19
Icala 2020 03 06 025
1:06pm Jan 18, 2022 Page
Active Published
74 Ann Greene Kelly 2020-02-16 2020-07-19
Icala 2020 03 06 001
1:06pm Jan 18, 2022 Page
Active Published
75 Agency of Assets x El Clasificado 2019-12-06 2020-01-26
Meztly cover
4:32pm Dec 02, 2021 Page
Active Published
73 CURRENT:LA FOOD Public Art Triennial 2019 2019-10-05 2019-11-03
CURRENT:LA FOOD
11:04am Oct 07, 2019 Page
Active Published
67 No Wrong Holes:
Thirty Years of Nayland Blake
2019-09-29 2020-01-26
Ica blake 5
3:57pm Oct 21, 2020 Page
Active Published
72 Sadie Barnette:
The New Eagle Creek Saloon
2019-09-29 2020-01-26
Ica barnette 7
5:36pm Aug 26, 2020 Page
Active Published
70 Hervé Tullet: Ideal Exhibition 2019-07-14 2019-09-08
Icala96194
11:32am Dec 07, 2021 Page
Active Published
71 Worldwide Orphans: Element of Play® 2019-07-14 2019-09-08
Worldwide Orphans: Element of Play® program in Vietnam.
12:42pm Dec 07, 2021 Page
Active Published
68 Brognon-Rollin:
Maybe Some Of Us Will Change This
2019-03-17 2019-06-30
Img 8214 3
2:28pm Nov 17, 2020 Page
Active Published
63 Patty Chang:
The Wandering Lake, 2009–2017
2019-03-17 2019-08-04
Ica chang 24
3:05pm Oct 01, 2019 Page
Active Published
19 Maryam Jafri:
I Drank the Kool-Aid But I Didn’t Inhale
2019-02-10 2019-06-30
Icla2.12.19 60
4:45pm Apr 09, 2020 Page
Search results
Loading...