GRAB YOUR COSTUME: SURREAL SALON SOIREE set for SAT, JANUARY 25
tickets available NOW!
For the 17th time, Baton Rouge Gallery - center for contemporary art (“BRG”) is excited to invite you to the Surreal Salon Soiree - the annual celebration of the Surreal Salon exhibition! The big night is set for January 25, 2025. Come be a part of one of the weirdest nights in Louisiana’s capital city with art from across the globe, wild costumes, live music, and a couple surprises.
For more than a decade, Surreal Salon has given audiences a unique look at pop-surrealism and lowbrow art from artists across the U.S. and across the globe. This year, the exhibition, curated by Juxtapoz Magainze editor-in-chief Evan Pricoo, features more than 60 artists. The Soiree is a way for everyone to, for one night, transform into their own work of art and join the exhibition while celebrating the work of the show’s featured artists.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25 7 - 11pm
TICKET PRICING
$50 in advance // $40 for BRG Members in advance
$60 at the door // $50 for BRG Members at the door
Supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, as administered by the RAC. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment of the Arts.
PERFORMING LIVE: Bella’s Bartok
Live your fantasy and embrace the stranger side of life with Bella’s Bartok, joining us all the way from Amherst, MA! A band known for raucous theatrical performances and an outspoken political message of finding hope in a world beset by cruel uncertainty. With utter joy, they seamlessly blend a rich cacophony of sound and soul into their music with influences ranging from Punk to Pop and System of a Down to Queen. Let your freak flag fly high, fiercely and free, throw your societal inhibitions to the wayside and seek comfort in the warm sonic embrace of Bella’s Bartok. “We are the night and you are bound to boogie. Floors may be broken but hearts will be mended.”
Bella’s Bartok’s music is hard to describe – it’s like if you put the sounds of Frank Zappa, DeVotchKa, Tom Waits, Gogol Bordello, Squirrel Nut Zippers, World / Inferno Friendship Society into a blender and this is what you get. I guess people call it circus punk but regardless of what it’s called, it’s just fun! readjunk.com
PERFORMING LIVE: OTTO
Caribbean-born, New Orleans-bred Otto Orellana had already accumulated a vast collection of world music before turning his passion into a full time DJ gig over 20 years ago here in Baton Rouge (while pursuing his Bachelor’s in Studio Art & Design at LSU). Even though his focus was printmaking and mixed media, his main interests were collaborating with visual & fashion designers. These days you’ll find him immersed in and adding to the sonic landscape of New Orleans in spaces like Tipitina’s, Saturn Bar, and Fete du Void.
“Beloved by people of all backgrounds, if genres were languages, OTTO would speak them all fluently. Even if you had this man’s entire catalog, you could still never play it the way he does. Which is why there’s DJs, and then there’s OTTO. He describes his sound as ‘open-end format world music electronic club parallel,’ often switching genres from one track to another, never once missing a beat.” - Sean Straynge
AND THEN THERE’S THE COSTUMES…
Over the years, the costumes seen at the Surreal Salon Soiree have taken on a life all their own. From video game characters to woodland creatures, there’s intentionally never a single theme for the Soiree because its more fun to see what happens without one!
We invite everyone to put together their most outlandish costume for the Soiree; in part, because you’ll likely feel completely out of place if you don’t come in costume!
Check out some of our personal favorites from just the most recent Soiree events and then come check out what 2025’s attendees have up their sleeves!
Photos courtesy of Julia Rose Photography / Heather McClelland