Sebastian Hernandez

Sebastian Hernandez (b. 1990, Los Angeles, CA) is a Los Angeles native and multidisciplinary artist. They received a BA in both Art Practice and Dance and Performance Studies from the University of California Berkeley in 2016 and have since exhibited their work and performed at venues across Los Angeles, including Angels Gate Cultural Center; Club sCUM; Commonwealth and Council; Human Resources; LACE; LACMA; MOCA LA; Mustache Mondays; ONE Gallery, West Hollywood; and REDCAT Theater, among others. @brownskinhazel

In BROWN ZERO (2016), Sebastian Hernandez considers the ways memory, knowledge, and culture are kinetically transmitted and embodied through dance and movement. In this video, Hernandez layers footage from dance battles, combat video games, Danza Azteca, queer erotic visuals, lasers, and explosions to turn away from Eurocentric hegemony and materialize an alternative canon rooted in ancestral knowledge and contemporary influences. Riffing off the phrase “ground zero,” evoking a site of detonation and loss, BROWN ZERO meditates on indigenous eradication and resistance, the ongoing legacies of colonialism, and a collective reimagining of the future.

Artwork caption: Sebastian Hernandez, BROWN ZERO, 2016, Video, 5 minutes and 34 seconds. Courtesy of the artist.