#TheUntitledBodyProject Art Exhibit Is All About Body Image

LOS ANGELES—Not everyone's good with body stereotypes. In fact, Rae Threat’s personal journey which had her losing 100 pounds, and the societal and personal biases that presented themselves with, it seemed, each lost pound were the catalyst for her Level Ground residency and gave birth to her body stereotype-breaking immersive exhibit, #TheUntitledBodyProject.The title of the show itself is a play on the hashtag culture of media appearances and categorization. Threat explained, “Living as a fat POC (Person of Color) all my life, being seen and treated differently has always been the norm. Only recently, after losing so much weight, did I fully grasp how society and media disparately caters to ‘skinny’ bodies.”Rae Threat was the first photographer to feature adult stars Jessie Andrews, Andy San Dimas, Aiden Ashley, Charlotte Stokely, Gracie Glam, and Belladonna in lookbooks for men’s skatewear clothing line, Mishka. Past projects also include producing and photographing Fleshbot’s iconic photoset featuring genderqueer advocate Jiz Lee and Stoya, Mad Decent Records’ first fashion lookbook featuring Skrillex and Diplo, and a design collaboration with Actual Pain Clothing.#TheUntitledBodyProject is an ambitious experimental project that explores the effect of body images of all types and sizes in culture and media and includes multiple installations: the first-ever 3D photography gallery, a film installation, and individual live performances by Ruthintruth, Gianna Gianna, and adult producer/director Courtney Trouble. Two panels are also part of the exhibit: “Fat Women in Media” with Alison Stevenson, April Flores, Cambria Francesca, and Simone Mariposa, and “How Racisim Affects Body Image” with adult stars Ana Foxxx and Lotus Lain, as well as Cindy Chu and Mala Munoz. The short format documentary installation features candid interviews with models of different shapes, sizes, gender, and identity discussing how culture and society has helped shape their bodies and influenced how they view themselves. Participants in the documentary include Cindy Chu, April Flores, Lotus Lain, Karla Lane, Tyler Knight, Simone Mariposa, William de Los Santos, Sonya Saturday, Alison Stevenson, and Courtney Trouble.The Level Ground Festival exhibit will open Friday, October 19, at Unit C, 3011 E. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90023. To RSVP, click here. All festival events are free.The Level Ground Festival is an annual diverse multi-genre art festival. “The festival creates a space for artists who are provoking empathy and conversation that celebrate and transcend our differences," Samantha Curley, Executive Director, Level Ground explained. Level Ground is a nonprofit arts cooperative creating experiments in empathy. It is committed to inspiring cultural change through immersive experiences and creative collaborations that give resources and influence to diverse artists. Their work includes an artist residency program, a production incubator, and a creative studio. Learn more about Level Ground at onlevelground.org.