SUSHI Performance & Visual Art was an innovative arts organization and contemporary arts center committed to presenting San Diego with contemporary performance dance and visual art. Focus was on an artistic vision that embodied the rich diversity of our ethnic, cultural, sexual and personal backgrounds.
SUSHI Performance & Visual Art became synonymous with an adventurous urban art experience and has been likened to what one would find in San Francisco or New York.
Founded in 1980, SUSHI Performance & Visual Art had its roots in the artists’ space movement of the late 1970s. This movement was a direct result of the evolution of contemporary art and the lack of venues for its presentation. Artists consequently created their own “alternative spaces”, one of which was SUSHI. Many artists involved with and presented by SUSHI through solo/group exhibitions and public art commissions have gone on to national and even international notoriety, among them David Avalos, Amanda Farber, James Luna and Deborah Small.
Sushi was located in its downtown space at The Reincarnation Project, 320 Eleventh Avenue. This 6,000 square foot space housed SUSHI’s 3,000 square foot performance space that seated 50-150, a visual arts gallery and office.
Sushi’s audience members and performers were within hands reach of each other, creating an atmosphere that was charged with intimacy and energy. Audience members were encouraged to hang out after the shows for both formal and informal discussions with the presented artists.
Scroll down for a complete list of Artists and Events.
Photos by Wayne Buss and Jorge Moreno. Click on images for full view.
Construction:
Events:
ARTISTS
Adler, Fran and Kira Corser 1984
African American Writers & Artists, Inc. of San Diego 1997 & undated
Albertano, Linda 1982 – 1995
Aleph Company – King Humpy 1986
Allen, Jo Harvey 1983 – 1984
Amos, Patrick and Roy McMakin 1981
Anderson, Mark 1985 – 1986
Antin, Eleanor 1982 – 1990
Antin, Eleanor, curator – Berne/De John/Wray/Phillips/Ortiz performances 1984
Antwash (David French) and Rick Ryan 1981 – 1982
Artists for Social Issues (AFSI) 2001
Barker, James and Pamela Underwood 1991 – 1993
Spending Time Doing Things… 1985 – 1987
The Hell Dances 1985 – 1988
Allies, Rain and Think Sleep 1985 – 1990
Bell, Cate; Susan Imhoff; David Keevil and Peter Ward 1987
Bell, Cate and Terry Sprague 1984 – 1996
Bell, Cate and Allison Cutri 1997
Berman, Sara Jo 1983 – 1986
Berne, Paul Best and Carol Stephens 1983
Between the Raw Dance Collective 1997 – 1998
Big Ladies Small Dance Company 1984 – 1987
Bogosian, Eric 1984 – 1985
The Bible Belt and Other Accessories 1994 – 1996
Memory’s Caretaker 2000 – 2001
Bornstein, Kate 1991 – 1995
Bridgman, Art and Myrna Packer 1997 – 2001
Brumgart, Sarah 1981 – 1985
Burgueno, Chava 1979 – 1989
Bustamante, Nao 1991 – 1999
The Redthroats 1985 – 1987
Deep in a Dream of You 1987 – 1991
Little Stories with Private Parts 1989 – 1990
Somebody Else’s House 1992
Swimming in the Dark 1994 – 1999
The Perfect Getaway and A Likely Story 2001, 2005
Center for Digital Storytelling 1994 – 2000
Chaikin, Joseph 1981 – 1985
Collage Dance Theatre 1988, 1998
The (Invisible) War 1985 – 1987
Mira, Cycle I 1986 – 1990
Mira, Cycle II …The Fall 1991 – 1993
Return to Ordinary Life 1993 – 1996
Creative Arts Consortium – No Jackets Required 2001
Suppositions on History and The Legend of Lily Overstreet 1983 – 1985
Meditations on Modern Life 1986 – 1987
I Think It’s Gonna Work Out Fine 1989
Performance Music 1995 – 1999
Residency, 1996/97 season
Culture Clash 1989 – 1990
Cummings, Blondell 1982 – 1985
Cutler-Shaw, Joyce 1983 – 1986
Cutler-Shaw, Joyce, with Nancy Karp and Chaya Czernowin 1985 – 1989
Dallas Black Dance Theatre 1991 – 1992
Dance Theatre Workshop 1986 – 1994
David Dorfman Dance 1988 – 1993
David Parker Dance / The Bang Group 1998
Deak, Norma Jean 1978 – 1986
Dean, Chazz and Kurt Fulton 1988 – 1991
Diavolo Dance Theatre 1991 – 1998
Donald Byrd Dance Foundation 1986 – 1998
Donna Uchizono & Company 1979 – 1991
Dresser, Mark 1984 – 1985
Elovich, Richard 1985 – 1990
Felder, David with Mary Jane Eisenberg and David Stout 1983 – 1987
Fenley, Molissa 1988 – 1989
Fertile Ground Poetry Collective 1995
Finley, Karen and Harry Kipper 1983
Yams Up My Granny’s Ass 1983 – 1986
The Constant State of Desire 1987 – 1988
We Keep Our Victims Ready 1982 – 1989
A Certain Level of Denial 1992 – 1994
Shut Up and Love Me 1997 – 2000
Miscellaneous 2002 & undated
Fisher, Betsy and Ernest Provencher 1987 – 1988
I Got the He-Be-She-Be’s and I Remember 1986 – 1988
A Snowball’s Chance in Hell 1986 – 1992
Good to See You 1992 – 1993
Forti, Simone and Available Space 1991 – 2001
Fried, Stanley 1986 – 1993
Fuchs, Jordan 1999 – 2001
Galás, Philip-Dimitri 1980 – 1983
Galjour, Anne 1991 – 1992
Galloway, Terry 1986 – 1990
Garber, Steve and Pat Rosalia undated
Garrison, Maia Claire 1991 – 1992
George, Rikky 1985 – 1986
Germani, Al and Mary Reich 1992 – 1993
Ghost Town – The Queen’s Rain 2001
Gingery, Maya and Carl Stone 1982
Glatter, Lesli Linka 1977 – 1982
Goldberg, Whoopi – The Spook Show 1982 – 1983
Goldberg, Whoopi and David Schein
Unsanitized [Goldberg] and Out Comes Butch [Schein] 1982
Moms [Goldberg] and In the Key of D [Schein] 1980 – 1984
A Broad Apart [Goldberg] and Out Comes Butch [Schein] 1982 – 1984
Border Brujo II 1985 – 1991
Miscellaneous performances
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo and David Schein – Border – X – Frontera 1984 – 1985
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo and Robert Sifuentes 1990 – 1997
Green, Vanalyne 1979 – 1984
Phases of the Loon 1987 – 1996
Dark Moon of Lilith 1988 – 1997
Grigsby, James and Carmela Rago 1982 – 1984
Hackerman, Ed; John Goss and Sarah Schneiderman 1984
Haigood, Joanna 1987 – 1993
Hawkins, Bobbie Louise 1978 – 1985
Haxton, Richard and Daria Okugawa 1985
Hemphill, Essex and Wayson Jones 1987 – 1989
Hennessy, Keith 1993 – 1994
Henriques, Darryl 1984 – 1985
Heyl Juno, Stephanie 1991 – 1998
Higby, Sha Sha 1986 – 1987
The High Risk Group 1989 – 1991
Hock, Louis and Dorit Cypis 1983
Hoffbauer, Patricia and George Emilio Sanchez 1995 – 1998
Tearsheets: Letters I Didn’t Send Home 1990 – 1991
Elements of Flesh or How Screwing Saved My Ass 1992 – 1997
Houston-Jones, Ishmael 1986 – 1993
Hughes, Holly; Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver 1985 – 1988
World Without End 1985 – 1990
Preaching to the Perverted 1999
Impulse Theatre Company 1985 – 1988
Joe Goode Performance Group
The Disaster Series 1983 – 1989
Remembering the Pool at the Best Western 1989 – 1991
29 Effeminate Gestures… 1993
Convenience Boy 1989 – 1994
The Maverick Strain 1991 – 1997
Performance at UC San Diego 1999
The John Cheney’s Literary Magazine Show 1983
John Passafiume Dancers 2000
Johnson, Robert Henry 1993 – 1996
Johnson, Scott 1982 – 1984
Big Butt Girls, Hard-Headed Women and unidentified performance 1987 – 1993
The Blue Stories: Black Erotica About Letting Go 1992
Deep in the Night 1995 – 1998
Kantor, Michael and John Murphy, Jr. – Lindberg’s Flight 1988
Kate Foley Company 1990 – 1992
Keegan, Tom and Davidson Lloyd 1984 – 1998
Keevil, David 1984 – 1993
Keevil, David and Terry Sprague 1984 – 1987
Keevil, David, Terry Sprague and John Malashock 1987
Kelman, Scott; Richard Haxton; Daria Okugawa and Kendric Wolfe 1984 – 1985
Your Mama and Your Sister and Your Girlfriend 1985
Bodies of Evidence 1985 – 1993
Kirkwood, Carla and Deborah Small 1989
Krassner, Paul 1983 – 1984
Kyung Lee, Hae 1983 – 1993
Lambs Eat Ivy 1986 – 1988
Langland, Paul and Mary Overlie 1998 – 1999
La Palma, Marina 1982 – 1983
La Palma, Marina; Linda Albertino and Carmen Borgia 1981 – 1984
Lapides, Beth 1983 – 1985
Las Gringas – There Are 206 Bones in the Human Body 1987 – 1988
Llory Wilson & Dancers 1987 – 1990
Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) 1986 – 1989
Love-Pointer, Nia 1989 – 1993
Lounsbury, Kate 1985 – 1989
Company in residence 1996 – 2001
Horns Wings and More Tales 2000
Miscellaneous performances 1997 – 2003
Malashock Dance & Company
The Barn Owl Lingers… 1991
Virtues in Bewilderment 1993
Malpede, John 1983 – 1985
Marks, Victoria 1999 – 2000
McCauley, Robbie 1985 – 1991
McGriff, Heywood “Woody” 1993
Mehmet Memo Sander Dance Co. 1991 – 1992
Mehmet Sander Dance Company
Pole, Single Space and others 1991 – 1993
Inner Space and others 1991 – 1994
Meier, Yvonne 1985 – 1993
Meier, Yvonne and Jennifer Monson 1995 – 1998
Meunier, Gilberte 1984 – 1986
Lost & Found in America: Some of the Stories 1984 – 1988
Lost & Found in America: More of the Stories 1986 – 1990
Miller, Stuart and Pamela Woodbridge 1983
Buddy Systems 1982 – 1986
Some Golden States 1987 – 1988
Sex/Love/Stories 1980 – 1991
Fruit Cocktail 1996 – 1997
Misueda, Mitsuko and Harry Gantz 1981
Monson, Jennifer 2000 – 2001
Legacy of the Four Horsemen 1986
Lewd Acts in Public Places 1987
Nelda Perez, Ruby 1994 – 1997
Nightletter Theatre 1983 – 1985
O’Keefe, John 1982 – 1985
Palacios, Monica 1990 – 1991
Parker, David and The Bang Group 1996 – 1998
Pat Graney Company 1985 – 1990
Patricia Sandback and Dancers
Paul Dresher Ensemble 1979 – 1985
Pearlman, Karen and Richard Allen 1981 – 1988
Peppe, Michael 1983 – 1984
Peralta, Ricardo 1994 – 2000
Pomo Afro Homos 1991 – 1992
The Construction Stories 1991
City Water Tunnel #3 1990 – 1999
The Ballad of Mr. Misterio & Salome 1984
The Last Performance 1983 – 1984
Cabaret Vavylon-Aztlan 1986
Pritikin, Renny and Rachel Rosenthal 1982
Prowess Dancearts Company 1998
Public Dance Works 1981 – 1983
Floating Worlds: Part II 1981 – 1982
Seiche Torque 1979 – 1985
Rawfish and Implex 1981 – 1982
Ren-Lay, Judith 1980 – 1985
Rennie Harris Puremovement 1996 – 1999
Reno Once Removed 1989 – 1992
Reno Besides Myself 1989 – 1994
Reno Finds Her Mom: Exerpts From the Cutting Room Floor 1989 – 1997
Reynolds, Joel and Maurya Wickstrom 1984
Ringgold, Faith 1973 – 1984
Robboy, Ron and Warren Burt 1979 – 1982
Roberts, Jackie and Christina Jones-Stewart 1996
Roe, Betzi and California Ballet 1993 – 1995
Romero, Lidia 1983 – 1986
Romero, Rosa and Jorge Dominguez 1985
Primitive Movers and Strange Ditties 1983 – 1984
Gaia, Mon Amour 1982 – 1984
Rachel’s Brain 1984 – 1989
Pangaean Dreams 1990 – 1991
Filename: Futurefax 1991 – 1992
Roth, Moira and 208 Collective 1984
Rothenberg, Jerome and Bertram Turetzky 1984
Sacred Naked Nature Girls 1994 – 1996
Salloum, Jayce 1982 – 1986
Sammartano, Tonnie 1997 – 1999
Sammartano, Tonnie with Leah Cox, Terri Shipman and Debi Toth 2001
Samuels, Leslie; Frank Grow and Michael Weix 1987 – 1988
Sanchez, George Emilio and Patricia Hoffbauer 1998
Schein, David 1982 – 1993
Schein, David and Bob Ernst 1982 – 1984
Sherman, Stuart 1978 – 1983
Snaith, Yolande 2002 – 2006
Spencer, Michelle 1996 – 1998
The Spotted Leopard Dance Company 1989 – 1992
Sprague, Terry and Katie Stevinson 1984 – 1998
Squire, Leilani 1993 – 1995
Stephen Pelton Dance Theater 1994 – 1998
Stephen Petronio Company 1987 – 1989
Streb, Elizabeth 1984 – 1988
Tamblyn, Christine 1978 – 1985
Taylor, Jackie and Craig Gingrich-Philbrook 1995 – 1996
Techtonic Productions 1997 – 1998
Tornetta, Giuditta and Stuart Miller 1982
Undergraduate Theatre Makers (UCSD) 1986
Vegh, Tom – Cafe Depresso 1996 – 1997
Vogel, Amanda 1993 – 1995
Wendkos, Gina and Ellen Ratner 1983 – 1987
Wilmoth, Charles 1989 – 1991
Wilson, Reggie 1989 – 1994
Wise, Nina and Lauren Elder 1978 – 1982
Wolverton, Terry 1978 – 1984
Wyrrick, Sharon 1988 – 1992
York, Curtis and Luis Alfaro 1986 – 1990
EVENTS
What’s Cooking on the Environment I & II – With the Center for Music Experiment, UCSD & Landmark Art Projects 1981 – 1982
Running Commentary: New Video 1982
Crawl Out Your Window – Evening of “live literature” ca. 1983
Festival of the New Arts 1983
Christo: Surrounded Islands / A slide talk and panel discussion October 1983
Museum of Seasonal Change & Other Projects December 1983
Alternatives-5 – An Evening of Performance Poetry 1984
Some New Music – Selections From New Music America 1985
Summer/Sushi – A Performance Series 1985
MoCA Radio – The Territory of Art series, “Border-X-Frontera” 1987
Small Dogs – Performance & video installation 1987
Exchange – Performance art/video exchange between UCSD and San Francisco Art Institute 1988
Sushi Performance Gala 1991
Public Women, Private Concerns 1996
Circus of Wonders: A Masquerade Performance Party 1997
Public Women, Private Concerns 1997
Scientists of Sound 1997 – 2000
Love & Marriage Festival 1998
Process Works 1998, 2000-2002
Public Women, Private Concerns 1998 – 1999
“20 Hours” Performance Marathon 1999
Brain Storms/Soul Storms 2001
Takeout Series 2005 – 2008
California Triple Feature, with UCSD 2006
East/West Performance Festival 2006
The Exchange Project 2006
New Wave Showcase 2006 & 2008
The Symmetry Project 2009
Black Choreographers Moving (BCM)
Aguilera-Hellweg, Max 1990
Boroson, Lee and Jennifer Douglass 1991
Cahill, Mike and Brit Marling – Boxers and Ballerinas (film screening) 2005
Corser, Kira and Frances Payne Adler 1991
Cunning, Sheril 1988 & undated
Guerilla Girls, retrospective 1994
Heffernan, Mary Beth 1992
Hobson, Paul and Martha Matthews 1989
Holzer, Jenny 1982 – 1985
Honda, Margaret and Deborah Small 1987
Kerr & Malley 1991
Krimell David
Mancillas-Doyle, Aida 1989
Marcial Rios, Diego 1989 – 1990
McDonell, Liane 1992 – 1993
Nemour, Leslie 1987 – 1988
Ovejero, Graciela 1992 – 1993
Quattrociocchi, David 1988
Sanford, Elise Mitchell 1992
Schmidt, Susan and Mariona Barkus 1991
Warner, John – “Front Row Center: Photodocumentation of Sushi, 1984-1987”June 1987
Women’s Caucus for Art 1993 – 1997
Younker, Leah 1987 & 1990
New Works: Kathryn Rothrock, Rodrigo Mesa and Lynn Schutte 1981
Video: Approaches and Limitations, curated by Marina La Palma 1983
Four Artists: Four Directions 1984 – 1985
The Transfiguration Show 1988
Critics’ Choice 1989 – 1990
inSite 94 (participating institution) 1994
inSite 2000 (participating institution)
En Focado / In Focus series, various artists 1991 – 1992
African American Writers & Artists, Inc. of San Diego undated
Antin, Eleanor 1986, 1989
Bebe Miller and Company 1987 – 1996
Between the Raw Dance Collective undated
Bonin-Rodriguez, Paul 1996, 2001
Cultural Odyssey 1985 – 1993
Cutler-Shaw, Joyce 1976 – 1983
Dance Theater Workshop undated
Fenley, Molissa 1988 – 1989
Finley, Karen 1983 – 2000
Fried, Stanley 1986 – 1987
Galás, Philip-Dimitri 1981, 1983
Gingrich-Philbrook, Craig undated
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo 1989 – 1995
Goode, Joe & the Joe Goode Performance Group 1989 – 1994
Greenberg, Anne 1993 – 1996
Heyl Juno, Stephanie 1997 & undated
Higby, Sha Sha 1985 – 1986
Hoffbauer, Patricia and George Emilio Sanchez undated
Hughes, Holly 1988 – 1995
Kate Foley Dance Co. 1992
Langland, Paul & the Paul Langford Dance Co. 1991 – 1999
Lower Left Dance 1998-2000 & undated
Malashock, John & the Malashock Dance & Company 1988 – 1993
Mehmet Memo Sander Dance Co. 1993 – 1994
Parker, David & the Bang Group 1992 – 1998
Pottenger, Marty 1991 – 1999
Rennie Harris Puremovement undated
Romero, Rosa and Jorge Dominguez 1985
Rosenthal, Rachel 1983 – 2000
Rothenberg, Jerome 1984 & undated
Sammartano, Tonnie 1997, 2001
Sandback, Patricia 1986 – 1989
Schein, David 1982 – 1984
Spencer, Michelle undated
Steven Petronio Company 1988 & undated
Stevinson, Katie 1992 – 1993
Techtonic Productions undated
Vegh, Tom – Cafe Depresso 1997
Zaloom, Paul 1986 & undated
Alexander, Wick & Steve De Paoli undated
McGibbon, Phyllis undated
Sanford, Elise Mitchell 1992
Here’s an article from The Voice of San Diego. Kelly Bennett, the arts editor for VOSD:
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/government/experiment-to-cram-edgy-art-under-condos-falters/
or click on the image below:
From Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego:
Sushi Contemporary Performance and Visual Arts was founded in 1980 by visual artist Lynn Schuette. Sushi developed from the 1979 visual and performance series Artists Work Here, also organized by Schuette. The non-profit organization was created to be an alternative exhibition and performance space that would support both local and visiting contemporary artists.
Sushi became one of the most active contemporary art and performance programs on the West Coast. The organization supported, presented and commissioned both established and emerging artists from diverse ethnic, cultural, sexual and personal backgrounds. Programming featured local, national and international performance artists including Laurie Anderson, David Cale, Karen Finley, Whoopi Goldberg, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Holly Hughes, Tim Miller and Rachel Rosenthal. Along with performance art, Sushi also featured dance and visual arts, hosting annual events such as Black Choreographers Moving and StreetSites as well as seasonal programming and gallery shows.
The economic recession in 2008, along with several years without a permanent home, left Sushi struggling. In 2011, after more than thirty years presenting innovative performances, Sushi’s board of directors voted to dissolve the organization.
San Diego East Village Project
