BAM Illustrated: Icons and Innovators in Sparkly Spandex

David Byrne's Contemporary Color is less than three weeks away! Acquaint yourself with the musicians and color guard moves with this helpful guide:

Arthur Russell's New York—An Instagram Tour by Devonté Hynes

Musical pioneer Arthur Russell was born 64 years ago today. In honor of his birthday, and in anticipation of next week's Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell! concert, Devonté Hynes—who has a wealth of musical knowledge, and will be performing in the show—gave us a virtual tour of some of Russell's old haunts on Instagram, and with it, a true education in all things Arthur Russell. We've included the photos and videos below, along with some to dive even deeper.

Hello! This is @devhynes, and I’m taking over the BAM Instagram account today to show you some of music pioneer #ArthurRussell’s old haunts before performing in Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell! on May 29 & 30, part of @redbullmusicacademy’s #RBMANYC (link in bio) #BAMtakeover To start, here's Arthur with cello having a nice time in Central Park.

A photo posted by BAM (@bam_brooklyn) on May 20, 2015 at 8:41am PDT

David Byrne Raises Flags

Art Direction & Design by Doyle Partners; photo by Julieta Cervantes

By Jane Jansen Seymour

David Byrne fans know to expect the unexpected. Over the years, this former frontman of the seminal rock band Talking Heads has enjoyed an extensive solo career, indulging in his passion for world music, brass orchestras, and countless collaborations with artists of all genres. He has not shied from expressing his artistic vision on film (beginning with True Stories) along with soundtracks, including Grammy-winning music for the movie The Last Emperor. He has also branched into writing, most recently about his love of bicycling (Bicycle Diaries) in print, plus an interactive e-book explaining his view of How Music Works.

Crisscrossing creative outlets, Byrne has turned spaces into instruments (Playing the Building, an installation at New York’s Battery Maritime Museum) and incorporated dance movement in his last world tour supporting the album of songs written with Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. His concept album with Fat Boy Slim chronicling the life of Imelda Marcos, Here Lies Love, evolved into an award-winning theatrical production. Byrne’s recent ties with BAM include performing in a tribute to William Onyeabor, and designing witty alphabet-based bike racks for BAM.