Tosh Basco

Tosh Basco, known professionally as boychild (stylized in lowercase), is an American performance artist, dancer, and photographer.[1]

Basco is nonbinary and transgender, and has stated that the boychild performance persona is characterized as female in order to explore gender expression.[2] Her work often includes lip-sync performances to distorted music tracks, incorporating visual elements such as full-body makeup, shaved head, colored contact lenses, and dramatic lighting.[3] Basco is based in California and Hong Kong.[4]

Career

Basco was born in Sacramento, California, and raised in San Francisco during the 1990s.[2] She began exploring drag early on, and cites performance artist Dia Dear as an early influence.[5] The boychild persona was first performed publicly in 2012 in San Francisco's drag and nightlife scene.[2]

Basco has noted that although boychild incorporates elements of drag, the character is not intended to be a traditional drag queen.[6] Instead, the work is informed by a variety of cultural sources, including studies of clowns, healers, shamans, and ritual practices.[5][7]

Her performances frequently reference themes such as cyborgs and posthumanism.[8][9] Some performances are presented as one-time-only events.[citation needed] Nightlife spaces are often chosen as performance venues, which Basco has described as integral to the context and meaning of her work.[6]

In 2013, boychild appeared in Hood By Air's Spring/Summer fashion show alongside rapper A$AP Rocky.[10] That same year, Basco toured with musician Mykki Blanco.[11]

Since 2013, Basco has regularly collaborated with artist and filmmaker Wu Tsang.[11] Together, they have created projects under the collective name *Moved by the Motion*,[12][13] which includes other artists such as cellist Patrick Belaga, dancer Josh Johnson, musician Asma Maroof, and poet Fred Moten.[14]

Exhibitions and performances

Boychild's performances have been shown at institutions and events including the Gropius Bau, Venice Biennale, Biennale of Sydney, Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA PS1, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, ICA London, EMPAC, and the Berlin club Berghain.[15][16]

Several of her performances are part of an ongoing series titled #Untitled Lip-Sync, which combines choreographed movement, makeup, lighting, and sound.[17][18]

References

  1. ^ "How collaboration is the driving force behind Wu Tsang's mesmerising new film on the Migrant Crisis". www.sleek-mag.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  2. ^ a b c Riszko, Leila (2017-07-03). "Breaching bodily boundaries: posthuman (dis)embodiment and ecstatic speech in lip-synch performances by boychild". International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media. 13 (2): 153–169. doi:10.1080/14794713.2017.1348094. S2CID 27049412 – via EBSCO Host.
  3. ^ "Boychild - 0 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy". www.artsy.net. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  4. ^ "BOMB Magazine | Wu Tsang & boychild". BOMB Magazine. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  5. ^ a b Team, i-D. (2013-11-13). "all about the boychild". i-D. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  6. ^ a b Person, Hili (October 29, 2014). "Truth in Gender: Wu Tsang and boychild on the question of queerness". Sleek.
  7. ^ "boychild". Biennale of Sydney. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
  8. ^ Popat, Sita (2017-07-03). "Bodily extensions and performance". International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media. 13 (2): 101–104. doi:10.1080/14794713.2017.1358525. PMC 5720339. PMID 29226918.
  9. ^ Haraway, Donna (1991). "A Cyborg Manifesto". Artificial Life: Critical Contexts: 456.
  10. ^ Hawgood, Alex (2013-04-10). "Hood by Air Has a Fashion Moment". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  11. ^ a b Dazed (2014-09-08). "Boychild on bending the rules of gender". Dazed. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  12. ^ "Moved by the Motion: Sudden Rise". whitney.org. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
  13. ^ "Wu Tsang and Boychild in Conversation with Michelle Puetz." MCA. Accessed 29 April 2025.
  14. ^ "How I became an artist: Wu Tsang". Art Basel. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  15. ^ "Performance by Tosh Basco (aka boychild) - "Untitled: darkness"". Wesleyan University. November 7, 2020.
  16. ^ "ICPP". icpp.space. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
  17. ^ Hamamcioglu, Gamze (2020). Gesturing Toward Utopia: Queer Time and Place in the Performance Art of Cassils, boychild and Marval A Rex. İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University. pp. 85–88.
  18. ^ Riszko, Leila (2017-07-03). "Breaching bodily boundaries: posthuman (dis)embodiment and ecstatic speech in lip-synch performances by boychild". International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media. 13 (2): 153–169. doi:10.1080/14794713.2017.1348094. ISSN 1479-4713.

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