Black-and-white photo of an older bearded actor in dark clothing, mid-dramatic pose on a dimly lit stage

José Luis Blondet

JOSE LUIS BLONDET

José Luis Blondet has collaborated in several projects with Asher Hartman and the Gawdafful National Theater, including Kay Whale (2026), The Mommy Leaks the Floor
(2025), and It’s Better to Start Ugly (2023). In 2016, as a LACMA curator, Blondet commissioned Hartman’sThe Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance, for the now extinct
Bing Theater. Blondet performed in Joan Jonas on The Shape, The Scent, The Feel of Things (2005–2012), and Sean Griffin’s Opera Povera production of To Valerie Solanas
and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation (2012) by Pauline Oliveros, where he diligently wore the same platinum wig to play both Andy and Marilyn. Blondet is currently Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles.

Productions (as Cast):

“The Mommy Leaks the Floor”, “It's Better to Start Out Ugly”, “Kay Whale”

“Great actors are not only great thinkers but accomplished conduits. They allow themselves to be mirrors of the times in which they live and channels to information beyond our usual apprehension.”

— Asher Hartman, in conversation with José Luis Blondet, LACMA Unframed 🔗

→ "The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance", Asher Hartman

An actor dressed in black with a close-cropped beard and stylish glasses wearing an outdoorsy vest, gestures wildly, their tongue extended. In the background, out of focus, colorful patterned strips hang like window blinds or set-dressing.
José Luis Blondet as Tony Sebastiano in “It’s Better to Start Ugly,” at The Lab, San Francisco, May 18-20, 2023

→ "It's Better to Start Out Ugly"

Photo: Ian Byers-Gamber

→ "Kay Whale", Amanda Fimbres, Da Ron Vinson, Jacqueline Wright, Jasmine Orpilla, Michael Bonnabel, Philip Littell