Fearless to the end: Performance artist Jaime Carrera dies at age 43

The poet Langston Hughes wrote that "an artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose." No one embodied that sentiment more than the wildly creative Jaime Carrera, who died in his sleep Monday at age 43 from an undiagnosed heart condition complicated by a respiratory illness.

Carrera was never a boldface name on the mainstream cultural radar, but he was well-known and beloved in the Twin Cities arts scene, particularly by its renegade factions. Whether he was enacting a six-hour endurance piece at Art-a-Whirl with painter Caitlin Karolczak, DJing "Space Lounge" events with Venus DeMars, going on the road with a band called Faggot or shocking passersby with storefront-window shenanigans involving knives and fake blood, he was dedicated to using self-expression to provoke thought.

His personae ran the gamut — from high-drama improv actor, often performing without the hindrance of clothing, to a normal Joe in jeans posing for a selfie with one of the cats he considered his children.

Joan Vorderbruggen, cultural-district arts coordinator for Hennepin Theatre Trust, recalls the memorable first time she saw Carrera perform, at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, to the Nina Simone song "Ain't Got No/I Got Life."

"He was completely naked," she said. "He said, 'I'm gay. I'm Mexican. I'm an atheist. I'm an artist. And I feel like there's nowhere I belong.' Then he gave the audience the finger with both hands and actually cried."

Born in Mexico, Carrera grew up in Kansas, relocating to Minnesota 15 years ago. A nonmonogamist until recently, Carrera fell in love with Nick Wirtz and the two were married in January.

Carrera was a prolific photographer and electronica composer, as well as an exceptional shipping packer, said longtime friend and collaborator Tim Carroll, who worked with him at the artwork and furnishings gallery Spinario Design.

"It takes an eye and talent to securely crate antiques, and he brought beauty even into that," Carroll said.

"He was controversial, but also kind," said Karolczak, who last performed with Carrera in a gender-bending mock wedding piece at last spring's Art-a-Whirl. "Everything he did came from such a genuine place."

Carrera was many things to those who knew him, but among them, "fearless" is the adjective most repeated.

"Once, he asked me if I wanted to try it. Fearlessness. I did, and it changed me," wrote Christopher Ryba-Tures on Facebook. "What more could you ask of a friend? To give you the opportunity to be fearless; to fearlessly be yourself. To express it. That's how he lived."

In addition to Wirtz, Carrera is survived by his mother and siblings.

A memorial gathering will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Soap Factory, 514 2nd St. SE., Minneapolis, a space where Carrera frequently performed.

Kristin Tillotson • 612-673-7046

@StribKristin