BEAUTY CONTEST | PERFORMANCE | MARIA PETSCHNIG | SEE-SAW, SEEN-SAWN

In her performance, Austrian artist Maria Petschnig juxtaposes suggestive fantasies in the form of video clips with live actions that persistently shift between the sensual and the grotesque, ultimately questioning the distinction between public and private and between one’s actual self and the staged representation of oneself.

This performance is being organized in conjunction with Performa 11, and is also part of the exhibition Beauty Contest, which runs from September 21, 2011 to January 3, 2012, at the Austrian Cultural Forum.

Maria Petschnig‘s videos and installations confront dominant ideals associated with gender, sexuality, identity, and fantasy while simultaneously revealing and subverting our collective projections of sexual norms. Her constructed situations, unexpected directives, and use of costumes function as a catalyst for interaction among the participants in her videos, providing a space in which to explore other possible modes of relational engagement.

Performa 11, the fourth edition of the internationally acclaimed biennial of new visual art performance presented by Performa, will be held in New York City from November 1–21, 2011. The three-week biennial will showcase new work by more than 100 of the most exciting artists working today, in an innovative program breaking down the boundaries between visual art, music, dance, poetry, fashion, architecture, graphic design, and the culinary arts. Founded by RoseLee Goldberg in 2004, Performa is the leading organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth-century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century.
More information at >> 11.performa-arts.org

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ACFNY