Dawn Kasper: The Wolf and The Head on Fire

Portikus is pleased to present the exhibition The Wolf and The Head on Fire by American artist Dawn Kasper (b. 1977).

For more than a decade, Kasper’s multidisciplinary work has been challenging the boundaries between art and life, the public and private, as well as the studio and exhibition space, especially through her series of nomadic, durational performance projects. For the exhibition at Portikus, she has developed a new chapter in her ongoing challenge to these dichotomies.

This exhibition builds on her achievement in 2017 at the Venice Biennial, performing the six -month durational performance The Sun, The Stars, The Moon from her decade long series the Nomadic Studio Practice Experiment (2008-). Through her permanent presence at Portikus, the artist will create a conversation specific to the institution, its local, and its folkloric attachments. Much like in her previous performances, the exhibition will become a site where the notation of Dawn Kasper’s performative routine is inscribed into the space over the show’s duration. At the same time, the collaborative nature of her work generates a sense of openness and approachability.

Her subject and inspiration here is one of Aesop’s fables, The Wolf and the Kid, about a billygoat who avoids being eaten by tricking a hungry wolf into distraction by asking the wolf to perform one final song before his feast. Dawn Kasper will devote herself to expanding on this fable into a broader allegory of poetic inspiration as a two month durational performance, exposing the challenges and obstacles to artistic creation. The exhibition will include a new performance series, collaborations, new sculptures, musical instruments and modes of illumination.

Performance Schedule
For more information, please visit: www.portikus.de

May 3, 7pm
Opening

May 11, 7pm
Nacht der Museen

May 24, 7pm
James Krone

May 31, 7pm
Jeff Preiss

June 7, 7pm
Zeena Parkins

June 14, 7pm
Marc LeBlanc

June 21, 7pm
Mariechen Danz

June 28, 7pm
Andrew Lampert

Dawn Kasper (b.1977, Fairfax, Virginia) is a New York-based interdisciplinary artist working in performance, installation, sculpture, drawing, photography, video and sound. Recent solo exhibitions include: Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR; Tang Museum, Skidmore College, NY; ADN Collection, Bolzano, Italy; CCS Bard College, NY; Issue Project Room, New York; and David Lewis, among others. Recent group exhibitions include The Watermill Center, Watermill, NY; 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; American Academy in Rome, Italy; The 2012 Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland; The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Pacific Standard Time Public and Performance Art, Los Angeles, CA; Public Art Fund, Art Basel Miami Beach, FL and The Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich.

The exhibition was made possible with the financial support of Hessische Kulturstiftung.

Director: Philippe Pirotte
Curator: Christina Lehnert