A Portfolio on the State of Performance
“We are no longer confined to providing the entertainment between trays of finger food at openings. Performance has become a perfectly normal modus operandi.” –Pablo Bronstein
The October issue of frieze leads with a special portfolio on the state of performance art. What makes it so compelling as an artistic medium? Featuring: Yve Laris Cohen, Geumhyung Jeong, Marija Bozinovska Jones, Nástio Mosquito, Robertas Narkus, Alessandro Sciarroni, Nora Turato, Lee Wen and more.
Care If I Do
“Performance is a spark of life to these otherwise languid museum structures. It offers a sheen of authenticity, pitting a sense of haptic touch against tempered glass and stainless steel.” Karen Archey considers the vitality of live action in the work of Alex Baczynski-Jenkins and Ligia Lewis.
The Lives We Tow
“In the performance, I am not one body but many bodies: the body of Africa, of China, of Cuba.” Susana Pilar speaks to Evan Moffitt about the Afro-Cuban diaspora and the possibility of resurrection.
Also featuring
Hilton Als on domination, revenge and longing in the films of Kara Walker; Glasgow-based artist and filmmaker, Luke Fowler, on his formative experiences, from the BBC to Patrick Cowley; Jennifer Kabat getting jazzed by the candid prose of dance critic Jill Johnston; Collier Schorr learning to dance in a specially-commissioned visual essay; Sean O’Toole sparring with language through the writings of William Kentridge; and Hendrik Folkerts on Dale Harding’s potent reflections of Australia.
Columns and Reviews
Jennifer Higgie introduces the issue with a meditation on performance, play and the art of letting go; walking through Frank Bowling’s retrospective at Tate Britain, Negar Azimi reflects on the many meanings of “home”; Hermione Hoby revels in the “rough glory” of Kim Gordon’s first solo album; Hans Ulrich Obrist remembers seminal arte povera sculptor Marisa Merz (1926–2019); Marek Sullivan drills into Britain’s dark subconscious through Jay Bernard’s award-winning poetry collection, Surge (2019); Jameson Fitzpatrick surveys Jeremy O. Harris’s earth-scorching new work for Broadway; Erika Balsom reviews Laura Mulvey’s new book of essays; and Jörg Heiser asks—is it OK to enjoy yourself at times of crisis?
Plus, 35 reviews from around the world, including Paula Rego’s major retrospective at MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, and curator Susanne Pfeffer’s game-changing show, Museum, at the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt.
Answering our questionnaire is avant-garde polymath Meredith Monk, whose masterwork, Quarry: An Opera in Three Movements (1976) was restored and screened at Anthology Film Archives, New York, earlier this year.
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