Andrea Fraser
Men on the Line, KPFK, 1972
Monday, January 23, 7:30 PM
Miss Vaginal Davis
My Pussy Is Still in Los Angeles (I Only Live in Berlin)
Sunday, January 29, 1–3:30 pm
West of Rome, as part of the Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945–1980 Performance and Public Art Festival, organized by the Getty in conjunction with LA>, is proud to present the premiere of two new performances by Andrea Fraser and Miss Vaginal Davis. Both works are part of a series, curated by Emi Fontana, of new performances inspired by the influential Los Angeles-based Woman’s Building. The curatorial aim of the series is to highlight the tremendous impact of the Woman’s Building and feminist practices on contemporary art production.
For Men on the Line, KPFK, 1972, Fraser transcribed and edited the dialogue from a 1972 live radio broadcast in which four men, committed to feminist struggles, discuss the hopes and anxieties that feminism stirred in them. The artist performs all four participants and, by inhabiting the discourse of men struggling to engage with feminism, Fraser takes up the feminist challenge of emerging from internalized stereotypes to redefine the self and experience empathy across the boundaries of gender identity and hierarchy. Fraser’s performance touches on some of the central concerns of the feminist movement: how social norms are internalized and embodied; how psychological structures are projected and performed socially and interpersonally; and how gender identity and hierarchies are produced and reproduced in these processes. It also touches on some of the central arguments within feminism around issues of separatism, essentialism, and the relationship between feminist struggles and other forms of domination. Fraser shows us how Woman’s Building and the larger feminist movement tackled these issues early on and were influential in sparking a dialogue that expanded beyond the confines of women’s organizations, igniting the hope that women’s liberation could mean the liberation of everyone.
Andrea Fraser is one of the most well known American performance artists working today. Her work is often associated with feminism and institutional critique, exemplified by her site-specific approach to investigating social and psychological structures.
Andrea Fraser, Men on the Line, KPFK, 1972
Monday, January 23, 7:30 PM
National Center for the Preservation for Democracy, 111 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Admission by donation at the door or online at www.westofrome.org/future
Miss Davis’ My Pussy Is Still in Los Angeles (I Only Live in Berlin) is a Lesbian Separatist tea party that will combine pre-recorded music, spoken-word narratives, and live performance to explore the utopian promise of Los Angeles and the dystopia of the late 1970s through the lens of the Woman’s Building, gender issues, and her own career as a performance artist. The event will also feature a high tea reception and the publication of a zine—a special signed artist’s book that chronicles and supplements Miss Davis’ performance. The tea party will unfold through the reading of letters (fictional and not) and the spinning of records that reflect upon the history of Los Angeles in relation to the counterculture performance scene, especially that of gay and transgender performers and the activities of the Woman’s Building. Designed as an homage that seeks to pay tribute to such pioneering culture workers, Davis’ piece seeks, in part, to fill the gaps in the performance history of LA by creating narratives for figures that are frequently overlooked or left out of the popular record. The biographical element is strong in the work, as Davis herself was just starting her career as a performer during the 70s in L.A.
Over the last four decades, Miss Vaginal Davis has produced a diverse range of work that absolutely defies categorization. This performance marks a timely homecoming for the artist, who recently relocated to Berlin.
Miss Vaginal Davis, My Pussy Is Still in Los Angeles (I Only Live in Berlin)
Sunday, January 29, 1–3:30 pm
Southwestern Law School, Tea Room, 3050 Wilshire Boulevard, 5th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90010
Tickets include one hand made, numbered and signed copy of an artist book by Miss Davis and a High Tea Party with finger foods, pink bubbles… Purchase tickets online at www.westofrome.org/future
For more information visit www.westofrome.org or pacificstandardtimefestival.org
Images above:
The image of Andrea Fraser is courtesy of West of Rome Public Art and the artist.
The image of Vaginal Davis is courtesy of West of Rome Public Art, photographed by Ryan Miller Capture Imaging.
