The Whitney Museum has turned to two in-house curators to put together a show that celebrates diversity in American art—but as in 2017, the biennial is already mired in controversy
The Whitney Biennial in New York often proves a pressure cooker for US social politics, especially since the curator Elizabeth Sussman’s landmark 1993 edition directly tackled the Reagan-era Culture Wars with provocative works by women and LGBTQ artists. The last edition in 2017 was marked by protests prompted by the white artist Dana Schutz’s depiction of Emmett Till, a black teenager who was lynched in 1955. The episode remains a hot-button issue for the biennial’s organisers two years later.
Jane Panetta and Rujeko Hockley, the curators behind the 2019 edition, are perhaps unusually positioned to navigate these tricky political waters. In a departure from previous editions, where guest curators have been brought in, this year’s organisers are on staff and know first-hand the controversies that the biennial can inspire.
“We’ve tried to use the challenges and conversations that came out of the last [edition] as a productive lens for our work,” Panetta says. To that end, there is a great deal of work in the show that grapples with socio-political concerns around race and gender, financial inequality, gentrification and the vulnerability of the body.
Performance Space 122 has a new name and renovated digs. Jenny Schlenzka, its director, envisions a “vital center for community.”
By SIOBHAN BURKE,
via The New York Times
Nomadic since 2011, Performance Space 122 has returned to its East Village home. For anyone who frequented the old PS122 — the site of rebellious experiments in dance, theater and hard-to-classify performance — the new, extensively renovated one may take some getting used to. There’s an elevator. And a lobby. And a 3,600-square-foot theater that feels larger than the two old, grittier theaters combined, with soaring ceilings, flexible seating and windows overlooking Lower Manhattan. There’s a brand-new smaller theater, too, that can double as an exhibition space.
PERFORMA ANNOUNCES DETAILS FOR PERFORMA 17
NOVEMBER 1–19, 2017
THROUGHOUT NEW YORK CITY
PERFORMA 17 COMMISSIONS INCLUDE:
YTO BARRADA (Morocco/France)
WILLIAM KENTRIDGE (South Africa)
TARIK KISWANSON (Sweden/Palestine)
KEMANG WA LEHULERE (South Africa)
JULIE MEHRETU (Ethiopia) and JASON MORAN (USA)
ZANELE MUHOLI (South Africa)
WANGECHI MUTU (Kenya)
KELLY NIPPER (USA)
JIMMY ROBERT (France)
TRACEY ROSE (South Africa)
NEW YORK – Performa, the internationally acclaimed organization dedicated to live performance across
disciplines, announces select commissions and the historical anchor for Performa 17—the seventh
edition of the Performa Biennial, to take place November 1–19, 2017, at locations throughout New York
City.
Since its inception, Performa has been a leader in commissioning artists whose work has collectively
shaped a new chapter in the multi-century legacy of visual artists working in live performance. Founded
by art historian and curator RoseLee Goldberg, the organization is dedicated to exploring the critical role
of live performance in the history of twentieth-century art, as well as its enormous significance in the
international world of contemporary art.
Performa 17’s team of curators and producers will present commissions and projects around curatorial
research themes focused on a cross cultural dialogue between Africa and the West, the legacy of Dada,
and the intersection of architecture and performance, that represent timely opportunities to work with a
diverse range of global contemporary artists. The resulting commissions and scholarship examine
immediate and critical concerns confronting our urban centers, the shifting political and cultural currents
of our turbulent world today, and ultimately the role of the arts and of artists in supporting afflicted
communities. This edition of the Biennial will focus on the sociopolitical context informing contemporary
art today, and how best to engage audiences in significantly understanding and absorbing its aesthetics
and intrinsic values. Additional commissions, projects and details will be announced in the coming
months.
Jianan Qu, born 1985 in Shandong/China, lives and works in Vienna/Linz, Austria
Jianan Qu is an interdisciplinary artist works with installations, performances, objects, video and photography. Working conceptually and minimally. He researches the boarders between visual arts and performance.
Jianan’s works have been shown at ImpulsTanz Vienna (Austria), Hong Kong Arts Festival (China), Oslo LUX (Norway), Lentos Museum Linz (Austria), euro-scene Leipzig (Germany), OK Center for Contemporary Art (Austria), Bruckner Haus (Austria), Monotonic Budapest (Hungary) the St. Pölten Festspielhaus (Austria), Atelier Salzamt (Austria) amongst others. Since 2007 Jianan Qu teaches Contemporary Dance at The Anton Bruckner University, Linz.
Jianan Qu has been awarded several different prizes, including the “Best German Dance Solo“ of Euro-Scene Leipzig 2007 and the first prize of “1. Szene Bunte Wähne Choreographie-Wettbewerb 2006” Vienna.
Die Artissima in Turin ist zwar eine Messe und damit dem Markt verpflichtet. Zugleich zeichnet die Verkaufsplattform für zeitgenössische Kunst jedoch ein eindringliches Spiegelbild gesellschaftlicher Befindlichkeiten. Das gilt namentlich für das inzwischen etablierte Performanceprogramm.
Turin. Wer an diesem Wochenende die Turiner Kunstmesse „Artissima“ besucht, sollte, bevor er den Lageplan der Kojen studiert, einen Blick auf den „Bühnenplan“ werfen. Zwölf Performances stehen im Programm, und für viele der Darbietungen dürfte der vorgesehene Raum eingangs der Messehalle rechts im Zweifelsfall nicht genügen. Die Sektion „Per4M“ erfreute sich schon bei ihrer Premiere im vergangen Jahr großer Beliebtheit.
Am Freitag um 15 Uhr zeigt die Hamburger Künstlerin Annika Kahrs in ihrer bereits mehrfach aufgeführten Performance „Strings“, wie labil vermeintlich feste Strukturen sind. Vier Kammermusiker interpretieren das Streichquartett Opus 18, Nr. 4 C-Moll von Ludwig van Beethoven. Doch die anfängliche Harmonie findet bald ein Ende, denn nach jedem Satz lässt Kahrs die Musiker den Platz und das Instrument mit dem rechten Nachbarn tauschen. Mit jedem Platztausch wächst die Verunsicherung und mit ihr der Missklang. Das 8:20 Minuten lange Video einer früheren Strings-Performance kostet bei der Hamburger Produzentengalerie 13.000 Euro. Es ist das letzte Exemplar von fünf.
