The Wedding - VestAndPage | Photo: Gustavo Alvarez
Today is our first featured guest top 5 on ArtistsLists! Guests will be a regularly appearing on ArtistsLists and we have some very interesting top 5′s coming up, so stay tuned.
Out of all the art forms, I feel most unaware about performance art and felt that a top 5 devoted to the subject was very necessary. ArtistsLists asked Brooklyn-based performance artist Quinn Dukes to contribute a top 5 and she has put together a very exciting list of contemporary performance artists to watch. The artists listed have definitely furthered my appreciation of performance and have made me excited to see more in the first person (perhaps at Grace Exhibition Space in Brooklyn). In addition to these artists that she has listed, you should also follow Dukes. She recently performed at the Fountain Art Fair last month in NYC.
TOP 5 CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE ARTISTS TO WATCH
1. Verena Stenke and Andrea Pagnes / VestAndPage, Florence
Verena and Andrea live performance art. They present meditative and ritualistic performances that challenge impermanence, transformation and self awareness. Their performances transfix me into an alternate state of awareness that is simultaneously terrifying and beautiful.
2. Alexandra Zierle and Paul Carter / ZIERLE & CARTER, UK
The triumph of this pair is their sensitivity to material. Objects become extensions of the body rather than ill-fitting props. Quite frequently the performers/objects mutate throughout the performance in both physicality and symbolism.
3. Marilyn Arsem / Boston, USA
Arsem’s performances respond to current political, social and environmental situations. They are quiet (but certainly not silent) revolts. She frequently relies on audience participation, duration and earthen materials.
4. Willem Wilhelmus / Finland
Wilhemus allows performance to remain simple. His actions are limited to one or two repeating motions with little reliance on spectacle. He tests the physical limitations of his body in an attempt to strip “away all kinds of illusion.”
5. Kristian Al Droubi / Serbia
Al Droubi combines outlandish Vito Acconci-esque tactics with humor and humility. He speaks directly to his audience and frequently requests direct audience participation. His works are uncomfortable (occasionally he urinates on the floor or talks from his anus) but he is also painfully sincere and to prove it, he will beat himself up.
Quinn Dukes is a multi-media performance artist and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her website at www.quinndukes.com.
Video by Zierle & Carter
