Where Art And Life Collide: Ron Athey, Franko B, Vaginal Davis

A series of premiere performances, lectures and events in New York City April 28-May 5 focusing on the unique way in which the work of all three artists challenges the separation between art and life. The event Bricktops Takes Manhattan will include a performance by Anderson Cooper channeling Bobby Short.

(PRWEB) April 27, 2006 -- From April 28 through May 5 2006, Ron Athey, Franko B, and Vaginal Davis come to New York for a series of premiere performances, lectures and events focusing on the unique way in which the work of all three artists challenges the separation between art and life.

In modern societies, the power of private experience is often filtered through the norms of social convention and the repression of difference. Ron Athey, Franko B, and Vaginal Davis challenge these constraints, sharing a
commitment to artistic practices which transcend the boundaries of career, or marketplace and move into the space of life, or who they are.

All three artists consider themselves marginalized for reasons ranging from race, to class, to sexuality, and have subsequently used their involvement in subcultural movements to develop and propel their work. As an integral part of their performance work, Ron Athey, Franko B, and Vaginal Davis all subject themselves to physical, cultural, and psychological challenges as a means to transform the conditions of the present, thus their work is able to function simultaneously as exorcism and an opportunity for healing.

Performances:

Monday, May 1, 5:00-10:00 PM
Ron Athey will premiere "Incorruptible Flesh: Dissociative Sparkle",
a durational performance.
Artists Space, 38 Greene Street, ($10)

Tuesday, May 2, 4:00 PM-Midnight
Franko B will present his first ever performance in the U.S.
"Aktion 893: Why are you here?"
One-to-one personal performances with the artist by appointment
(212-254-4334).
Participant Inc., 95 Rivington Street, ($10)

Thursday, May 4, 10:00 PM
Vaginal Davis will host a one night only revival of this 1920s themed showstopper extravaganza of old-timey glamour as "Bricktops Takes Manhattan," with salons, shacks and speakeasy installations built by Future Art Stars from the NYU Department of Art and Art Professions in collaboration with Obie and Bessie award winning set designer Michael Casselli. Produced by Earl Dax Presents, with performances by Vaginal Davis as Madame Bricktop, accompanied by John Blue Jazz Sextette , Jennifer Miller, Julie Atlas Muz, The Wau Wau Sisters, Anderson Cooper channeling Bobby Short, and many Surprise Guests. DJ's Bernice Bobs Her Hair, Pirate Jenny of Montepelier and Billy Miller of the Manhattan Review of Unnatural Acts.
Siberia, 356 West 40th Street, ($10)

Related Events:

Friday, April 28, 6:00-8:00 PM
PERFORMA founder and director Roselee Goldberg hosts "NOT FOR SALE: WE ARE STILL APPALLED" panel discussion with critic C. Carr, Professor Susan Jarosi, the artist Orlan, Robert Storr and Lucy Sexton.
Einstein Auditorium, NYU Barney Building, 34 Stuyvesant Street, FREE.
Reception sponsored by the Sullivan Street Bakery.

Friday, May 5, 6:00-8:00 PM
Artist lectures by Ron Athey, Franko B, and Vaginal Davis, followed by panel discussion with the artists moderated by Jose Munoz.
Einstein Auditorium, NYU Barney Building, 34 Stuyvesant Street, FREE

Additional events throughout the week featuring Lesbians to the Rescue, Filmmaker Simeon Hutner, and writer Jennifer Doyle.

Visit http://www.artofnightlife.net [www.ArtOfNightlife.net] for up-to-date information and a full listing of events.

Biographies:

Ron Athey's work weaves together the baroque visuals and ecstatic experiences of the fundamentalist Christian rituals of his youth with those found in the contemporary, then underground, cultures he found solace in as an adult. Athey lives through real physical extremes on stage as a means to acknowledge, own, and move beyond them, finding resolve in life's harsh truths and beauty in the honesty and ownership of pain.
http://www.ronathey.com [www.RonAthey.com]

Franko B is best known for his stark, blood-loss performances and has also developed a large bodies of work in sculpture, painting, and photography. He is the subject of four artist monographs and has been presented by numerous venues throughout Europe, including the Tate Modern, London and the Palais des Beaux-Artes, Brussels.
http://www.franko-b.com [www.Franko-B.com]

Vaginal Davis' work encompasses drag, performance art, music, writing, experimental filmmaking, and painting. In 2002 Davis began also embodying the persona of Ada "Bricktop" Smith, self-described "performer and salon keeper" who was a confidant of Cole Porter, mentor to Josephine Baker and Duke Ellington, and pioneered important night life spaces in Paris, Mexico City and Rome. Davis hosted her hugely successful Club Bricktops Los Angeles at the Parlor Club from 2002-2005 when the Parlor closed.
http://www.vaginaldavis.com [www.VaginalDavis.com]

Co-Sponsored by:
New York University's Steinhardt Department of Art and Art Professions, Department of Applied Psychology, Department of Drama Therapy, NYU Tisch Department of Performance Studies, NYU Center for Religion and Media, NYU Humanities Council and Office of Lesbian Gay and Transgender Student Services in association with Artists Space, Earl Dax Presents, Participant Inc., PERFORMA, Performance Space 122, and Visual AIDS

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jonathan Berger, 917.209.8046
http://www.artofnightlife.net [www.ArtOfNightlife.net]

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