Queer New York International Arts Festival (QNYI) - June 7-15, 2012 - is a new festival of contemporary performance and visual art that explores and broadens the concept of “queer (in) art.” Co-curated by Zvonimir Dobrović, artistic director of Queer Zagreb and the Perforations Festival in Croatia, and art historian and curator André von Ah, the festival aims to dispel preconceived and stereotyped notions of “queer” and provide a platform for expanding the discourse about artistic practices.
The festival features works by an exciting lineup of artists including David Wampach (France), Ricci/Forte (Italy), Tadasu Takamine (Japan), François Chaignaud & Cecilia Bengolea (France, Argentina), Marlene Monteiro Freitas (Cape Verde), Silvia Costa/Plumes dans la tête (Italy), Biljana Kosmogina (Serbia), Željko Zorica (Croatia), Igor Josifov (Macedonia), and the East Village Boys (U.S.). The festival is presented in partnership with The Abrons Arts Center—QNYI’s hub—with additional events presented at The Invisible Dog Art Center and The Impossible Project.
In discussing the festival, Dobrović and von Ah have stated that they want to “break through dominant ideas that limit and marginalize queer art, by creating a new concept of queer as a wider platform for excellence in arts, capable of tracking, discovering, and interpreting new trends while daring to speak openly about the norms that constitute society and art practice.”
QNYI will include a series of discussions and public programs organized by Andy Horwitz and Jeremy M. Barker of Culturebot.org, and OUT magazine’s editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin. Dates and locations for these events will be posted on QNYI’s website: www.queerny.org QNYI coincides with LaMaMa’s presentation of queer art during its 50th anniversary season. QNYI is presented with support from Trust for Mutual Understanding, CEC ArtsLink, Institut Français, Serbian Ministry of Culture, the City of Zagreb, and FUSED – French U.S. Exchange in Dance.
PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS
East Village Boys (U.S.) – For personal use - Exhibition, Thursday, June 7, at 6:00pm (through Saturday, June 16)
The Impossible Project Gallery, Free event
Since the deluge of digital technologies, documenting queer secrets has never been easier, but somewhere along the way it has became less deviant, less counterculture, less provocative. East Village Boys brings together a few of its favorite artists from a variety of disciplines to photograph whatever it is they do in private for, with, or to themselves. Participating artists include: Mx Justin Vivian Bond, Jeff Hahn, Jayson Keeling, Josh McNey, Christian Schoeler, and Andrew Yang, among others.
Ricci/Forte (Italy) – Macadamia Nut Brittle , Performance, Thursday and Friday, June 7 and 8, at 8:00pm, Abrons Art Center: Playhouse, Tickets: $20
Stefano Ricci and Gianni Forte, known by many as les enfants terribles of the Italian theater scene, present their acclaimed work Macadamia Nut Brittle. The play, based on text by Dennis Cooper, frames four performers in a desperate waiting game. Searching for love within an impossible world, the characters are faced with the choice of self-discovery or self-reinvention, and the risk of losing control.
Tadasu Takamine (Japan) – Kimura-san, Installation / Performance, Thursday and Sunday, June 7 and 10, at 9:30pm, Abrons Arts Center: Underground Theater, $10 (suggested donation)
Tadasu Takamine presents his controversial video/performance installation Kimura-San. Mr. Kimura was a victim of the Morinaga arsenic milk poisoning who lost complete use of his arms, legs, and mouth. Takamine was Kimura’s caretaker for five years, and filmed himself caring for Kimura, including aiding in the satisfaction of his sexual needs. Takamine was a member of the artists collective Dumb Type from 1993 to 2000, and has gone on to create numerous video and theatrical installations that have been presented in galleries and museums around the world.
David Wampach (France) – Auto + Batterie, Performance, Saturday and Sunday, June 9 and 10, at 8:00pm, Abrons Art Center: Playhouse, Tickets: $20
With these works, David Wampach exposes and exploits the relationship between dance and music that, according to the artist, too often gets left on automatic pilot. A strange and demanding performance, Auto plays with expectations as the choreographer moves around the space to the sound of dissonant music. The second piece, Batterie, is a duet between a dancer and a drummer that explores a series of relationships: the drummer and himself, the rhythm and the body.
Marlene Monteiro Freitas (Cape Verde) – Guintche, Performance, Monday, June 11, at 8:00pm, Abrons Art Center: Playhouse, Tickets: $20
Guintche is based on a drawing by Freitas that came to life through a real-life encounter and grew in her imagination over time. A rebellious and unapologetic creature, Guintche has been called “demented” and “indomitable” by witnesses of the performance. Freitas has worked with Emmanuelle Huynh, Boris Charmatz, and most recently Trajal Harrell, as part of his work(M)imosa, Twenty Looks or Paris Is Burning at Judson Church.
Biljana Kosmogina (Serbia) – ‘P’ Campaign, Performance , Monday, June 11, at 9:15pm, Abrons Art Center: Underground, Tickets: $10 (suggested donation)
Biljana Kosmogina is an award-winning writer, performer, and multimedia artist. ‘P’ Campaignis a provocative political parody about the presidential candidacy of “Vagina” (popularly known as Pička) who enters the election to solve the state crisis, with a firm belief and promise that Serbia will finally fulfill its planned goals.
Željko Zorica (Croatia) – KroaTisch-Amerikanische Freundschaft, Performance Installation, Monday, June 11, at 10:00pm, Abrons Art Center: Experimental, Tickets: $10 (suggested donation)
KroaTisch-Amerikanische Freundschaft is an audio/video/edible installation that is organized and presented alongside a controlled happening. The happening follows welcome speeches and explanations of a game that precedes the gastronomic pleasures offered to the audience by the artist. Željko Zorica is one of the most important Croatian conceptual artists. His visually stunning food installations have been presented throughout the Balkans and Europe.
Silvia Costa / Plumes dans la tête (Italy) – La Quiescenza del Seme, Performance Installation, Tuesday through Thursday, June 12–14, at 8:00pm, Abrons Arts Center: Experimental, Tickets: $20
Silvia Costa, a former member of Romeo Castellucci’s Socìetas Raffaello, presents her live installation, La Quieszenza del Sieme. The work focuses on the moments that precede birth, and the preparation and waiting that charges every birth with physiological and ideological meaning. In this intimate solo, Costa performs suspended inside a pool filled with milk, as if hibernating or frozen in time.
Igor Josifov (Macedonia) – 2-Dimensional , Performance Installation, Tuesday through Thursday, June 12–14, at 8:00pm, Abrons Arts Center: Gallery, Free event
2-Dimensional is a performance installation that explores the delicate relationship between the artist and the viewer. Lying underneath a plexiglass structure, Josifov invites the audience to walk over him. In this performance, the artist is an observer as much as he is observed while the spectator becomes a performer.
François Chaignaud & Cecilia Bengolea (France, Argentina) –Paquerette, Performance, Thursday and Friday, June 14 and 15, at 8:00pm, Co-presented by Chez Bushwick, The Invisible Dog Art Center and Queer New York International, Tickets: $10 (suggested donation)
François Chaignaud and Cecilia Bengolea are young dancer-choreographers who have been working together since 2005. They have collaborated with some of the stars of the European dance scene such as Gilles Jobin, Mark Tomkins, Mathilde Monnier, and Boris Charmatz, among others. Their work Paquerette deals with penetration as a (choreo)graphic and dance moment. Moving beyond the idea of penetration as a form of interaction or source of sexual pleasure, the dance uses penetration to create a new set of restrictions and liberties imposed upon the body.
RELATED SERIES
La MaMa presents more queer art in its 50th anniversary season, Curated by Matt Nasser, Nicky Paraiso, and Mia Yoo
From May 24 to July 1, La MaMa will present the work of several artists including Scott Wittman’s Jukebox Jackie: Snatches of Jackie Curtis; Our Lady J’s Beauty as God(dess); Geo Wyeth’s Haunts; Chris Tanner’s
The Etiquette of Death; Jason Jacobs’ Lost in Staten Island, More Tales of Modern Living; and Visual AIDS’ UNDETECTABLE. For more information, visit www.lamama.org
