Venus – The anti-hero Hero

Venus - performance registration from Framer Framed on Vimeo.

Venus – The anti-hero Hero was an interactive programme that explores the historically violent imageries surrounding Venus. Who is Venus? Nikki Minaj? Kim Kardashian? This event is part of the series of public and discursive events that are curated alongside to the exhibition 'Embodied Spaces' (2015) by curator Christine Eyene at Framer Framed in Amsterdam. With contributions by Amal Alhaag, Rehema Chachage, Quinsy Gario, Carolin Kamya, Shertise Selano, Hodan Warsame and Milone Reigman.
This event concluded the three exploratory reading sessions that were loosely based on three chapters from Suzan-Lori Park’s play Venus and connected to the themes of imagination, language and the body. Park’s play is based on the journey of Saartjie Baartman, a Khoi-San woman taken from South Africa in 1810 and exhibited in London and Paris. The reading of the exoticized body of Saartjie Baartman has influenced the iconography of the black female body in western visual cultures. Venus connects to current conversations on race, gender, sexuality, and voyeurism in the media. From Hottentot Venus to bootylicious – the female body, specifically, the black female body belongs to the spectators. How can we re-interpret and reclaim Venus despite the exploitation?

Venus – The anti-hero Hero was developed in collaboration with theater director Amal Alhaag, Milone Reigman. Shertise Solano and Ronald de Graaff created a series of beautiful masks especially for the Venus performance directed by Milone Reigman. In addition to the exhibition the masks will be on show in the public spaces of the Tolhuistuin. Rehema Chachage is based in Tanzania, we had a chance to aks her for a contribution thanks to the Thami Mnyele Foundation.

Lorraine O’Grady as “Mlle. Bourgeoise Noire” (1980-83

Amalia Ramanankirahina - Crinolines

Atelier Crinoline, grande parade Métèque 93, 2014

Perform Moskau

Gallarte Outdoor banner

ghillikotorenty

kopf

kotomisi non-essential mix vol1

performance: kotomisi / as not / MacGhillie
voices: MacGhillie, Zulile, Radio Stanvaste/Helen Mijnals
Remix: aito

//video low quality (ask for hd)


part x: MacGhillie, 4:16 min

part y: metamorphosis, 6:44 min

part xy: kotomisi, 6:07 min

full version, 17:30 min

STEPHANIE LINER Momentos Of A Doomed Construct 2009

Looking at Stephanie Liner’s Orbs, I immediately think of the panoramic sugar egg that had a place in the Easter baskets of my childhood.  Both are egg-shaped and feature a window opening into an interior vignette.  In fact, the panoramic egg is a product of the Victorian age as is the Queen Anne style, which is a source of inspiration for the artist.  Yet there the similarities end, for while decorative, Liner’s life-sized Orbs are created with a decidedly more subversive intention.

Liner is inspired by interiors of the historic southern United States and, in particular, the Queen Anne style – elements of which she believes contain latent meaning about the societies that created them.  The aforementioned Orb, a part of her Momentos of a Doomed Construct series, is defined by decorative and corporeal elements much like Liner’s entire practice.  Constructed of plywood and typically covered in a floral textile skin, Liner’s Orbs are occupied by a seated, self-contained female figure with billowing skirts.  In another part of the series, the artist connects the female form to furniture in a more literal way.  The figure stands with hands on hips to combine with a sculptural element set on cabriole legs in mimic of a Queen Anne wing-back chair.  Through each piece, Liner seeks to create a crafts-based visual language to address historic gender roles that she believes are perpetuated today.

The physicality of Liner’s work and its real world subject matter lends itself easily to performance, which typically accompanies her installations.  The 2009 performance for Memories of a Doomed Construct exhibit at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh gallery encouraged interaction between visitor and model.  Peering into an Orb, the viewer was met with the stare of a live female model from within – creating an uncomfortable, voyeuristic experience.  Carefully staged moments of gazing and objectification are intended to make us think critically about gender.