Performance biennial for NYC

Another new biennial has joined the international art circuit, but this one has an unusual focus. Called Performa, the exhibition series is the brainchild of RoseLee Goldberg, long known as a historian, critic and curator of performance-based art. Featuring more than 90 artists at some 20 museums, galleries and other spaces around Manhattan, the inaugural biennial takes place Nov. 3-21. Part of the motivation for creating this event, Goldberg said at a press conference, is that "performance has regularly been considered a sideshow at biennials, and its influence in the history of 20th-century art has been poorly understood." She emphasized that the participants are visual artists. Goldberg selected the artists herself, with the input of an advisory committee that included, among others, Chrissie lies, Joan Jonas, William Kentridge, Meredith Monk, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Lisa Phillips.

The biennial has a budget of $400,000, though the presenting organizations have separate budgets for their events. Among the biennial's supporters are the Henry Buhl Foundation, the Peter Norton Family Foundation, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, and various domestic and foreign government agencies.

Ten new works will premiere during the biennial, including several commissioned for the occasion by Jesper Just, Francis Alys, Christian Marclay, Laurie Simmons and Marina Abramovic. Among the other artists featured are Coco Fusco, Pierre Huyghe, Nina Katchadourian, Banks Violette, Bernar Venet, Pablo Helguera, Sislej Xhafa, Jutta Koether and Ron Athey.

Though most of the works are live performances, a number of them are film- or video-based. This raises the question of what exactly constitutes performance art, since many artists working with moving images are inspired by and make work specifically for the filmic medium. Goldberg says this ever-complex issue will be addressed in a two-part symposium. Most of the events are free, except for certain performances and those venues that normally charge admission, such as The Kitchen and Anthology Film Archives. For information and a schedule of events, go to www.performa-arts.org.

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