All articles tagged with #performance art
A Guardian photo essay from the 61st Venice Biennale captures its wildest moments—from a naked jetskiing sequence and a giant human bell at Seaworld Venice to a celebrity seagull outside the Polish pavilion—along with immersive installations and off-site works across the Giardini and Arsenale, highlighting participation from 99 countries and a program running through 22 November.
The 2026 Venice Biennale offers a spectrum of provocative pieces—from Florentina Holzinger’s nude, postapocalyptic pavilion to Lydia Ourahmane’s coin-operated, Venice-inspired installation and Ukraine’s journey of an origami deer—alongside Sanya Kantarovsky’s seance-like paintings and a wave of AI-inspired works in the Arsenale; the mood weaves stark political and personal mourning with bursts of inventive, boundary-pushing art under the In Minor Keys banner.
Mitski delivers a masterful, genre-blending live show at NYC's Shed, pairing theatrical visuals and precise choreography with expansive vocals across her new material and catalog, creating a joyous, immersive concert that fuses pop with performance art.
Edita Schubert was a Croatian artist and medical illustrator whose work blurred the lines between anatomy and art, using surgical tools and dissection techniques to create provocative, abstract, and organic artworks that reflected her dual career and personal experiences, including war and illness, making her a pioneering figure in avant-garde art.
Louisa Melcher and Andrew Fox exemplify a new wave of comedians who use obnoxiousness and alienation as humor, blurring the lines between performance and reality to engage and challenge audiences, with Melcher's provocative TikTok persona illustrating the art of trolling in modern comedy.
Taylor Swift's upcoming album 'The Life of a Showgirl' introduces a showgirl aesthetic inspired by burlesque and Vegas performances, reflecting themes of fame, womanhood, and artistic spectacle, with Swift drawing on her touring experiences to craft a vibrant, theatrical visual and musical narrative.
The article highlights the growing popularity of bubble art performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, featuring acts like Louis Pearl and Graham Maxwell, who use innovative techniques and acrobatics to entertain audiences with bubbles, blending science, magic, and meditation.
Alexis Stone, a performance and makeup artist, creates astonishing full-body transformations into celebrities and characters using prosthetics, special effects, and custom details, often attending fashion shows in elaborate disguises that garner significant media attention and public fascination.
The Blue Man Group will end its New York City run in February 2025 after over 30 years and 17,000 performances. Known for their unique performance art, the group will also conclude its Chicago shows in January but continue in cities like Las Vegas and Berlin. The New York closure comes amid broader challenges for theaters post-pandemic. Blue Man Group, acquired by Cirque du Soleil in 2017, debuted in New York in 1991.
Sethembile Msezane's iconic photograph "Chapungu — The Day Rhodes Fell" captures the spirit of the #RhodesMustFall movement, symbolizing the removal of Cecil Rhodes' statue at the University of Cape Town. Inspired by a recurring dream about the sacred Zimbabwean bateleur eagle, Msezane's performance atop a plinth became a powerful symbol of resistance. The image is now part of an exhibition in London, showcasing female-led resistance movements worldwide. Despite the toll it took on her, Msezane continues to use her art as a tool for change, supporting charitable endeavors and advocating for women's rights.
In 1987, John Cage composed "ORGAN2/ASLSP (As Slow As Possible)" for organ to be played as slowly as possible, and since 2001, an organ in Halberstadt, Germany has been performing a 639-year version of the piece. The first chord change in two years occurred recently, with volunteers adding a new pipe to create a new sound. The project is scheduled to continue until 2640, with the next chord change set for August 5, 2026.
André 3000 kicked off his New Blue Sun Tour with a mesmerizing performance featuring flutes and ambient music, accompanied by anecdotes about his journey into wind instruments and spiritual encounters. The show, described as more of a performance art than a typical concert, captivated a diverse crowd of fans, including those who appreciate ambient music and spiritual rituals. Despite some technical snags, the audience was immersed in the ethereal sounds and unique experience, with André hinting at a possible return to rapping in the future.
A performer from Marina Abramović's 2010 retrospective at MoMA is suing the museum, alleging that he was not adequately protected from multiple instances of sexual assault during his nude performance. The performer claims that MoMA failed to take corrective action to prevent further assaults and did not provide him with the identities of the assailants. The lawsuit was filed in accordance with the New York Adult Survivors Act, which removed the statute of limitations for sexual assault litigations for a year from November 2022 to November 2023.
In Season 1, Episode 5 of "The Curse," Emma Stone's character, Whitney, continues her constant performance, but glimpses of her true feelings start to emerge. The episode revolves around the production of "Fliplanthropy" and Whitney's search for the perfect couple to feature as potential buyers. However, conflicts arise when the first pair refuses to sign a letter of support for the local community. Whitney's true nature is revealed when her parents visit and she throws a tantrum, revealing her privileged upbringing. As Whitney's assumptions are challenged, she realizes that people are more complex than she thought.
Co-hosts of "The View" condemned climate activists who vandalized a Claude Monet painting with red paint, but some observers said they were only bothered because the incident made them and their liberal allies look bad. The incident occurred at the Swedish National Museum, where two women vandalized "The Artist's Garden at Giverny" and then affixed themselves to the painting's frame to bring attention to global warming. The incident is being criminally investigated as aggravated vandalism.