Suzanne Lacy, The Body Public, Artist"s Talk, 2009.
re.act.feminism - performance art of the 1960s and 70s today, Conference and Live Performances, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Suzanne Lacy
The Body Public: From Private Performance to Public Policy in Feminist Art

Suzanne Lacy (*1945, USA) is known for her large-scale work involving large numbers of participants, usually concerned with political issues in relation to the role and status of women in society. She was an early student on the Feminist Art Program at the California State College (alongside Faith Wilding) in 1971. After graduating she taught performance art in the Feminist Art Workshops at the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles. Her often research based practice seeked to act directly within society and its political framework, collaborating for instance with — besides artists such as Leslie Labowitz or Barbara T. Smith — lawyers, prostitutes or elder women. As in the three–year project "The Crystal Quilt" (1987) which involved 430 older women talking about age in a final sound performance. During the 1990s Lacy worked with teams of artists and youth to create an ambitious series of performances, work- shops, and installations on youth and public policy. In the 21st century, Lacy continued her social performances. 2014, she produced a reenactment of "Three Weeks in May" at Museo Pecci in Milan. In 2019, both the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Yerba Buena Art Center staged retrospective exhibitions.

artist's website: www.suzannelacy.com

Suzanne Lacy covers three decades of work and, as a pioneer in both performance art and feminist art from the 1970s, her work today in the public sector – as performance and installation art that continues to explore the relevance and politics of gender.

Format
Audio Document

Document media
Artist's Talk

Issue date
2009

To be seen in
re.act.feminism - performance art of the 1960s and 70s today, Conference and Live Performances, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 24.1.2009 / 4:30 pm

Relations
Laura Cottingham (COT 1)
Faith Wilding (WILD 1)
Faith Wilding (WILD 2)
Leslie Labowitz (LAB 1/P)
Leslie Labowitz (LAB 2/P)
Barbara T. Smith (SMI 1)
Miriam Sharon (SHA 1)


Tags
activism, public space, sexual violence