Karen Finley: Unicorn Gratitude Mystery

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> On DAY 4 of Femmetopia Festival: Deeds not Words <
A six-day Festival of art, performance and protest, celebrating and exploring intersectional collective power!

EUROPEAN PREMIERE // ONE NIGHT ONLY // VERY LIMITED CAPACITY // INTIMATE SHOW

Karen Finley brings her rave reviewed solo performance that explores the recent heightened US political presidential landscape that takes on citizenship, gender disparity and abuse of power. The individual price of public relationships at the price of privacy becomes divisive with searing psychosexual dynamics of wit and seething revelation. Finley delivers an experimental nonlinear poetic text that explores magical beings, aggressive thankfulness, and collective intimacy through a Shakespearean-family nation drama traumatics. All jolting the audience into considering the unnatural disaster of humankind.

In Unicorn – an exploration of the imaginary unattainable white horned beast, a racist and elitist symbol of whiteness. Transparent overt and covert meanderings of truisms, branding and liberal sophistication develop through lyrical and poetic musings to create a place to reconsider how we embrace the liberal mythical captive kingdom of beasts.

In Gratitude – a performance of the gendered expectations of female humility and the powerlessness it gives rise to. Cynicism, desire and eager acceptance appear in double and triple entendres, revealing a deeper meaning of aggressive thankful courtesy in the inflexible neoliberal sacred spaces of conflict; the yoga mat compound, the Whole Food paycheck utility lifestyle that consumes contemporary gentrification. In full force Finley is unstoppable in expressing the longing for companionship among gender disparity and magical narcissism.

In Mystery – an evolving performance takes on current trauma at large through Trump as monster. Finley dives deep into the language, emotion and overwhelming terror of the uncontrollable covfefe. The intimacy of international and natural disaster becomes a poetic place to experience trauma, blueness, desperation, the mysterious mystery, the loss of control and the ultimate fear of the unknown known. Through the media we are exposed to the overkill of the preoccupation of tragedy, where we are all on show as a passive audience. Finally, Finley gives us a glimpse into the devalued male body ready for war.

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Karen Finley is a highly influential and prolific artist working in a variety of mediums such as installation, video, performance, public art, visual art, entertainment, television and film, memorials, music, and literature,

She has presented her work worldwide in various venues such as The Bobino in Paris, The ICA and Barbican in London and the Lincoln Center in NYC. Finley is a professor at NYU: Tisch, lectures and gives workshop at universities and museums internationally. Her work is in collections such as the Museum of Contemporary art and the Pompidou.

She is the author of eight books, including a 25th anniversary edition of Shock Treatment ( City Lights 2015 ), Reality Shows, (Feminist Press 2011), George and Martha ( Verso 2008), and the forthcoming Grabbing Pussy (OR books, 2018).

Recent work includes, Artist Anonymous – a social practice self help open meeting for those addicted to art presented at Museum of Art and Design (2014) , and Written in Sand, a performance of music and her writings on AIDS, Open Heart, a Holocaust memorial at Camp Gusen, Austria; Broken Negative, where Finley reconsiders her infamous chocolate performance that brought her to the Supreme Court, in Finley vs. NEA; and at the New Museum, NYC Sext ME if You Can, where Finley creates commissioned portraits inspired by “sexts” received from the public. Finley creates interactive walks such as Mandala: Reimaging Columbus Circle Columbia Graduate school of Architecture and Elastic City.

A recipient of many awards and grants including a Guggenheim Fellowship, NYSCA and NEA fellowships. In 2015 she was awarded the Richard J Massey Foundation Arts and Humanities award.

WANT TO SEE MORE OF KAREN FINLEY?

Come to a film screening, book launch and discussion with Karen:Femmetopia Festival: Grabbing Pussy: bank-holiday brunch with Karen Finley