Perplexed in Public, organised by the Lisson Gallery, across London, 13 Jun - 20 Jul

Exhibition Description:

Perplexed in Public will bring together a select group of renowned international artists for a series of performances, installations and interventions at various locations across London, including Trafalgar Square and Chelsea College of Art & Design Parade Ground, in June and July 2008.

The theme references conceptual practices as well as performance and activism. The participating artists share a desire to articulate a public voice with gestures, statements or sculptural interventions which will seek to surprise and distract us, blurring our sense of reality in the city.

The artists will explore different ways of sharing and remembering, while uncovering ways in which power is embodied and performed. They will also test the limits of prescribed public self-expression and social conventions. aiming to directly involve and engage with its audience.

Description:

Image by the artists Allora & Calzadilla
Balance of Power, 2007
Performance, 24 February 2007
Photo by Hugo Muñoz
Courtesy the artists and Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea Trento

Jennifer Allora was born in Philadelphia in 1974. Guillermo Calzadilla was born in 1971, and originates from Havana. They will be presenting Balance of Power, 2007, for the first time in the UK. This performance involves three yoga practitioners wearing military outfits, who execute a sequence of ‘warrior positions’. The work explores the relationship and contrast between militarism and leisure, while at the same time addressing the embodiment of power. Balance of Power was first performed at the Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea Trento, Italy, in February 2007 and was curated by Jessica Morgan.

Performance schedule:
Tuesday 8 – Friday 11 July, 2 – 2.30 pm daily
Trafalgar Square, London WC2N