ART CITIES:N.York-Jill Kroesen

Jill Kroesen was an essential figure in the ‘70s New York, working at the intersection of experimental music and then-emerging Performance art. After studying at Mills College with composer Robert Ashley, she embarked on a series of performances that defied categorization, such as “Stanley Oil and His Mother: A Systems Portrait of the Western World” (1977), “The Original Lou and Walter Story” (1978) and “Excuse Me, I Feel Like Multiplying” (1979).

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Whitney Museum of American Art Archive

Jill Kroesen returns this summer with a new sexhibition at the Whitney, “Collecting Injustices, Unnecessary Suffering”. This theatrical performance features original songs, dance, and the participation of many of her past collaborators, including an elaborate sculptural set designed and constructed by Jared Bark and costumes by Mary Kay Stolz. In this new performance, Kroesen articulates for herself and for her audience an allegory that animates the structures of parenting, socialization, and control that shape individual lives and collective society. Employing Kroesen’s own unique approach to portraiture, this performance coincides with the Whitney’s collection exhibition “Human Interest”. In Kroesen’s systems portraits, an individual might personify a virus, a gender, or a superpower, revealing the power dynamics embedded in social structures and world politics by means of personal drama. In “Excuse Me, I Feel Like Multiplying”, for example, we experience Cold War negotiations as a fight between Kroesen (the USSR), and another woman (the US president), over a boyfriend (the underdeveloped country). While methodically structured and carefully scripted, Kroesen’s plays are nevertheless casually untheatrical, often made up of a cast of non-actors. Kroesen’s performances almost always include several of her original songs, and with names like “Honey, You’re So Mean” and “Fay Shism Blues”, they add another layer of satire to her projects.

Info: Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street, New York, Days & Hours: Installation: 27-28/7/16 10:30-15:00, 29-31/7/16 10:30-16:00, Performances 29-31/7/16 20:00, http://whitney.org