Performance

September 28, 2013Collective Space, 221 Sterling Road, Toronto7:00 pm

FADO Performance Art Centre presents new solo performance works by Tomasz Szrama (Poland/ Finland) and Macarena Perich Rosas (Chilé):

¿QUÉ SOY? by Macarena Rosas Perich
Enter Through the Emergency Exit by Tomasz Szrama

Macarena Perich Rosas lives and works in Punta Arenas. Located at the southern tip of Patagonia in the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region, Punta Arenas is, literally, situated at the end of the world, and Perich Rosas just might be the only performance artist from this part of the world. Macarena’s work is engaged with themes of territory, location and place, often employing materials unique to her region of the world, including skins and fur. Her presence is raw and intense, conjuring the animal world and a deep connection to geography and the uncharted environment. Since 2009, she has been organizing Confl!cta: Contemporary Art at the End of World. Confl!cta is a call to action, based on research and experimentation, providing education for audiences and residencies for performing artists, with a goal to work with structures, difficulties and tendencies that problematize the relationship between people and their environment. Through dialogue between the artist and the audience, the impact between the body and territory is acknowledged.

Tomasz Szrama’s practice shifts between multiple disciplines, including photography and video. Regardless of the medium, a dominate common thread in all of his work is the use of his own body and methods of performance art, such as action, gesture, and the physical manipulation of everyday materials. Szrama’s work is humourous and self-reflexive, often putting his own body into impossible and even ridiculous situations such as attempting to hang himself with helium balloons, covering his entire body in plaster cast making himself immobile and then waiting for hours in a busy tourist street, or attempting to board a plane with his own parachute. His work touches on themes of travel, trust, and the ever present potential for personal failure.

Tomasz Szrama and Macarena Perich Rosas’ appearances in Toronto are in partnership with VIVA! Art Action. Established in 2006, VIVA! Art Action is an international performance and live art festival presented once every two years in Montréal. The festival takes place in the of old bath St. Michel in Mile End, and with the participation of the network of artist-run centres in the city.

Macarena Perich Rosas’ appearance in Toronto is also in partnership with LIVE International Performance Art Biennale. Founded in 1999, LIVE has located Vancouver, Canada as an important and recognized node of local, national, and international performance art activity and critical study.