PERFORMA TO PRESENT FIRST-EVER PERFORMA BENEFIT AUCTION TO SUPPORT PERFORMA 13 AND YEAR-ROUND PROGRAMMING FEATURING WORKS BY OVER 50 ARTISTS INCLUDING JOHN BALDESSARI, ELMGREEN & DRAGSET, MIKE KELLEY, WILLIAM KENTRIDGE, CHRISTIAN MARCLAY, MARILYN MINTER, SHIRIN NESHAT, LAURIE SIMMONS, and a live performance by RYAN MCNAMARA ONLINE AUCTION PREVIEW BEGINNING APRIL 23 ON PADDLE8.COM BIDDING OPENS ONLINE FROM MAY 7 PADDLE8TV TO PRESENT VIDEO OF PAST PERFORMA COMMISSIONS On View April 23 – May 17 LIVE AUCTION, M... Read more

PERFORMA TO PRESENT FIRST-EVER PERFORMA BENEFIT AUCTION
TO SUPPORT PERFORMA 13 AND YEAR-ROUND PROGRAMMING

FEATURING WORKS BY OVER 50 ARTISTS INCLUDING
JOHN BALDESSARI, ELMGREEN & DRAGSET, MIKE KELLEY, WILLIAM KENTRIDGE, CHRISTIAN MARCLAY, MARILYN MINTER, SHIRIN NESHAT, LAURIE SIMMONS,
and a live performance by RYAN MCNAMARA

ONLINE AUCTION PREVIEW BEGINNING APRIL 23 ON PADDLE8.COM
BIDDING OPENS ONLINE FROM MAY 7

PADDLE8TV TO PRESENT VIDEO OF PAST PERFORMA COMMISSIONS
On View April 23 – May 17

LIVE AUCTION, MAY 17, 2012, 6 – 8 PM
FLAG ART FOUNDATION
545 West 25th Street, 9th Floor
Tickets $50

New York, NY, April 12, 2012 – Performa is pleased to announce its first-ever Performa Benefit Auction, featuring a range of over 50 works by established and up-and-coming artists including past Performa biennial artists. Performa will also auction a live performance by artist Ryan McNamara. All proceeds from the auction will directly support Performa artists for its upcoming fifth visual art performance biennial, Performa 13 (November 1-24, 2013). An online preview will be exclusively hosted on www.paddle8.com beginning April 23rd with online bidding beginning May 7th.

On May 17th Performa will present an exciting live auction co-hosted by the FLAG Art Foundation and Paddle8 and will feature a selection of Performa biennial-related works including video editions by Shirin Neshat of her celebrated Performa 11 Commission OverRuled and Liz Magic Laser’s acclaimed Performa 11 Commission I Feel Your Pain. Performa will also auction a never-before-seen live performance by artist Ryan McNamara. Performa’s Benefit Auction will mark the first time that Performa is auctioning video editions as well auctioning a live performance.

RoseLee Goldberg, Performa Founding Director and Curator states, “We are excited to present our first benefit auction and to have so many incredible artists come on board to support future Performa artists. Performa is known for working closely with artists over an extended time as they develop their ideas, and having other artists part of this process is a wonderful gesture of support and of community. We are very grateful to all of them. The auction will also be the first time that we present video editions as well as a stunning new performance by Ryan McNamara that you can take home with you for a one-time performance!”

Artists featured in the Performa Benefit Auction will include John Baldessari; Ross Bleckner; John Bock (Performa 07); Martha Colburn (Performa 09); Keren Cytter (Performa 09); Elmgreen & Dragset (Performa 11); Arthur Elgort; Tamar Ettun (Performa 09); Liz Glynn (Performa 11); Loris Gréaud (Performa 09); Lynn Hershman (Performa 09); Zhang Huang; Christian Jankowski (Performa 07); Isaac Julien (Performa 07); Jesper Just (Performa 05); Ilya & Emilia Kabakov; Deborah Kass; Terence Koh (Performa 09); Mike Kelley (Performa 09); William Kentridge (Performa 09); Ragnar Kjartansson (Performa 11, 09); Liz Magic Laser (Performa 11); Kalup Linzy (Performa 09); Christian Marclay (Performa 11, 05); Daria Martin (Performa 07); Ryan McNamara (Performa 09); Jonathan Meese (Performa 11); Marilyn Minter; Laurel Nakadate (Performa 11); Shirin Neshat (Performa 11); Rashaad Newsome (Performa 11); Kelly Nipper (Performa 07); Clifford Owens (Performa 05); Serkan Ozkaya (Performa 07); Adam Pendleton (Performa 07); Athi-Patra Ruga (Performa 11); Laurie Simmons (Performa 05); Matthew Stone (Performa 11); Bernar Venet (Performa 05); Francesco Vezzoli (Performa 07); and Robert Wilson. [as of April 12th]

Tickets for Performa’s Benefit Auction are $50 and can be purchased online at www.performa-arts.org.

Concurrent with Performa’s Benefit Auction and continuing its ongoing partnership with Paddle8, a selection of Performa’s archival performance videos, many of which have never been seen before online, will be on view to the public from April 23rd to May 17th on Paddle8’s recently launch Paddle8TV.com. Viewers will be able to see full-length performances by Liz Magic Laser (Performa 11), Laurie Simmons (Performa 05), Kelly Nipper (Performa 07), and Martha Colburn (Performa 09), among others.

PERFORMA
Founded in 2004 by art historian and curator RoseLee Goldberg, Performa is the leading organization world-wide dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth-century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century. In 2005, Performa launched New Yorkʼs first-ever biennial dedicated to visual art performance, Performa 05, followed by Performa 07 (2007), Performa 09 (2009), and Performa 11 (2011). Performa will present its fifth biennial, Performa 13, in November 2013.

Since its inception, Performa has operated as both an urban and international project demonstrating how organizations can collaborate to present major arts programs that are both artistically innovative and internationally relevant. Performa has developed partnerships with major international institutions, commissioning, producing, and touring work from the Performa program. The Performa Institute, a platform for the research and educational components of Performa, presents lectures, panel discussions, and workshops on an ongoing basis that explore critical issues surrounding performance and its history across disciplines, including dance, film, music, and architecture.

For more information, visit www.performa-arts.org.

Media Contact
Ashley Tickle
Press and Marketing Manager
Performa
+ 1 212 366 5700
ashley@performa-arts.org