After the Moment: Reflections on Robert Mapplethorpe

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Charged by the Contemporary Art Center’s Curator, Steven Matijcio to curate a small selection of performances for the opening reception of After the Moment:  Reflections on Robert Mapplethorpe, NEAR*BY has engaged three artists/groups who are interested in a physical disruption of normative space to perform over the course of the three-hour opening event.

Using a combination of recited poetry and performed actions, visual artist and performer Elsie Mort will explore the sexualization of the male body from a female perspective.

Employing the language of romance novels from artist Abby Friend’s past collective feminist performances, the artist will address the discrepancies between the objectification of womxn in pornography and the ways in which notions of womxn-led forms of obscenity can fit into a broader conversation about feminism.
Contemporary dancers McKenzie Barkdull and Amelia Koper Heintzelman of MamLuft&Co. Dance will use their bodies, (the most integral instrument of human experience,) to enact a series of three performances, demonstrating ways in which the body can act as a physical interlocutor of normative space.

From the Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati’s website:

2015 will mark the 25th anniversary of the CAC’s landmark presentation of Robert Mapplethorpe’s survey exhibition The Perfect Moment in Cincinnati. And while 25 years have passed, this event continues to reverberate as much for the artwork on display as for the reactions it inspired, and the historic controversy that ensued. Amidst the ripples, then CAC Director Dennis Barrie was acquitted on charges of obscenity, first amendment laws were shaken and galvanized, the HIV crisis and gay rights movement took on added visibility and revealing light was cast upon the polarizing politics of what is seen and by whom. In an aftermath that has yet to fully settle or cease, the CAC will consider the legacy of this artist (and the events surrounding The Perfect Moment) through the lens of artists working today. Seven curators from across the tri-state region (Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana) will each select 5 artists who will present new work that measures how Mapplethorpe’s photos, exhibition and censorship shaped the artistic landscape they navigate today.

http://www.contemporaryartscenter.org/exhibitions/2015/11/after-the-moment

After The Moment

Reflections on Robert Mapplethorpe

November 06, 2015 through March 13, 2016