The talented Mr. Terence Koh, whose poetic and provocative artworks have been labeled both brilliant and the emperor’s new clothes, was at his best last week when he delivered the performance piece Art History 1642-2009 at New York’s venerable National Arts Club. Speaking to a packed house of art-world sophisticates in a completely unintelligible language, he railed, whispered, gestured, and danced his way through a visually entertaining lecture about art since the time of Goya.
Performa, a biennial of new visual art performance, returns to New York for its third edition at venues throughout the city for three weeks in November. Eleven new commissions and six New York premieres are featured in the three-week program, while the biennial kicks off with a unique food event that’s billed as an installation-cum-happening. Blurring the boundaries between visual art, music, dance, and other media, more than 150 international artists are participating in more than110 events at an array of public and private sites.