Performance artist Athey makes graphic impression

In partnership with the Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery and Mana Contemporary Gallery, controversial artist Ron Athey presented two days of performances in Chicago last week and topped his stay with a lecture and book-signing for his new retrospective book, Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey.

[Photo gallery at the link: windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/photospreadthumbs.php?APUB=wct&ADATE=2014-02-11&AGALLERY=AtheyHester.]

For his first evening of performance at Mana on Jan. 31, Athey performed the final installment in his “Incorruptible Flesh” series, called “Messianic Remains” which was meant to evoke Jean Genet’s Notre-Dame-des-Fleurs. On Feb. 1, Athey presented his “Sebastiane,” a meditation on the painting “St. Sebastian Tended by Irene.” The work blended elements of music, dance and extreme theater to present a version that pushed the boundaries of fine art and expression. With the assistance of percussionist Sage Charles and performance artist Jo Jo, the 15-minute performance disturbed some in the audience with its graphic nature, but engaged the capacity crowd nonetheless. Jo Jo performed the second piece, “The Two of Us,” with audience participation—and proved to be just as unsettling.

On Feb. 4, Athey gave a lecture as part of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Visiting Artist Series. Considering his graphic body of work, Athey was relatively lighthearted about his start in the 1970s and the issues that shaped his art. A fascination with the body as a canvas, Pentecostal religion, punk rock, body modification, a reaction to the AIDS crisis, the act of rituals, sexuality and pushing boundaries through performance art all figured in his work, along with an all-star line-up of performance artists from another era. Johanna, Lydia Lunch, Lawrence Steger, Annie Sprinkle and Bob Flanagan all appeared via projected images alongside former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms and Sister Aimee Semple McPherson. At the close of his lecture, Athey greeted his audience and signed copies of his book.