The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now

Weekend Arts Roundup: Performance Art Abounds

  Play Now [6:41]

by Marianne Combs

July 24, 2014

maren hassinger performance
Maren Hassinger performance at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, November 17, 2012
Max Fields

MPR News Arts Reporter Marianne Combs joins Steve Seel and Jill Riley to talk about three events that engage the community through performance art.

Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art — Opening tonight at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, this groundbreaking exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of performance art by black artists working from the perspective of the visual arts from the 1960s to the present. Featuring more than 100 works by some 36 artists, Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art includes video and photo documentation of performances, scores and installations, interactive works, and artworks created as a result of performative actions. This exhibition runs to Jan. 4, 2015.

AKA/Fathers and Sons — Staging at the Bedlam Theatre in St. Paul, this production is the result of three years of work among Harry Waters Jr, Jordon Waters, and Kevin "Kaoz" Moore. Using what they call "performative conversations," the three explore the difficulties of conversations between fathers and sons talking explicitly about sexuality, sexual identity, and masculinity in communities of color. The production also breaks the barrier between performers and audience, engaging the community through performance art. Shows run Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Bedlam Theatre.

FLOW Northside Arts Crawl — Both a community celebration and an art event in North Minneapolis, FLOW is a free, non-juried, self-guided tour of studios, galleries, theaters, commercial and vacant spaces over a mile and a half of West Broadway. From b-boys to ballet, graffiti to graphite, rap to rhapsody, fine artist to artisan, practicing to professional, FLOW showcases the great art being made every day on Minneapolis's North Side. FLOW comprises two days and 25 sites featuring nearly 300 visual and performing artists from the Northside community. Find a complete schedule of venues, performances and events at FLOW Northside's website.

Marianne Combs joins The Current's Morning Show for the Weekend Arts Roundup every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Read about all the latest arts news at the State of the Arts blog at mprnews.org.