Bodycast

Opening Night: December 4, 2013
Closing: December 7, 2013
Theater: BAM Harvey Theater

Inspired by the two teenage years visual artist Suzanne Bocanegra spent in a body cast due to scoliosis, Bodycast is an inventive theatricalization of the ubiquitous “artist talk.” Part performance and part essay, Bocanegra uses the format to explore how and why she became an artist. It is a sequel of sorts to Bocanegra’s work When a Priest Marries a Witch, which used a similar approach to explore her Texas upbringing and had its premiere in 2010 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Upon viewing that earlier work, Academy Award-winning actor Frances McDormand suggested an artistic collaboration to Bocanegra. Exploring topics as disparate as Roman art, Rose queens, and Texas drill teams, Bodycast mines specific details of Bocanegra’s life to create a more general meditation on art-making and shifting ideals of feminine beauty. Singer Theo Bleckmann and dancer Emily Coates will make guest appearances in the work.