Presented by the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) as part of Performa 11

Ursula Mayer presents a live performance of her film Gonda starring transgender model Valentijn de Hingh and with a new score by Charlie Looker and Caley Monahon-Ward, both members of the band Extra Life. Mayer’s film Gonda is currently in production and responds to the play “Ideal” by controversial Russian American writer Ayn Rand through a critical reading of aspects of revolutionary modernism and how this continues to impact our society today. Gonda is concerned with how the use of metaphysical and lyrical imagery constructs identity and how text becomes a substrate of our imagination. The performance features the script conceived by Maria Fusco situated within a ‘kaleidoscopic space’ where images, texts and sounds are interwoven.

Ursula Mayer is currently an artist-in-residence at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) and is usually based in London. Mayer works predominantly in film but her practice also encompasses sculpture and photography. In her most recent body of work, she dismantles the elements of cinematic narrative; numerous flashbacks and other challenges to the cinematic norm of temporal linearity punctuate her films, calling into question how conventional imagery is constructed. Recent solo exhibitions include Kunstverein, Hamburg; ICA, London; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Frame, Frieze Art Fair, London; Lentos Museum of Modern Art, Linz. Her works were recently screened at the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Musée d´art contemporain de Montréal; Bonnier Kunsthalle, Stockholm; PS1, New York; Kunsthalle Basel; 2nd Athens Biennial; 4^thTirana International Art Biennial. Her contribution to Performa 11 coincides with an exhibition of her work at Sculpture Center, New York.

This performance is curated by Kari Conte, Director of Programs and Exhibitions.

Performa 11 (November 1–21, 2011) is the fourth edition of the internationally acclaimed biennial of new visual art performance presented by Performa, the leading organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth-century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century.