Carolee Schneemann

Carolee Schneemann (1939-2019) employed various artistic media and objects to develop a rich and influential body of work concerning politics, narrative, sexuality and the representation of women in art and society. Emerging from experimental film, dance, poetry, Fluxus, Happenings and environments, the artist’s early painting, collage, assemblage and box constructions were partly an effort to free artistic practice from the static object. Incorporating her nude body into performances extended that investigation into the liberation of the female image. Known for her legendary, visceral and taboo performances, including Meat Joy (1964), Up To and Including Her Limits (1973-76), and Interior Scroll (1975), Schneemann paved the way for generations of feminist artists. She documented her performances using film, created kinetic painting- sculptures and video art on such diverse topics as gender, eroticism, desire, disasters and war.

Schneemann received her BA from Bard College, Annandale-On- Hudson, NY and an MFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL. Recent selected solo exhibitions include body-house: Dialogues between Carolee Schneemann, Diego Bianchi and Márcia Falcão, Pivô, São Paulo, Brazil (2024); Carolee Schneemann: Body Politics, Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK (2022); After Carolee: Tender and Fierce/Carolee’s Room, Artpace, San Antonio, TX, USA (2021); Paint Like I Move (Precarious), les Abattoirs, Toulouse, France (2017); and Kinetic Painting, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria (2015); Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany (2017); MoMA P.S.1 (2017). In 2017, she was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 57th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy.