good morning. portrait of an artist
got up n did stuff… going through another break-up. mentally tired. lost on the @whitneymuseum drama… not doing activism today… but not doing radical rest either. May you overcome your hierarchies today.
DAY 1 of @ayana.m.evans IG Takover
So let’s recap…
1. They are executing protestors in Kenosha, WI. And Wisconsin cops did nothing about it.
2. The Whitney Museum wants to pay $100 for Black artwork
3. Altheltes are backing out of tournaments in protest of the killing of Jacob Blake being shot in front of his kids.
4. Some of us still think masks are not necessary. #covidisreal
I’m almost too tired to get off this bathroom floor. But after my at home photoshoot I’m gonna do something productive.
DAY 2 of @ayana.m.evans IG Takover
#operationcatsuit 💚💚💚💚⚡✊🏾
I’ll be performing here on IG Live in 30 min! Here are some clips from Wednesday’s morning performance to entice you to come to this afternoon work.
#ALightWithoutShadow
DAY 3 of @ayana.m.evans IG Takover
#operationcatsuit 💚
Clips from the final live performance during my IG takeover here… Thank you for having me. 💚⚡🧡 “In Her Bathtub” #operationcatsuit@ayana.m.evans 🌊 💚8w
DAY 4 of @ayana.m.evans IG Takover
“I am influenced by the abstract actions of the Fluxus art movement, most notably work of Geoffery Hendricks. I am equally inspired by the thoughtful activism and actions by Sur Rodney (Sur), the durational crawls & “Pull” by William Pope L and Lorraine O’Grady’s guerrilla style public performance works. With these artists, the body is put at risk to critique culture and increase human interconnectedness. I use my body similarly to do the same. Additionally, I cut social hierarchies through collective actions, like forced crowd surfing at the CAA conference or the participatory performances lead my version of a feminist superhero in ‘Operation Catsuit’.”
Ayana Evans is a NYC based artist who received her MFA in painting from Temple University and her BA in Visual Arts from Brown University. In 2017 Evans was commissioned by the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia to complete a 10 hour durational, citywide performance and 100 person performative dinner party at the museum for their exhibition “A Person of the Crowd.” Her international work includes participation in FIAP performance festival in Martinique, The Pineapple Show at Tiwani Contemporary in London, and Ghana’s Chale Wote festival which drew 30,000 people. Evans was a 2018 Fellow in the Studio Immersion Program at EFA’s Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, 2017-2018 awardee of the Franklin Furnace Fund for performance art, 2018 artist in residence at Artists Alliance, 2018 NYFA Fellow, and 2019 artist in resident for Art on the Vine at Martha’s Vineyard. Additionally, she has performed at the Queens Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum, Newark Museum, El Museo del Barrio and the Bronx Museum. Her latest solo exhibitions were with Medium Tings Gallery, Cuchifritos Gallery, and the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop with New Art Dealers Alliance(NADA). Her recent press includes: ArtNet, New York Magazine’s The Cut, Hyperallergic, the Huffington Post, CNN and The New York Times.
Portrait Image courtesy of Kolin Mendez