Time is the thing a body moves through – performance night with G and Dudu Quintanilha

Join us for the performance programme Time is the thing a body moves through with G and Dudu Quintanilha

June 25 and 26 at 8.00 pm

Doors open at 7.30 pm

 

book your ticket for June 25 here!

 

Time is the thing a body moves through is an exploration of performance in various forms and contexts, taking place over two evenings at ROZENSTRAAT. At the invitation of curator Titus Nouwens, artists G and Dudu Quintanilha present new live performances alongside video works from recent years. Revisiting these works, they explore interrelations between image and body, absence and presence, what is considered live and what is mediated. 

 

In the videos, the artists propose spaces for performance – in the studio or on the streets of their hometowns Luton and São Paulo. Improvised yet charged moments are captured on camera. In G’s work ‘FISH AND CHIPS WITH DAD’, for example, you see the artist having lunch in a fish-and-chips shop with the ashes of her father on the table. In the work of the artists performance is directly connected to life, to the reality beyond the walls of the spaces of art. It is used to give form to feelings of grief and discomfort, togetherness and joy.

 

What does it mean to perform oneself? In his practice Dudu Quintanilha explores ideas about how we live together in relation to the possibilities and conditions of performance in specific situations and contexts. By involving people in his work – friends and strangers – the artist critically explores complex social relations, vulnerabilities and the margins of society. The starting point of his video works are unscripted ‘performance meetings’ recorded on camera, for which his main materials are language, movement and behaviour, varying from the (officially) desirable to the undesirable. 

 

At ROZENSTRAAT Quintanilha presents Variações, Ingovernáveis (Variations, Ungovernables), a work developed in 2015 in collaboration with performer Alessandro Lins dos Anjos, whom he met while working at a shelter for people who experience homelessness and addiction. For Time is the thing a body moves through, new footage shot by Lins dos Anjos and a new live performance developed in collaboration with transdisciplinary artist, performer and music producer Mavi Veloso, will be presented in response to the original work and the viewer’s presence. 

 

G’s presentation at ROZENSTRAAT – a combination of a live performance titled ‘THE SCORE’ and three recent video works – departs from personal experiences of loss. Through the use of movement and sound, in G’s new performance the question of how to cope with grief becomes a question of how to navigate life and to what soundtrack. The artist often involves her immediate family in her work, through physical presence or through an absence that she makes tangible. At once funny and highly emotional, G’s (video) performances convey a strong sense of discomfort. By pushing the limits of her body – an important trope in the history of performance – the artist explores the complexities of performing for an audience. 

 

Biographies

 

Dudu Quintanilha is an artist from Bauru, São Paulo, now living and working in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main. In his projects, Quintanilha uses performance and video to connect ideas and bodies, researching the intersection of arts, care and ethics. Quintanilha studied at Städelschule with Willem de Rooij and Gerard Byrne and received the graduate prize from Sammlung Pohl in 2021. He received the Dokumentarfotografie Förderpreis 14 and was an artist in residence at Q21 MuseumsQuartier in 2016. His works were exhibited at Brunand Brunand, Berlin; Galerie DREI, Cologne; Kunstraum Riehen, Basel; Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf; Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires and Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels.

 

G

Luton, The Galaxy, The Mall.

Mourning, Death & Dying.

The ‘Anti Bio’.

‘Non performers’, ‘Non Dancers’ everything that we are told we are not good at or need a qualification for.

Humour x 100000. 

Power Dynamics. 

FREE ART SCHOOLS. 

Anthropology.

The internet (beware 2nd hand information and the vacuous). 

Comedians.

Performance as a survival technique.

Embarrassing myself during depressive episodes.

Bass players.

Barbados.

Semantics.

My Mother and Father (RIP). 

Sci Fi as a survival technique. 

Britishness.

Mental Health.

Grinding my hips as slow as I can (Sam I love you).

Sub woofers.

Dressing up as other things.

Joy.

‘Non-Artists’.

Friends above the age of 70yrs old.

Exciting poetry.

My ongoing Death Doulaship training (Be weary of it ever being done)

 

Titus Nouwens is a curator and producer, based in Amsterdam and Athens. His practice is governed by a strong interest in the conditions, structures and formats of artmaking and viewing. He has worked for and with galleries and festivals internationally, including Chisenhale Gallery, Haus N Athen, Juliette Jongma Gallery, Spring Performance Festival and Festival of Live Art Amsterdam. He commissioned new work by artists including Josefin Arnell, Leah Clements, Paul Maheke, Naïmé Perrette, Aaron Ratajczyk and Iris Touliatou. Further to his own curatorial work, Nouwens has developed a collaborative practice with curator Panos Fourtoulakis and he currently works with Astrit Ismaili on a new commission which will premiere at Manifesta 14, Pristina. Nouwens holds a BA in Art History from University of Amsterdam and an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from Royal College of Art. 

 

* The title Time is the thing a body moves through is borrowed from T Fleischmann’s book with the same name. 

 

** Inspiration for this programme comes from writings by Allan Kaprow, Bridget Crone and Ian White. 

 

This project is curated by Titus Nouwens and supported by Amsterdam Fund for the Arts. 

 

Ticket booking via Eventbrite, or pay cash at the door. Please get in touch in case you are unable to purchase a ticket. Free tickets are available.