Janine Antoni

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Janine Antoni (b. January 19, 1964 -, in Freeport, Bahamas ) is an artist well known for her works of body art, particularly in the manner of translating everyday bodily activities (eating, sleeping, bathing, etc.) into art. She frequently uses her body as a means to explore and provoke discussion about the relation of the body to the modern world. For instance, her most famous pieces involved making sculpture--namely, lipstick and candy--out of pieces of lard and chocolate that she chewed out of enormous blocks, and obliterating a series of chocolate and soap busts by licking them. She does not consider her work to be performance art, but a method for arousing conflicting feelings in the viewer:

Performance wasn't something that I intended to do. I was doing work that was about process, about the meaning of the making, trying to have a love-hate relationship with the object. I always feel safer if I can bring the viewer back to the making of it. _Janine Antoni

Sources:

• PBS overview of Janine Antoni's work

• The-artists.org Janine Antoni page

• MoMA Learning Page on Janine Antoni