Lorraine O'Grady

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Lorraine O'Grady (born 1934) is a black American conceptual artist, who has worked in the areas of performance art and photo and video installation. Her work challenges stereotypes and reclaims black female subjectivity.[1]

She studied economics and literature before becoming an artist in 1980.[2] In the 1980s O'Grady used the adopted persona of 'Mlle Bourgeoise Noire' in her performances, and invaded art openings in that persona,[3] swinging a whip and shouting out poems that rail against an art world she perceives as not looking beyond a small circle of friends. Since 1991 she has created photo-based installations.[2] And in 2007, she made her first video installation during a residency at Artpace in San Antonio, TX.

Her strongly feminist work has been featured in many exhibitions, particularly in California and New York. Most recently, her 'Mlle Bourgeoise Noire' performance was given new recognition by being made an entry-point to the landmark exhibit WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, the first mainstream museum show of this groundbreaking art movement. O'Grady was formerly a faculty member of the University of California, Irvine with a joint appointment in studio art and African American studies. She currently lives and works in New York.

Le Tigre has mentioned O'Grady in their song, "Hot Topic."

[edit] References

  1. ^ Erika Doss, Twentieth-Century American Art, Oxford University Press, 2002, p218. ISBN 0192842390
  2. ^ a b Linda M. Montano, Performance Artists Talking in the Eighties, University of California Press, 2000, p513. ISBN 0520210220
  3. ^ Art in America, July 1994

[edit] External links

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