Portnoy (born 1936) Improvises

with an introductory lecture by Claire Bishop

Hauser & Wirth, NY FIAC Performance Programme, Paris Block Universe, London

40 min performance

"Renowned performance artist Michael Portnoy has revealed the shocking news that he is 35 years older than he has claimed and has been disguising his true age with prosthetic makeup throughout his career. In Portnoy (Born 1936) Improvises, he reveals himself for the first time without a mask, improvising and confusing us in his inimitable way with the collision of movement, language and alien logics."

Art historian Claire Bishop gives an introductory lecture on Portnoy’s newly discovered early history in New York in the late 1950s, discussing his influences and antagonisms within the avant-garde communities of dance, poetry and visual art.

PDF of Claire Bishop's introduction