In Poorly Watched Girls, Suzanne Bocanegra explores the ways that our popular entertainments theatricalize women in trouble—spiritual trouble, emotional trouble, and romantic trouble. Inspired by an opera, a film, and a ballet, Bocanegra, whose work involves large-scale installation and performance, draws on the breadth of her practice to create a multidisciplinary contemporary art experience. Blending elements from performing and visual arts—textile, collage, performance, staging, video, and original music—she blurs the boundary between the black box of the theater and the white box of the museum. The exhibition, Bocanegra’s largest to date, is the culmination of her collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
October 5, 2018 - February 17, 2019
In Poorly Watched Girls, Suzanne Bocanegra explores the ways that our popular entertainments theatricalize women in trouble—spiritual trouble, emotional trouble, and romantic trouble. Inspired by an opera, a film, and a ballet, Bocanegra, whose work involves large-scale installation and performance, draws on the breadth of her practice to create a multidisciplinary contemporary art experience. Blending elements from performing and visual arts—textile, collage, performance, staging, video, and original music—she blurs the boundary between the black box of the theater and the white box of the museum. The exhibition, Bocanegra’s largest to date, is the culmination of her collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
Poorly Watched Girls included 4 works, 3 of which were commissioned by The Fabric Workshop and Museum specifically for this exhibition.
Dialogue of the Carmelites is Bocanegra’s version of Francis Poulenc’s 1956 opera by the same name.
Valley is a restaging of Judy Garland’s screen tests from Valley of the Dolls.
La Fille is a resetting of the 1789 ballet La Fille mal gardée.
Lemonade, Roses, Satchel is a film of Shara Nova performing a song she wrote using Bocanegra’s grandmother’s words as lyrics.