Vanessa Beecroft

The artist.

Born in Genoa, Italy, in 1969. Lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Vanessa Beecroft’s work has been shown internationally since 1993, and since then has shaped performance art, the representation of the female body, and sociopolitical discussions of art. Beecroft’s performances (titled VB, followed by the number), which are an ongoing practice, have been presented in many of the world’s preeminent museums and major contemporary events. The performances often highlight the tensions between nakedness and clothing, constraint and freedom, the collective and the individual, human strength and weakness.

According to gallerist Jeffrey Deitch, “Vanessa Beecroft is one of the rare artists who invented a new way to make a work of art. Ninety-nine percent of artists are treading ground that’s already well established, they are making small innovations, and then there are very rare artists who come up with a whole new concept of how to make a work of art and expand our sense of what a work of art can be. Vanessa Beecroft has done that.”

The work records a performance created in 2007 in protest against the genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The performance took place during the time of the Venice Biennale in the Pescheria di Rialto, an open public space beside the Grand Canal in Venice, near to the Rialto Bridge, A group of Sudanese refugees lay on a white rectangular canvas on the ground, their eyes shut and their bodies motionless. In the course of the performance, the canvas and women were crossed by wide horizontal strokes of red paint. A large flag and posters near to the site and in other locations called for attention to the genocide and violation of human rights ongoing in Darfur.