Exhibition

Sylvia Palacios Whitman: To Draw a Line with the Body

Contact sheet of Change of Line (performance) from Clearview (one place at a time) (performance event), November 19-21, 1976. Sylvia Palacios Whitman Archive, Photo: Babette Mangolte

Contact sheet of Change of Line (performance), 1976

Sylvia Palacios Whitman: To Draw a Line with the Body

On view: through

Americas Society will present Sylvia Palacios Whitman: To Draw a Line with the Body the first solo exhibition and career survey of the Chilean artist in New York. Sylvia Palacios Whitman (b. Osorno, Chile, 1941) is a visual and performance artist, who has been experimenting with movement and contemporary dance since her moving to New York in the early 1960s. She became an integral figure of the experimental downtown arts scene in 1970s in New York, having collaborated with many American and international artists. In her solo and group performances, Palacios Whitman developed her own choreographic language, which privileged the participation of untrained performers, embraced humor and unexpected elements, and incorporated found objects and ephemeral props. Sylvia Palacios Whitman: To Draw a Line with the Body will revisit these landmark performances with never-before-seen material from the artist’s archives alongside sketches, video and photographic documentation, and new large scale works on paper. Central to the presentation will be the restaging of Palacios Whitman’s key historical works.

To accompany the show, we will present a series of public programs and publish a pocketbook.

The exhibition co-curated by Aimé Iglesias Lukin and Rachel Remick

View gallery and visitors information here.

Image credit: Contact sheet of Change of Line (performance) from Clearview (one place at a time) (performance event), November 19-21, 1976. Sylvia Palacios Whitman Archive, Photo: Babette Mangolte

Works in the Exhibition
Slingshot, 1975. Performance at Evening, Idea Warehouse. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Slingshot, 1975. Performance at Evening, Idea Warehouse. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
The Birds, 1974. Performance at Going, Trisha Brown’s Studio. Photo: Babette Mangolte. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
The Birds, 1974. Performance at Going, Trisha Brown’s Studio. Photo: Babette Mangolte. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
The Birds, 1974. Performance at Going, Trisha Brown’s Studio. Photo: Babette Mangolte. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
The Birds, 1974. Performance at Going, Trisha Brown’s Studio. Photo: Babette Mangolte. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Passing Through, 1975. Performance at Sonnabend Gallery, New York. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Passing Through, 1975. Performance at Sonnabend Gallery, New York. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Untitled Family Drawing, c. 1972. Drawing and watercolor on paper. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Untitled Family Drawing, c. 1972. Drawing and watercolor on paper. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Legs, 1975. Performance. Photo: Babette Mangolte. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Legs, 1975. Performance. Photo: Babette Mangolte. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Contact sheet of Change of Line (performance) from Clearview (one place at a time) (performance event)
Contact sheet of Change of Line (performance) from Clearview (one place at a time) (performance event)
Slingshot, 1975. Performance at Evening, Idea Warehouse. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
The Birds, 1974. Performance at Going, Trisha Brown’s Studio. Photo: Babette Mangolte. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
The Birds, 1974. Performance at Going, Trisha Brown’s Studio. Photo: Babette Mangolte. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Passing Through, 1975. Performance at Sonnabend Gallery, New York. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Untitled Family Drawing, c. 1972. Drawing and watercolor on paper. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Legs, 1975. Performance. Photo: Babette Mangolte. Sylvia Palacios Whitman archives.
Contact sheet of Change of Line (performance) from Clearview (one place at a time) (performance event)
Funders

The presentation of Sylvia Palacios Whitman: To Draw a Line with the Body is made possible by generous support from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support is provided by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage of Chile. 

Americas Society acknowledges the generous support from the Arts of the Americas Circle contributors: Estrellita B. Brodsky, Virginia Cowles Schroth, Emily A. Engel, Diana Fane, Almeida & Dale Galeria de Arte, Isabella Hutchinson, Carolina Jannicelli, Vivian Pfeiffer, Phillips, Gabriela Pérez Rocchietti, Erica Roberts, Sharon Schultz, Diana López and Herman Sifontes, and Edward J. Sullivan.

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