EXHIBITION: VERNISSAGE Joan Jonas and Elisabetta Benassi

Tuesday 4 February Gallery - 6pm

Read review and interview with Elisabetta Benassi Read interview with exhibition curator, Cornelia Lauf Note: both articles are in Italian.

This two-person exhibition on the theme of performance, curated by Cornelia Lauf, features two continuous video projections. Joan Jonas' video is based on her installation Lines in the Sand, 2002, featured at Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany. Her single channel video is a compilation of different themes commenting on memory, archaeology, drawing, history, myth, and domesticity. Jonas currently works in New York and is Professor of Visual Arts at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Elisabetta Benassi is a protagonist of emerging Italian art; her corporeal installations are modern-day allegories. She will present Noon, 2002, a tongue-in-cheek documentary on the firing of the cannon at Piazzale Garibaldi in Rome. Benassi has participated in exhibitions including Manifesta and the Berlin Biennale and is represented by Massimo de Carlo in Milan. A short introduction to the current state of Italian performance will be given by Maria Grazia Tolomeo (Curator, Palazzo delle Esposizioni) at the opening on February 4 at 6pm.

NOTE: The exhibition will be open Thursdays from 4pm to 7pm and Saturdays from 3pm to 7pm from 4 February until 15 April, 2003.

For further information: Contact the Programs Office (tel. 39-06-5846459)

American Academy in Rome
Via Angelo Masina 5
00153 Rome, Italy.