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Joan Jonas

A naked young woman stands and looks into a small hand mirror held in front of her face. A robe hangs on a hook on the wall, with a pair of flip flops beneath. 5 people stand, watching the young woman, in a bare white room.
A naked young woman stands in a bare white room, leaning forwards and looking into a small hand mirror, held against her leg.
A naked young woman stands in a bare white room and looks into small hand mirror, held in front of her chest. A robe hangs on a hook on the wall.
A naked young woman stands in a bare white room, leaning forwards and looking into a small hand mirror, held near her leg.
Joan Jonas
A naked young woman leans over and holds a small hand mirror against her leg. A robe hangs on a hook on the wall, with a pair of flip flops beneath. An older woman watches the young woman, in a bare white room.

Joan Jonas, Mirror Check, 1970
Re-performed for Kaldor Public Art Project 27: 13 Rooms, curated by Klaus Biesenbach and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Pier 2/3, Walsh Bay, Sydney, 11-21 April 2013

Joan Jonas

born 1936 in New York, US
lives and works in New York, US

 

Mirror Check, 1970

Joan Jonas is an acclaimed and influential multimedia performance artist and video artist. Starting out as a sculptor, Jonas began working with her own body in the late 1960s, finding that performance and movement allowed her greater scope to represent image and gesture. In her early performances Jonas used mirrors as props, creating a distance between performer and viewer in order to explore issues of spectatorship, gender, identity and the fragmented female image.

In Jonas’ Mirror Check, first performed by the artist in 1970, we watch as a woman observes and examines her own naked body in a round, hand-held mirror. Observing reflections of her entire body, she carefully explores each different angle and perspective.

In 2009 Jonas was awarded the Guggenheim Museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award in New York. She has presented numerous works and performances at museums and galleries around the world. She took part in the Venice Biennale in 2009 and has participated in six documenta exhibitions in Kassel, Germany.

The presentation of this artwork was supported by Geoff Ainsworth.
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