Marja Samsom “Miss Behave”
Participant Inc.
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PARTICIPANT INC presents Marja Samsom, Miss Behave, a set of performances and a book launch activating a scripted environment including props, set, photographs, and films.
Samsom began casting herself as Miss Behave and Miss Kerr in her performance-based photographs and films in the early ‘70s, producing Super 8 films inspired by illusionist and filmmaker George Melies. Pin-up, housewife, diva – a repertoire of self-objectification provided directorial authority. The ‘Forgotten Actress’ deployed. Polaroids/snapshots served as evidence of a living artform – a live performance, inspired by the art and friendship of Bas Jan Ader. Later in the ‘90s,‘The Dumpling Diva’ appeared when Samsom needed her at The Kitchen Club, as chef/owner and Circus ‘Ringleader,’ crafting the sublimation of sensuality, Dadaist humor into her photographs much like a sculptor uses clay. Miss Behave traces the workings of ephemeral artist as businesswoman and back.
Marja Samsom lives and works in New York City. In the ‘70s, Samsom exhibited her work in various venues in Los Angeles, New York, Amsterdam and elsewhere in Europe. Under the pseudonyms Miss Behave or Miss Kerr, she played with the concepts of housewife and pin-up. In 1976, she performed the piece Miss Kerr in Amsterdam at de Appel Arts Centre. In 1980, she traveled to New York for Dutch Treat, an exchange that Wies Smals set up with Martha Wilson from Franklin Furnace. Samsom designed the poster, and performed at Franklin Furnace. She decided to stay in New York, and subsequently opened The Kitchen Club and Chibi’s Bar from 1990-2010. In the fall of 2011, she started her residency at The Clocktower, culminating in the storytelling performance/installation Shrine. In 2015, Samsom published the artist’s book, Diary of a Forgotten Actress 1972-1979, curated by Inez & Vinoodh. She is currently working on a new photo project.
Media
Schedule
from June 22, 2016 to June 29, 2016
Performances: Wednesday, June 22, 8pm Thursday, June 23, 8pm. Book signing: Marja Samsom, Diary of a Forgotten Actress, 1972-1979 A publication curated by Inez & Vinoodh, 2015 Wednesday, June 29, 7-9pm.