Description
Poetry. Art. Literary Nonfiction. Béna's practice mostly unfolds in performance and sculpture. However, this collection of poems, essays, and film and theater scripts wind around her visual art work. The reader navigates through these various forms, and finds them situated against the different places where Béna wrote them, bearing witness to the inspiration that each locale offers Béna's multi-layered experience. The scope of expression found in Béna's use of language demonstrates how relationships form between an artist's writing and their other practices.
In IT NEEDED TO BE TENDER AND TO BE WHIPPED, one is exposed to Béna's view on everyday situations, a view filled with wonder and thus perceptive of the mystery in small things. Narrations escape into the irrational and surreal. A love affair is just as wonderful as a stranger eating an apple. Since most texts are intended to be performed or read aloud, the book is accompanied by an audio recording of the works on a USB key.
Contributors: Daniel S. Palmer, Michal Novotn, Flora Katz, Linda Mai Green, Heidi Rabben, Marie de Brugerolle, Barbara Sirieix
Design: Max Prediger
Author Bio
Julie Béna works on environments that draw inspiration from the world of literature, film, theater and popular culture. Béna studied at the Villa Arson in Nice and attended the Gerrit Rietveld Academie at Amsterdam. In 2012-2013, she was part of le Pavillon, the research laboratory of le Palais de Tokyo. Béna was recently nominated for the Prix AWARE women art prize. Her recent exhibitions include at the Passerelle Art Center, Brest; Galerie Joseph Tang; FUSED Space in San Francisco; Mathew NYC and Bozar, Brussels. Her recent institutional performances include at Fondation Ricard; M Leuven; ICA London, and Palais de Tokyo, Paris. In 2018, Béna was invited to participate in the next Biennale de Rennes. In 2019, in the frame of Satellite, she will open her first solo show in a parisian institution at Jeu de Paume. Her upcoming performances include at Independent Brussels; Centre Pompidou, and MRAC Serignan.
Author City: PARIS FRA