TONIGHT WITH JIMMY ROBERT
The ninth 'Tonight' featured Jimmy Robert who presented 'Figure de Style', a performance which takes as its starting point Yoko Ono’s seminal 'Cut Piece' from 1964. Jimmy Robert reworked the performance with a gender switch and a modification that changed it from a 'cut' piece to a 'rip' piece – as the audience will discover. The performance centres around the politics of touching and being touched, hinting to issues of pleasure, power, and ethics.
'Figure de Style' can be seen as emblematic of Robert's artistic practice. The title, translated into English, is understood as a 'literary device', for example, a metaphor. However, it also refers to dance, a sequence of steps by a group of people. In this way 'Figure de Style' embodies the roots of Robert's interest in literature and gesture.
Figure de Style, 27 May 2009, Frascati Amsterdam
Jimmy Robert (1975, Guadeloupe)
Jimmy Robert is based in Brussels. He studied at Goldsmith’s College in London (1996-1998) and was a resident at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam (2004–2005). Recent solo exhibitions include 'Grey Flannel Suits Any Man', Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow (2008), 'Légèrement Manipulés', CAC Bretigny (2008), 'Figure de Style', Cubitt Gallery, London (2007) and 'Elegantly Wasted', Neuer Aachener Kunstverein (2007).
Recent performances include 'Trio A' by Yvonne Rainer, MOMA, New York (with Pat Catterson and Ian White) (2008), 'Slow movement or the half and the whole', Kunsthalle Bern (2008), 'Act Out', Studio Voltaire, London (with Emma Hedditch and Emily Roysdon) (2007) and 'Marriage a la Mode et Cor Anglais' (with Ian White) in Stuk, Leuven and de Appel, Amsterdam (2007).
Jimmy Robert is based in Brussels. He studied at Goldsmith’s College in London (1996-1998) and was a resident at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam (2004–2005). Recent solo exhibitions include 'Grey Flannel Suits Any Man', Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow (2008), 'Légèrement Manipulés', CAC Bretigny (2008), 'Figure de Style', Cubitt Gallery, London (2007) and 'Elegantly Wasted', Neuer Aachener Kunstverein (2007).
Recent performances include 'Trio A' by Yvonne Rainer, MOMA, New York (with Pat Catterson and Ian White) (2008), 'Slow movement or the half and the whole', Kunsthalle Bern (2008), 'Act Out', Studio Voltaire, London (with Emma Hedditch and Emily Roysdon) (2007) and 'Marriage a la Mode et Cor Anglais' (with Ian White) in Stuk, Leuven and de Appel, Amsterdam (2007).
