DFBRL8R is proud to host an ARTIST TALK by VERONIKA MERKLEIN
including BRUNCH by Traci Fowler and Trevor Schmutz
SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY at NOON

Join us as Veronika talks about her current exhibition, FAT PIG in addition to earlier work and other ongoing inspirations, processes, and concepts. In her multimedia performance works involving, food, text, photography, object, and installation, Merklein stages herself as the protagonist. Born in 1982, the German artist lives and works mainly in Vienna. Merklein enjoyed her artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the School of Art and Design Kassel. In 2012, she worked on the research project “archiv performativ” at Zurich University of the Arts. She has received funding for several creative projects including a scholarship at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research. Currently she is a Chicago artist-in-residence through the Federal Chancellery of Austria.

Traci Fowler grew up in Houston, Tx and currently lives and works in Chicago. She received her BFA from Columbia College Chicago in December 2014. Along with her partner, Trevor Schmutz, Traci operates a gallery in the kitchen of their apartment called Kitchen Space. Opened in 2014 as a project space for artists to either adapt their work to the setting or create work in reaction to the site.

FAT PIG is a celebration of body diversity, especially fat bodies. VERONIKA MERKLEIN takes a keen look at the psychological precariousness we feel when we differ physically from the world around us. Merklein’s overweight/chubby/plus-size/heavy-set body is a catalyst in her mission to redefine fat identity. Her works orbit around performance immanent topics, pop cultural and sociopolitical phenomenons, and her own writings about the pure and brutal (inner) life of human beings. Veronika shines a light on those who, because of their bodies, become victims of corporate, political or medical speculation. Her research encompasses obesity and similar issues such as industrialized and capitalist food production, arbitrary dietary criteria, corrupt safety research, faulty monitoring systems, devious marketing strategies, and rampant discriminatory practices regarding weight, health and nutrition.

Videos, photos, and objects will be on view during gallery hours SUNDAY through SATURDAY 8-14 FEBRUARY from 12-6PM.

SPONSORS:
Federal Chancellery of Austria, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, Radical Root Organic Farm, Dill Pickle C0-op.

Official Website

More events on this date

Tags: Defibrillator, Dfbrl8r, JOSEPH RAVENS, Noble Square, performance art, veronika merklein