Joan Jonas creates meditations on bodies, space, time, and nature. As she has explained, “The performer sees herself as a Medium: Information passes through.” The most comprehensive retrospective of Jonas’s work in the United States, this exhibition provides new insights into the artist’s process, unprecedented access to archival materials, and fresh historical perspectives on Jonas’s work. Drawings, photographs, notebooks, oral histories, film screenings, performances, and a selection of the artist’s installations, drawn from MoMA’s collection and institutions around the world, will trace the development of Jonas’s career, from works made in the 1960s and 1970s exploring the confluence of technology and ritual to more recent ones dealing with ecology and the landscape.
Organized by Ana Janevski, Curator, with Lilia Taboada and Gee Wesley, Curatorial Assistants, Department of Media and Performance. With thanks to Molly Superfine, Curatorial Fellow, and Brandon Eng and Piper Marshall, former Curatorial Fellows, Department of Media and Performance.