This new publication includes an introduction to Jonas’s practice and brings together selected conversations (with Robert Ayers, Barbara Clausen, Susan Howe, Jeanne Heuving, Babette Mangolte, Jason Moran, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Karin Schneider, Valerie Smith, and Barry Schwabsky) from the last fourteen years, in which the artist talks about her interdisciplinary approach as well as the influences and impulses she has absorbed from literature, music, traditional Japanese Noh theater, and the rituals of foreign cultures. It also features a new interview conducted with Jonas by the editors, discussing her recent work.
Joan Jonas emerged in a rich and experimental 1960s New York art scene that included such luminaries as Richard Serra, Gordon Matta-Clark, John Cage, Philip Glass, and Merce Cunningham. Her work typically encompasses video, performance, installation, sound, text, and drawing, and engages with complex ideas of ritual, myth, and storytelling. In recent years Jonas has also become increasingly engaged with environmental issues, focusing on the animal world and the vulnerability of our planet.
Julienne Lorz is Curator, Haus der Kunst, Munich.
Andrea Lissoni is Senior Curator, International Art (Film), Tate Modern, London
João Ribas is Deputy Director and Senior Curator, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto.
