VANESSA BEECROFT

Vanessa Beecroft is admired for her unique take on performance art, considered to be one of the most famous of our time. Beecroft has collaborated with uncountable luxury fashion houses and most notably rapper/designer Kanye West. The contemporary artist was born in Italy in 1969 and drove her career to the United States where she now lives with her spouse Greg Durkin and two children. Beecroft continues to inspire through her distinct concept which often features female models as living objects, static and dynamic. The primary material in her work is the presence of the live figure which remains transient and entirely detached from mediated art forms. For the uninitiated, VB’s work is typically characterised by an army of women, exhibited, partially or entirely nude, being a relaxed take on tableau vivant. The artist is a strong participant of the art world, being a women who advocates risk-taking and is fearless of sharing her views on even the most controversial of subjects. Her iconic performances are often relevant to historical, social or political references and associate to the place the originate from.  Beecroft’s most recent show was at Los Angeles gallery Pio Pico, which was founded by Frederico Spadoni. The exhibition presented a new body of work for the artist, expressing notions of classical sculpture. The production mounted over two years between Los Angeles and Guadalajara in Mexico and showcased ceramic sculptures, tiles and a vast mural. Each piece had its own story: the mural was formed from bodies floundering in clay.

Her performance pieces often question the nude female anatomy and the status between them being objects of desire and disgust. The pieces generally follow the same concept of nudity merged with the extreme discipline of the models who are instructed to remain in their position throughout and appear ignorant of the public gaze upon them. Much of the artists’ work is reflective of her personal battles with ongoing eating disorders hence depicts explorations of body image and femininity in contemporary culture. Her uniquely choreographed performance works examine the constitutions of the perfect body. When asked what type of beauty her art conveys, Beecroft responded with: “A beauty that is equally particular and universal, that tends to be idealised but comes from the street. A beauty connected to the human form, the female form in its artistic, cultural and social representation. I use beauty to relay other hidden messages.” However Beecroft’s expression through her art stems from a deeper compulsive attitude which she lives with, having the need to excursive off excessive calories becoming an intoxicating addiction. Although as of recently her obsession has diverted to a more mindful exercise called ashtanga yoga, also known as power yoga. This form of yoga involves the synchronisation of breathing with a range of postures to strengthen the body and calm the mind. In her teenage years, Beecroft also suffered from bulimia making unsuccessful attempts to regurgitate food she regretted eating. However her body failed to co-operate with her choices and she turned to smoking habits as her youth was haunted by anorexia. She also undertook numerous crash diets with amphetamines and health threatening fasts, all in attempt to keep her weight down. Beecroft also famously curated her performance “VB52” in which thirty nude women followed her diet of multicoloured food for three days, as an allusion to her “Book of Food” which was a diary she kept between 1983 to 1993, to keep note of each morsel she ate.