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Photo by Liz Ligon

Francisca Benitez

As you lean on me and I lean on you, we move forward

July 14, 15 & 17, 2015

Tuesday, July 14, 2015 | 7:00 PM
On the High Line starting at West 14th Street

Wednesday, July 15, 2015 | 7:00 PM
On the High Line starting at West 22nd Street

Friday, July 17, 2015 | 7:00 PM
On the High Line starting at West 34th Street

Francisca Benitez probes the visible and invisible boundaries that populate our urban space. In projects ranging from graphite rubbings of property line plaques found on the sidewalks of New York to photographs of over 1,000 Sukkahs – temporary huts constructed for the celebration of Sukkot – in Brooklyn, to the creation of a temporary sign language school, she explores the fluctuating delineations between public and private spaces. In each of her projects, Benitez identifies overlooked places whose uncertain borders she begins to tease apart, often through unconventional occupation and documentation. Using her own presence to push against and through these boundaries, Benitez reveals the frictions and meanings created by walls, be they social or architectural, linguistic or cultural.

For her High Line Performance, Benitez will engage park visitors in a series of three interrelated vignettes that weave through the park along paths choreographed in signs. The three chapters of her performance will unfold at three distinct locations in the park, reacting to each site individually. An extension of her previous work with both formal and informal sign languages, Benitez’s performance will bring together a new group of collaborators in a melding of sign languages and contact improvisation, including performers with a background in ASL jamming and deaf poetry circles.

Organized by Melanie Kress, High Line Art Associate Curator.

Artist bio

Francisca Benitez (b. 1974, Chile) lives and works in New York. Recent solo exhibitions include Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, New York (2014); Museo de Artes Visuales, Santiago, Chile (2013); Die Ecke, Santiago, Chile (2011); and Nada.Lokal, Vienna, Austria (2009). Notable group exhibitions include Mapping Brooklyn, Brooklyn Historical Society and BRIC House, Brooklyn (2015); Efemérides, Museo Histórico Nacional, Santiago, Chile (2014); Pier 54, High Line Art, New York (2014); One Minute Film Festival 2003 – 2012, MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts (2013); The Street Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York (2011); and Contaminaciones Contemporáneas, Museu de Arte Contemporánea da USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2010). Her work has been featured in major international exhibitions including the Bienal de la Habana, Cuba (2015); Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Portugal (2013) the Beijing Biennale, China (2009); and the LA Frewaves 10th biennial of film, video and new media, Los Angeles (2006).


Support

Major support for High Line Art comes from Donald R. Mullen, Jr. and The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston. High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council and from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.