An evening with Mónica Mayer and GraceGraceGrace

Please join us for an evening with a group of extraordinary artists unpicking ideas about women, art and age.

The evening will involve a performative presentation on the lived experience of aging and artmaking by Mexican performance artist Mónica Mayer, a performative response by the artists’ collective GraceGraceGrace, followed by an open conversation with everyone in the room.

Mónica Mayer is a long-time LADA collaborator and is in the UK to take part in Bbeyond’s Humanism in progress: Women performance artists at work project in Belfast as part of the organisation’s wider Citizengage season.

GraceGraceGrace (Teresa Albor, Katharine Meynell, Lady Helena Vortex) first met on the LADA workshop Between Menopause and Old Age: Alternative Beauty run by Mexican performance artist Rocio Boliver in 2015 and have worked together on a range of provocative and exciting initiatives ever since. They have recently created the stunning book GraceGraceGrace explore gen-age*(*gender and aging) which reframes Live Art practice, adopting the handy neologism gen-age, to describe the intersection of gender and age. The book features a contribution from Mónica Mayer and is co-published with LADA.

Drinks will be served and copies of GracGraceGrace explore gen-age will be available for sale.

This event is part of an ongoing partnership between GraceGraceGrace and LADA, in support of explorations of gender and aging.

Read GraceGraceGrace’s Manifesto here.

Mónica Mayer and Víctor Lerma are also having an exhibition at Chalton Gallery, London from 1st to 31st May 1 entitled We Draw the Line.  Works on War, Memory and Affection Mónica Mayer and Víctor Lerma.

Mónica Mayer (Mexico, 1954) has developed an integral focus in her work that, in addition to performance, drawing and interventions, considers writing, teaching and community participation as part of her artistic production. She is considered a pioneer in feminist art, performance and digital graphics in Mexico. In 1983 she founded the group Polvo de Gallina Negra (Black Hen’s Powder) with Maris Bustamante, and in 1989, with Víctor Lerma initiated the project Pinto mi Raya (I Mark My Limits) of which the central element is a specialized archive of periodical clippings that has constituted the basis of diverse artistic proposals. Mayer has published several books, including Rosa chillante: mujeres y in various journals both in Mexico and abroad. She is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores (National System of Creators). In 2016 she had a major retrospective exhibition at the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City titled When in doubt….ask: a retrocollective exhibit.   

Bbeyond’s Humanism in process: Female performance artists at work addresses issues of feminism and art, promoting visibility of inequalities and strategies to address these situations, creating openness, awareness and supporting women’s wellbeing through performance art. Demonstrating how performance art has been and is a contemporary art form that suits the needs of human diversity and expressions of freedom. The overall project includes invited artists Mónica Mayer (Mexico), Denys Blacker (Spain) Sandra Johnston, Jayne Cherry(NI), Áine Philips (Ireland) and SARC artists (Sonic Art Research Centre) Una Lee (NI based) and Paula Guzzanti (Arg/NI).

Humanism in process: Female performance artists at work is supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in collaboration with Ulster University.