Strip poker is the name of the very public game at Art in General (photo by Zefrey Throwell)
Art in General Project Space
79 Walker St.
Through November 19, free, 10:30 am – 6:00 pm
212-219-0473
www.artingeneral.org
www.performa-arts.org
Over the last several years, New York City–based performance artist Zefrey Throwell has staged numerous events that comment on current cultural trends while involving nudity and/or graphic sexual situations. In such guerrilla productions as “The Ecstasy of St. Patrick,” “Flitzing Away the Day,” and “Ocularpation: Wall Street,” Throwell lays bare the ills of society, focusing on religion, fashion, and the economy, respectively. For his latest project, commissioned for Performa 11, Throwell is presenting “I’ll Raise You One…,” a seven-day strip poker game being held in Art in General’s storefront space on Walker St. every day from 12 noon to 6:00 pm. Yes, a group of seven men and women will be betting and bluffing to avoid ending up in the buff while being watched by people out on the street, turning capitalism into the titillating voyeuristic sport it really is, one in which most of the citizenry lose their shirts while only a handful thrive. Performa 11 continues through November 21, featuring such special performances as Mika Rottenberg and Jon Kessler’s “Seven,” Dennis Oppenheim’s Compression Fern screening and action, Laurent Montaron’s “The Invisible Message,” Guy Maddin’s “Tales from the Gimli Hospital: Reframed,” and Robert Ashley’s “That Morning Thing.”