The Watermill Center presents “the BODY: The Annual Watermill Center Summer Benefit,” held Saturday, July 29. The evening will feature performances, installations, exhibitions, cocktails, and a floating dinner.
“the BODY” is presented by Van Cleef & Arpels and will honor American artist Simone Forti and the late philanthropist, Baroness Nina von Maltzahn.
The Watermill Center’s Annual Summer Benefit celebrates art and experimentation in support of the organization’s year-round programming. Featuring dynamic works by a roster of groundbreaking international artists, the evening will invite guests to immerse themselves in a curated series of installations and performances across The Watermill Center’s expansive property.
Stemming from The Watermill Center’s 30-plus year association with performance, the 2023 Annual Summer Benefit will center on the body’s role in art making. “the BODY” will take a broad approach engendered by diverse cultures and mediums, including time-based performance, painting, sculpture, and video.
“Most of the works shown during the event will be developed on-site by the artists in the weeks leading up to the benefit,” shared Elise Herget, The Watermill Center’s Managing Director. “The artistic process is rarely discussed in favor of the final product, but, as an artist residency program, it is integral to daily life at The Watermill Center. It is a pleasure to allow our audience to see the product of our artists’ time with us.”
The evening features performances and installations by a dynamic roster of international artists, including exhibitions by Guatemalan artist Regina José Galindo and Italian artist Alessandro Di Pietro. Galindo’s “The Body” traces her twenty-year career in performance art and poetry.
Curated by Noah Khoshbin, the exhibition at The Watermill Center serves as an overview of her influential and award-winning works, including pieces that have received the coveted Venice Biennale Golden Lion for Promising Young Artist. Regina José Galindo is a recipient of the Baroness Nina von Maltzahn Fellowship for the Performing Arts at The Watermill Center. Di Pietro’s “Ghostwriting Paul Thek: Time Capsules and Reliquaries”, curated by Peter Benson Miller and Cornelia Mattiacci, engages with The Center’s collection of works by the late Paul Thek to explore an imagined history in which Thek did not die prematurely, continuing the late artist’s practice posthumously. “Ghostwriting Paul Thek” opened on June 24 and “The Body” opens on July 29, in conjunction with the Benefit.
“the BODY” includes projects and presentations by The Watermill Center’s summer Artists-in-Residence, including Thomas Anderson, Yunseo Choi, Afra Al Dhaheri, Evelyn Dugan, Xuetong Cecilia Feng, Casilda Madrazo, Katimari Niskala, Sorin Prodea, Johan O.R. Sterner, Ismael Reyes Romero, Anthony Roques, Dovydas Strimaitis, Lyuba Todorova, and Agathe Vidal. Additional performances will be mounted by Ola Maciejewska who was a 2022 Performing Arts Fellow at The Watermill Center, and a large-scale performance by Regina José Galindo across The Center’s west terrace.
“the BODY” will close with a workshop restaging of Robert Wilson’s “Ubu,” inspired by Alfred Jarry’s 1896 classic, “Ubu Roi,” a critique of war and totalitarianism. Originally presented at the Es Baluard Museum in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, “Ubu” is a surreal reflection of paradoxical inequalities throughout history and the modern day. The production will be presented outdoors and feature The Watermill Center’s summer Artists-in-Residence as performers. “Ubu” is presented by invitation of Imma Prieto, Director of Es Baluard Museum.
For more information about The Watermill Center, its Artists-in-Residence, and its upcoming public programs, visit watermillcenter.org.