Vaginal Davis Wins '09 Ethyl Eichlberger Award, Plays Show At PS122 Spring 2010

Performance Space 122 announced VaginAl Davis, one of New York's most influential drag performers, as winner of the 2009 Ethyl Eichelberger Award, a commissioning award given to an artist who exemplifies Ethyl's larger-than-life style and generosity of spirit; who embodies Ethyl's multi-talented artistic virtuosity, bridging worlds and inspiring those around them. Ms. Davis will receive a show in the spring 2010 season at Performance Space 122 as well as a stipend for its creation. In fitting tribute to Ethyl Eichelberger, this year's award is sponsored by the Gesso Foundation.

The Gesso Foundation was established by the estate of another adventurous, passionate artist and activist Frank Moore. The foundation places his art for maximum public benefit and supports organizations concerned with the arts, social justice, environmental and AIDS-related causes. Mr. Moore, who died of AIDS in 2002, was also a member of Visual AIDS and instrumental in establishing the Red Ribbon Project. Mr. Moore was no stranger to Performance Space 122. His work was shown several times at the P.S. 122 Gallery and in 1986 Mr. Moore collaborated with P.S. 122 founder Charles Moulton on the work "Splatter" which was presented in the upstairs theatre.

The announcement was made on-stage in the upstairs theatre at Performance Space 122 on Wednesday night immediately following the performance of Cracked Ice, or The Jewels of the Forbidden Skates by 2008 Ethyl Eichelberger Award Winner Jennifer Miller. Vallejo Ganter, Artistic Director of Performance Space 122, presented the award on behalf of the award committee and the Gesso Foundation.

VaginAl Davis is based in Berlin and could not be here for the award presentation but instead asked ‘Cracked Ice' designer Mr. Jonathan Berger to accept it on her behalf. Berger expressed Ms Davis' sincere gratitude and quoted the famous Penny Arcade; "Arts Administrators who have health insurance and live in nice apartments who aren´t 100% devoted to artists should kill themselves." Saying that this award is truly special because it is the artist's peers are the ones recognizing and honoring the work of those who carry on in the tradition of Ethyl Eichelberger.

A commissioning award created by Performance Space 122 and made possible with the generous support of the Gesso Foundation. The Ethyl Eichelberger Award (in honor of seminal performer, landmark and legend Ethyl Eichelberger) is given to an artist or group that exemplifies Ethyl's larger-than-life style and generosity of spirit; who embodies Ethyl's multi-talented artistic virtuosity, bridging worlds and vitalizing those around them. Past winners are Taylor Mac (2005), Julie Atlas Muz (2006), Justin Bond (2007), and Jennifer Miller (2008).

VaginAl Davis is an originator of the homo-core punk movement and a gender-queer art-music icon. Her concept bands -- including Pedro Muriel and Esther, Cholita! The Female Menudo, black fag, and the Afro Sisters -- have left an indelible mark on the development of underground music. Like Ron Athey, Ms Davis made her name in LA's club performance scene, and has earned herself a similar notoriety as a cultural antagonist and erotic provocateur.

Set apart from gallery-centered art, and Hollywood movies, and from those systems' necessities of high-polish, low-substance production, VaginAl Davis's low-budget, often no-budget, performance, experimental film and video practice has critiqued exclusionary conceits from the outside. Davis has been a prolific producer of club performance, video and Xerox-produced Zines, and other forms of antagonistic low-cost, high-impact work. Such as in her drag reconstruction of Vanessa Beecroft's Navy SEALs performance, Ms Davis derails collector-friendly raciness in spectacles of femininity, queerness and blackness. She critiques both the gallery system and the larger cultural trend that it mirrors, with tongue-in-cheek self-exploitation and rude provocations of racial and gender confusion.

Standing six feet, two inches tall before donning his trademark stiletto heels and skyscraper wigs, Eichelberger was an imposing figure and a great influence on the East Village performance scene in the 1980s. A classically trained actor, he worked with Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company before breaking out to do his own work. He wrote nearly 40 plays portraying women of history and myth, including Jocasta, Medea, Nefertiti, Clytemnestra, and Lucrezia Borgia for which he won an Obie. Eichelberger mixed classical references with pop culture and political rants. His shows included accordion playing, fire eating, and high-heeled cartwheels. Singing his trademark song "We are women who survive," Eichelberger was generous in spirit, fearless on stage, and an inspiration to experience. Eichelberger lived with HIV for several years before taking his own life in 1990.

Performance Space 122 is New York's ultimate destination for cutting-edge theatre, dance, music, live art and cross-media. Founded in 1979, Performance Space 122 is dedicated to supporting and presenting artists whose work challenges the traditional boundaries of dance, theatre, music, and performance. Committed to exploring innovative form as well as material, P.S. 122 is steadfast in its search for pioneering artists from a diversity of cultures and points of view. www.ps122.org

Frank Moore established the Gesso Foundation in 2002 to place his art for maximum public benefit, and to support organizations concerned with the arts, social justice, environmental and AIDS-related causes. www.gesso.org

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