Celebrated British actor Tilda Swinton is preparing to star in a new piece of live performance art, set to debut at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao this June.
“House of Gestures” is an interpretative performance that has been developed in collaboration with the French fashion curator Olivier Saillard. The choreography is inspired by the legacy of vaunted champagne house Dom Pérignon, one of many luxury brands that is taking ever more ambitious steps into the cultural sphere.
The performance will be staged in the museum’s Frank Gehry-designed atrium over two days, from June 5–6, with tickets available via the museum’s website.
Swinton has conceived the performance as a response to the sense of “place” that defines Dom Pérignon’s origins in the champagne region. The beloved brand owes its name to a Benedictine monk, born in the local village of Hautvillers in the 7th century. Often known as the birthplace of champagne, it has, for centuries, been celebrated for its uniquely chalky terroir.
Tilda Swinton. Photo courtesy of Guggenheim Bilbao Museum.
This legacy informs a rhythmic, unfolding series of gestures that will be enacted by Swinton. It is far from the Hollywood icon’s first foray into performance art. In 1995, she debuted at London’s Serpentine Gallery, appearing in a glass case for eight hours a day over seven days. The unusual work was repeated on two more occasions: at Rome’s Museo Baracco the following year in a collaboration with French duo Pierre et Gilles, and then at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2013.
Swinton is enjoying an international museum moment with the recent opening of “Ongoing,” an exhibition of her performance work at the Onassis Foundation‘s Onassis Ready in Athens. The show brings together new and old work produced in collaboration with various artists and filmmakers, including Luca Guadagnino, Joanna Hogg, Pedro Almodóvar, Derek Jarman, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
The program included a multi-day presentation also conceived with Salliard, titled “A Biographical Wardrobe.” The work was inspired by Swinton’s own collection of eccentric costumes, personal heirlooms, and red carpet outfits, celebrating her gender-fluid approach to fashion over a multi-decade career.
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
