TRAMPS presents our inaugural show at our new New York location, 39 1/2 Washington Square South
Lizzi Bougatsos
Idolize the Burn, An Ode to Performance
13 January to 22 March 2023
"What is the cave of the mouth, the rounded walls inside one when not delivered into song?
Why is a violin never out of tune?
In 2001, in a loft under the J/M/Z train by the bank, I chose to play with fire in a performance. The fire caught onto my tights, rose to my chest and soon I was engulfed in flames. It was a protest of sorts and my first crucifixion, though devastating the outcome, the action in the end was intentional. I was violently unhinged, vehemently passionate, and firmly anti-worship. My dove eyes were pure and I felt poisoned by the music industry. It filled me with sorrow and this was a response...
A dear friend called it a “punk gesture” as she brought pink lights to the hospital to soften the harsh conditions of the clinical room. Another faxed me drawings from Texas, and telegrams from Paris were delivered by the nurse. Those days and months were a litmus test of sorts. It became clear who was there for you, and where things stood.
In 2016, I found the silicone patches, gels, foam and burn suits that I wore to heal my skin in a sealed bag. The smell of these garments were pungent but not vile. I started laying them out on paper and the work performed itself, finding shape in sculptures and collages. The wounds of the past gave birth to a new body of work.
This exhibition is an ode to performance. To idolize the burn is to embrace the self sacrificial condition of being on the "stage." Words out of the mouth, collapsing and dissipating into matter lost and uncaptionable from lipstick to cloth to hand. If one cannot sharpen the blade to the end, it will be nothing. I suppose this is what I was searching for. Then I wrote a lyric, I’ll never be free if I’m not free now."
Lizzi Bougatsos, New York January 2023
Press: Lizzi Bougatsos Plays with Fire, Frieze Magazine
Press: FLAMING CREATURES Paige K. Bradley on Lizzi Bougatsos, Artforum
Press: Lizzi Bougatsos, New York Times
Lizzi Bougatsos (b.1974, Queens) is an internationally recognized experimental musician, lyricist and visual artist who lives and works in New York City. Her work has been exhibited in institutions including Museo de arte Contemporanea di Roma, Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst - Oslo, Norway, White Columns, Performance Space NY, The Whitney Museum of American Art. Selected performances include “Concert for Yoko Ono, Washington and the World, “ at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and “I am here, Where are you: On Vocal Performance” at the Bergen Kunsthall and in 2014, an adaptation of John Cage’s 4’33 in conjunction with “John Cage: There Will Never Be Silence,” at the Museum of Modern Art. Bougatsos collaborated with artists such as Lonnie Holley, Kim Gordon, Rita Ackermann, Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda’s Ashram singers at Knockdown Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Bougatsos and her band Gang Gang Dance, spanning two decades now, led the 8/8/08 BOADRUM, a collaboration with the legendary band BOREDOMS where she sang with 88 drummers. Bougatsos is also the second half of punk noise outfit I.U.D. with Sadie Laska.
TRAMPS New York is located at 39 1/2 Washington Square South, lower ground floor level. Hours of operation are Thursday through Sunday, 12:30 - 18:30 and by appointment. For all queries contact tramp.s@aol.com and parinaz.mogadassi@gmail.com, trampsltd.com (www) and @tramp.s (ig)
