For Immediate Release
17 October 2016
Contact: Jodi Joseph
Director of Communications
413.664.4481 x8113
jjoseph@massmoca.org
Helga Davis
Until… Voice
NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS — Helga Davis, “a powerful vocalist with an almost operatic range and all the bruised sensuality of Jeanne Lee” (Wire Magazine), responds to Nick Cave’s Until with an intimate performance, solo with her loop station, inside the exhibition. Experience the merging of music and art in MASS MoCA’s Building 5 gallery on Friday, October 28, at 8pm.
Davis, an actor, vocalist, and performance artist hailing from New York City, is known for collaborating with composers and choreographers to build original works. She has appeared in pieces by Ann Hamilton, Missy Mazzolli, Paola Prestini, Peter Greenaway, and Shara Worden. Davis is currently starring in Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach, a four-piece opera composed by Glass and directed by Wilson. She has previously appeared at MASS MoCA in The Love Show (2011) and Oceanic Verses (2012).
In addition to her performative pieces, Davis is a host of Q2 Music, in which she’s conducted live interviews with John Luther Adams, The Kronos Quartet, Judd Greenstein, and Krzysztof Penderecki. She is the recipient of the BRIC Media Fine Arts Fireworks grant, as well as the ASCAP MultiMedia Award in recognition for her work on 24:33, a show consisting of a day’s worth of John Cage programming.
At MASS MoCA, Davis presents her latest work — a direct response to Nick Cave: Until, performed in the exhibition, located in MASS MoCA’s Building 5. Cave, the visual artist known for his wearable sculptures called Soundsuits, turns expectations inside out in his massive, immersive installation that opened on October 15. He views his work as “An elaborate community forum, as much as a work of sculpture,” and as such, the gallery doubles as a stage for singer-songwriters, pop artists, poets, and composers, together with panel discussions, community forums, and other forms of creative public debate and engagement. Until is a rich sensory tapestry in which Cave addresses issues of gun violence, gun control policy, race relations, and gender politics in America today. On Friday, October 28, at 8pm, Helga Davis presents her response to Nick Cave: Until in the exhibition.
Join us before the show when Lickety Spit, MASS MoCA’s café, serves up crisp salads, hearty soups, and lip-smacking pub fare. A full bar serves Bright Ideas Brewing beers and Berkshire Mountain Distillery spirits. No food or drink will be permitted in the galleries. Tickets are $20 advance and $26 day of. Tickets for all events are available through the MASS MoCA box office located on Marshall Street in North Adams, open 11am to 5pm every day except Tuesdays. Space is limited for this gallery performance, so call the box office to reserve tickets at 413.662.2111 x1.
Images
High-resolution images of MASS MoCA’s fall 2016 events are available through this link: bit.ly/mmfall2016
About MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA is one of the world’s liveliest (and largest) centers for making and enjoying today’s most important art, music, dance, theater, film, and video.
Gallery admission is $18 for adults, $16 for veterans and seniors, $12 for students, $8 for children 6 to 16, and free for children 5 and under. Members are admitted free year-round. The Hall Art Foundation’s Anselm Kiefer exhibition is open seasonally, spring – fall. For additional information, call 413.662.2111 x1 or visit massmoca.org.
Hours
11am to 5pm, closed Tuesdays
