David Byrne of Talking Heads to present Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot the Dynamic Achievements in the Arts Award at the American Folk Art Museum benefit on May 16th in New York. The event will include an exclusive performance and conversation.
On May 16th, Nadya Tolokonnikova, the iconic artist, activist, and visionary behind Pussy Riot will present an incredible, not-to-be-missed event as a benefit for the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. Joining her is legendary musician and artist David Byrne, who will present Nadya with the Dynamic Achievements in the Arts Award, celebrating her outstanding work as a self-taught artist. The evening will feature a performance from Nadya, as well as an in-depth conversation with Brooklyn Museum’s Carmen Hermo. Byrne joined the benefit for the Museum last year in 2023 which included the artist and musician Lonnie Holley, as well as the Sun Ra Arkestra, & Suzanne Vega.
Nadya will be debuting a new performance project, code named PUSSY RIOT – SIBERIA, which she teased on social media X.
For me, Pussy Riot has always been an expression of primal rage that is also informed by my beginnings in the Moscow Conceptual Underground. I will be channeling that rage into a metaphysical system of punishing sound waves, pure and transcendent. We aim to produce a tower of sound as black and brutal as Norilsk, the Siberian city where I grew up, a tower of sound to reach up into the sky and annihilate the ills of the world. It’s an honor for the first public performance of this to be with David Byrne’s introduction, as he has always challenged what it means to be an artist, musician, performer.
– Nadya Tolokonnikova
I’m a fan of what is often referred to as “outsider art.” Definitions and categories are tricky…This year’s benefit event will feature an amazing and surprising combination of artwork, music, and performance by Nadya Tolokonnikova, the creator of Pussy Riot. Much like the artists in the Museum’s collection, Nadya identifies as a self-taught artist and is not restricted by creative, social and cultural boundaries. She is also politically brave – an all-too-rare quality for many of us.
Nadya is something to aspire to, and I hope you will join me at the event to celebrate her and the American Folk Art Museum on May 16.
– David Byrne
Prior to the 7pm event, Nadya will present her newest body of artwork entitled DARK MATTER exclusively to patrons of the event. Proceeds support the American Folk Art Museum’s educational programs.
Tolokonnikova’s first solo museum show will take place this June at OK Linz in Linz, Austria. The show, titled RAGE, opens on June 21 and will include the newest art series, DARK MATTER (laser engraving on birch), as well as a performance of PUSSY RIOT – SIBERIA.
A link to tickets can be found here.
Date: Thursday, May 16th
Location: Society for Ethical Culture (2 W 64th St, New York, NY 10023)
ABOUT NADYA TOLOKONNIKOVA AND PUSSY RIOT:
Conceptual performance artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova is the creator of Pussy Riot, a global feminist protest art movement. Today, hundreds of people identify as a part of the Pussy Riot community. She was sentenced in 2012 to 2 years’ imprisonment following an anti-Putin performance. Went through a hunger strike protesting savage prison conditions and ended up being sent far away to a Siberian penal colony, where she managed to maintain her artistic activity and with her prison punk band she made a tour around Siberian labor camps. Published a book “Read and riot: Pussy Riot’s guide to activism”.
Co-founder of independent news service and media outlet, Mediazona, she has spoken before the US Congress, British Parliament, European Parliament, appeared as herself on season 3 of House of Cards.
Pussy Riot’s “Punk-prayer” was named by The Guardian among the best art pieces of the 21st century (“feminist, explicitly anti-Putin, protesting the banning of gay pride and the Orthodox church’s support of the president”), collaborated with Bansky on his “Dismaland” exhibition. Her work has been exhibited at Jeffrey Deitch, MoMA PS1, Palais de Tokyo, Saatchi Gallery, Louisiana Museum, CONTAINER, Dallas Contemporary among other places. Her first solo museum show RAGE is coming up this June at OK Linz in Linz, Austria.
Pussy Riot stands for gender fluidity, inclusivity, matriarchy, love, laughter, decentralization, anarchy, and anti-authoritarianism.
About The American Folk Art Museum
Founded in 1961, the American Folk Art Museum engages people of all backgrounds through its collections, exhibitions, publications, and programs as the leading forum shaping the understanding and appreciation of folk and self-taught artists across time and place.
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