This workshop will consist of group sound, movement, and performative interactions based on Linda Mary Montano’s 14 YEARS OF LIVING ART, a Chakra Endurance. Please bring a blanket/ matt and if you wish, dress entirely in your favorite Chakra color.  

Linda Mary Montano trained as a sculptor but when she discovered performance in 1969, she became a Living Sculpture, performing as Chicken Woman, Bob Dylan, Mother Teresa, and Paul McMahon. She is a visionary figure in contemporary feminist performance art and her work, since the mid-1960s, has been critical in the development of video by, for, and about women. 

Montano’s interest and explorations are primarily centered around healing as art, aging, and death. For example, in a performance at the Dorsky Museum of Art, the artist was lying in a coffin during the opening and closing reception, while visitors lined up to pay their respects. After the 3 hour “endurance”, Montano resurrected from the coffin and danced with everyone at the opening. 

Montano continues to actively explore her art/life through shared experiences, autobiographical videos and intricate life altering ceremonies, some of which last for seven or more years. Her artwork is starkly real, brave, and is often concerned with personal and spiritual transformation. Montano’s influence is wide ranging – she has taught at many universities and has been featured at museums including The New Museum in New York, MOCA San Francisco, and the ICA in London. Now in her 80’s, she is practicing the ART OF LIFE. 

photo by Dion Ogust