(X) An Evening of Performances + DRAF 10th Anniversary Party

About

The evening opens with artist Lina Lapelyte’s Ladies. Violeta, Nijole, Danute and Judith have performed for 30 years as part of Lietuva ensemble, a folkloristic orchestra that toured worldwide during the Soviet regime. They perform a labour-intensive monotonous block of sound played using Kanklės (a traditional Lithuanian instrument).

Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings working with singer Zee Asher and Producer Owen Pratt have created an immersive and highly sensual work that evokes the tragic and euphoric spirit of their ongoing UK Gay Bar Directory.

Next on the stage is a dance performance by Last Yearz Interesting Negro aka London-based choreographer Jamila Johnson-Small. Love Songs is a body of “techno-meditations on osmosis, internalisation and transformation, with a feeling for the tensions between things”, the work features lighting by Jackie Shemesh and original music from Junior XL and Shelley Parker.

Artist Kris Lemsalu is joined by singer-songwriter Glasser and four archangels for In Heaven Everything Is Fine.

Turner Prize winner Laure Prouvost presents a new musical performance with UK grime MC Trim and DJ A.G. Exhausted.. excited exhaustion with Trim combines melodic compositions and improvised dialogue in front of a vast illustrated backdrop made by the artist.

The evening crescendos with Marvin Gaye Chetwynd’s MEGA HAMMER, a spectacular carnival of surreal acts by dozens of collaborators across the space.  Madam (aka Adam Christensen) serenades the crowd with her accordion. Jedrzej Cichosz performs Earthly Delights, a live acrobatic action painting session supported by his cooing admirers. Chanteuse Mathilde Fernandez is joined by Etienne Dumas for The Ventriloquist’s Recital. Paul Kindersley performs the celebrated Henry Moore Workout. Mette Sterre and five collaborators awaken a giant monster costume for What I will Not Do For Halloween. Culture&Leisure (brothers Beinn, Rory and Lewis Watson) accompany a medieval mime troupe. All-female band Stasis (Olivia Norris, Aniela Piasecka, Isabela Palmstiera,Paloma Proudfoot) and duo Bugatti (Rebeca Oliva and Olivia Sabin) play short sets. Artist Elsa Lefebvre performs her musical turn with Thomas Dupal – THE GOST OF FAME 2017 – and Miserycorpse & Girthdaddy dreamguy perform Dopethrown. A giant handmade bunting sculpture The Stars Are Aligned (I should KOKO) 2017 by artist Lucy Soni adorns the stage. Presiding over the entire troupe is the artist herself, Master of Ceremonies Marvin Gaye Chetwynd resplendent in red paint and papier-mâché breast extensions.

Nkisi finishes the evening with a DJ set of her distinctive mix drawing on influences from African club tracks to gabber and doomcore.

This is the tenth Evening of Performances curated by Vincent Honoré (Chief Curator, DRAF), who once again brings together artists, musicians and choreographers for an evening of live works. Over the last decade, the event has become a key moment in the Frieze week diary, and is open free to all. Previous editions have featured artists including Alexandra Bachzetsis, Nina Beier, John Bock, Michael Dean, Rodney Graham & Kim Gordon, Pierre Huyghe, Sarah Lucas, Goshka Macuga, planningtorock, Eddie Peake, Steve Reich, Cally Spooner, Sue Tompkins, Amalia Ulman and Mark Wallinger.