For a long time, all I could do was surrender.

Marissa Perel
July 1-31, 2011
Opening Reception, July 23, 5-8pm
On view July 23-31, by appointment 312.593.8691

Perel will open her solo show, For a long time, all I could do was surrender. The show will feature photography, writing, video and performance made in collaboration with artist Oliverio Rodriguez. The artists will expose their collaborative relationship occupied within the context of performative submission. Their work probes surrender in its myriad definitions; 1 a : to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand b : to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another 2 a : to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner b : to give (oneself) over to something (as an influence). Through mutually generated texts on childhood memories, romantic love, the limitations of the body and sexual abandon, the artists create landscapes of distanced roleplay, in which they perform with/for one another live and for the camera.

MARISSA PEREL is a performance artist, writer and independent curator. Her performance
work is rooted in the somatic experience as a mode of expression for writing, dance,
painting, sculpture, photography or video. She sees the body as a communicative tool
where pain, shame and trauma are sources of dialogue. Her performance, text and video
work have been shown at LVL3 Gallery, Links Hall, A + D Gallery, MCA, Chicago Cultural
Center, Epiphany Church, Co-Prosperity Sphere, Elastic Arts and Outerspace Studio
(Chicago, IL), The Chocolate Factory Theater, Dance Theater Workshop and Judson
Memorial Church, (NY), D.I.V.O Institute (Czech Republic), Medium Gallery (Slovakia).
“Gimme Shelter,” Perel’s column on performance, recently launched on the Art21 Blog. Her
writing can also be found in Bad At Sports and Time Out. She received her BA from the
Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University and MFA from the School
of the Art Institute of Chicago.

OLI RODRIGUEZ is an interdisciplinary artist working in video, photography and
performance. His projects conceptually intersect and dialogue within consent, queerness,
childhood and sexuality. Oli has screened, performed, lectured, curated and exhibited at
institutions and museums such as, Schwarzer Kanal, Berlin, Germany, Smart Museum,
University of Chicago, Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago IL, X Initiative Gallery, New York, NY,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, The Swimming Pool Project, Chicago, IL and Nightingale,
Chicago, IL. Currently, he is a part of the Photography Department faculty at the School of
the Art Institute of Chicago. He received his BA from DePaul University and MFA from the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Project Summary and past events
Marissa Perel will utilize the exhibition space of Spoke as a space to consider the body.
Her performance work is rooted in the relationship between somatic experience as a mode of
expression and interdisciplinary art-making. She is interested in the intersection of
movement and writing in performance venues, on-line platforms and in this instance, the
gallery. As a performance artist, writer and independent curator, Perel believes in the
potential of the artist as world-maker, and she will provide an aperture into the
interconnectivity of these roles for the month of July.

On July 10, 2-4 PM Perel and artist, R.E.H Gordon, will host a reading circle of Being
Watched: Yvonne Rainer and the 1960’s by Carrie Lambert-Beatty. The reading circle is open
to the public, and topics in the book will be used as for general discussion of what makes a
dance, and the history and future of dance in contemporary art.

On July 16, 7-9 PM Perel will guest curate an evening for the literary series Red-Rover,
entitled: “Magnetic Affinities & Altered Relations.” The event is open to the public and will
feature text-based performances, sound and video works that channel haunting
discontinuities between identity,place, desire and visibility by San Francisco-based artist Jai
Arun Ravine, and local artists Zihan Loo and Oliverio Rodriguez.

On July 23, 5-8 PM, Perel will open her solo show, For a long time, all I could do was
surrender. The show will feature photography, writing, video and performance made in
collaboration with artist Oliverio Rodriguez. The artists will expose their collaborative
relationship occupied within the context of performative submission. Their work probes
surrender in its myriad definitions; 1 a : to yield to the power, control, or possession of
another upon compulsion or demand b : to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in
favor of another 2 a : to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner
b : to give (oneself) over to something (as an influence). Through mutually generated texts on
childhood memories, romantic love, the limitations of the body and sexual abandon, the
artists create landscapes of distanced roleplay, in which they perform with/for one another
live and for the camera. Perel’s show runs from July 23-31 and is open by appointment:
312-593-8691.