Adrian Piper Dance Lessons

Adrian Piper Dance Lessons is an exhibition of Adrian Piper that features her Funk Lessons (1983) and Shiva Dances (2004)—two participatory group performances—through which Piper challenges racism and xenophobia, using art to generate social and political awareness. Piper is a prolific artist, philosopher, and pioneer of conceptual art, who has profoundly shaped the field through her diversification practices and introduction of feminist, post-colonial, and black histories in conceptualist practices.

This exhibition is second in the series On View: Curatorial Studies, which features art exhibitions curated by SA+AH graduate students. According to Lauren Walter Candidate in Art History and curator of this exhibition, Adrian Piper Dance Lessons presentation this fall provides an opportunity to consider the continued relevance of Piper’s work at a time marked by racial justice demonstrations across the world, Black Lives Matter protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd and police brutality, and a growing movement to end systemic racism.”

UG is grateful to Adrian Piper’s studio for generously sharing recordings of Piper’s performances.

This exhibition has been possible thanks to the generous support from Gary R. Libby.