‘APOLOGY’ PERFORMANCE INSTALLATION BY KATA MEJIA OCTOBER 7-28, 2011 501 LEX AT 47TH ST

We are pleased to announce Kata Mejia’s fifth show at The LAB (for installation + performance art). APOLOGY, a performance installation, questions the meaning, effects and repercussions of both asking for, and being asked for forgiveness.

Through physical actions that transcend the spoken, written and felt qualities of an apology, the performance installation will focus on the idea that an apology cannot repair damage. “Receiving an apology may at times even cause a feeling of emptiness within those wronged.” explains Mejia.

The artist  will use her body to paint the gallery floor. Using a paint soaked thread to create winding, meandering traces in an abstract oval shape, she will use only her feet to pull her proned body and the thread backwards through the   space. Mejia’s struggle to complete the action will reference the idea that an apology is a difficult journey for those who receive it as well as a weight laden with guilt for those who offer it. Furthermore, as the artist moves throughout the space the lines on the floor will build up causing past lines to become less intense and less significant, reflecting the way memory and possibly pain diminish with time.

Performances will take place October 6th and 7th, 6-8pm. The installation will be on view October 7-28th.

Kata Mejia is a performance artist with a background in painting and dance who lives and works in Philadelphia. She graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Masters degree in Performance in 2004. She received her BFA from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Medellin. She has been awarded several grants and scholarships, including the James Nelson Raymond Fellowship in 2004, the Trustee Scholarship from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, a Colombian Government Scholarship for Graduate Studies abroad, and a Graduate Studies Scholarship from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 2002. Kata Mejía received a 2009 Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.Kata Mejia website

The LAB (for installation + performance art) is a New York based, converted storefront turned fishbowl producing 20+ fast paced performance art and installation exhibitions annually. Aimed at the furious midtown foot traffic, The LAB’s programming is designed to confront modern relationships between art and audience and seeks to force an interaction between the high energy, “outrospective” exhibitions it produces and the nearly 25,000 daily passersby. The LAB is located on the North East corner of 47th and Lex and is a Roger Smith Collaboration. The LAB Gallery website

For further information contact Danika Druttman on 212.339.2092 or email rogersmitharts@rogersmith.com


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