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Let My Body Eat the Sun by Christie Blizard - Virtual Event


Fort Worth Contemporary Arts - The Art Galleries at TCU

Let My Body Eat the Sun

Christie Blizard 

Fort Worth Contemporary Arts 

March 12 – May 1, 2021

The Art Galleries at TCU are pleased to present Let My Body Eat the Sun, an exhibition of new work by Christie BlizardThis exhibition will be on-view from March 12 – May 1, 2021 at Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, with accompanying virtual materials coming soon. Join us on the Fort Worth Contemporary Arts Facebook page on Friday, March 12thfrom 6-6.30pm CST to celebrate the premiere of Blizard’s new film and exhibition, and enjoy a live performance by the artist.

Built in 1908 the Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards is the world’s first indoor rodeo and an historic home for livestock exhibitions. It is also a place of unexpected cultural significance with over a hundred years of hosting a wide range of live performances, from Elvis Presley to Diaghileff’s Ballet Russes. On October 16, 1920, Enrico Caruso, the celebrated Italian operatic tenor, performed at the Cowtown Coliseum to a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 8,000 people. To mark the centenary of this extraordinary event, the Art Galleries at TCU invited Christie Blizard to create new artwork in response to this unique moment in the city’s history. 

Let My Body Eat The Sun is a contemporary opera that presents an otherworldly story of life, death and afterlife based on Blizard’s ongoing exploration of posthuman possibilities. Written and scored by the artist, the opera features performances by mythical Texas characters - - a tumbleweed, an armadillo and a cactus - - and alien improvisational singers. Together they follow the exploits of an unnamed masked protagonist, joining in for moments of frenzied and gleeful dancing and also witnessing a deadly encounter with a mattress. Eventually reborn as a visitor from a different universe, Blizard’s protagonist is transformed by a spectacular bird. Combining elements of traditional operatic drama with classical mythology, science fiction and the surreal, Blizard’s opera summons the spirit of Caruso in a colorful and absurd 21stcentury Western vision. 

Filmed onsite at Fort Worth’s Cowtown Coliseum under socially-distanced conditions, Blizard’s opera was performed by local artists including TCU School of Art students, staff and alumni. The film forms the center of Blizard’s exhibition at Fort Worth Contemporary Arts which is also populated by costumes and props used in the making of the opera. 

Christie Blizardwas born in rural Indiana and lives and works in Texas. She was a participant of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2018 and attended MacDowell and Artpace residencies. Recent exhibitions include those at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; School of Visual Arts, New York; Good Morning America (ABC); the Roswell UFO Convention, and the Today show (NBC). Her work has been featured in Hyperallergic, ArtNews, Art in America, and NY Arts Magazine. Recent performances include those at Cloaca Projects, San Francisco; Interference Fest, Austin; Marfa Myths, and the Skowhegan headquarters in New York City. www.christieblizard.com  

About Fort Worth Contemporary Arts

Fort Worth Contemporary Arts (FWCA) is a satellite exhibition space located a few blocks from the School of Art, on the edge of the TCU campus. Situated on West Berry Street, a busy urban corridor, this 2,000-square-foot gallery is TCU’s public-facing art venue. It offers a great opportunity for students, faculty, staff and alumni to engage with the Dallas-Fort Worth community. At FWCA, the curatorial focus revolves around national and international artists at different stages of their career. It often includes work that has never been shown before or that is made on-site during a residency period, with direct support from the Art Galleries at TCU. This concentration means students have close access to high-quality art and can critically engage with artists on a one-on-one basis in the gallery.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Art Galleries at TCU will remain closed to the public through the Spring 2021 semester. However, we will continue to produce online content and exhibitions, available to the TCU community and our public audience worldwide. For more information about this event, images for press, or details about other activities of The Art Galleries at TCU please visit the Galleries website www.theartgalleries.tcu.edu, email [email protected], or call 817-257-2588.

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Instagram: @tcuartgalleries

Artsy: www.artsy.net/fort-worth-contemporary-arts

Twitter: @TCU_Galleries

YouTube: The Art Galleries at TCU

 

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2900 W. Berry St. · Fort Worth, TX 76109


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