Gesture Jam, New York
Happening
1998 - present

   The Gesture Jam is an art-making happening exploring the boundaries between artist and subject, performer and viewer, process and product. It aims to create a space for pure inspiration.

   Based on the format of a figure drawing session, the audience/artists draw from models. Each evening a loose structure is determined and improvised upon. Ideas are generated by the context of the space and the interaction among performers. Recent themes explored have been the contrast of clothing and nudity; gender and sexuality; narrative vs. abstraction; the process of artmaking as an artwork in itself; and the relationships between sound, silence, stillness, movement, mark-making, and the empty page.

   The Gesture Jam has been presented as a weekly studio drawing series, a special event in conjunction with gallery exhibitions, and a fundraising event for both schools and non-profit arts organizations. Evenings have included collaborators from the fields of dance, music, theatre and performance art and up to ten performers at any given time.

   If you are interested in hosting a Gesture Jam or would like to hear more about it, please contact Andrea.