30.07.13

Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey

Live Art Development Agency are publishing a range of new titles this summer. Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performance of Ron Athey is edited by Dominic Johnson and is now available for pre-order. 

Ron Athey is an iconic figure in contemporary art and performance. In his frequently bloody portrayals of life, death, crisis, and fortitude in the time of AIDS, Athey calls into question the limits of artistic practice. These limits enable Athey to explore key themes including gender, sexuality, radical sex, queer activism, postpunk and industrial culture, tattooing and body modification, ritual, and religion.

Pleading in the Bloodincludes three newly commissioned essays on different aspects of Athey’s work by Adrian Heathfield, Amelia Jones, and Dominic Johnson, complemented by shorter texts by Homi K. Bhabha, Jennifer Doyle, Tim Etchells, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Matthew Goulish, Lydia Lunch, Juliana Snapper, Julie Tolentino, Alex Binnie, Catherine (Saalfield) Gund, Bruce LaBruce and Catherine Opie, along with a hand-written text from Robert Wilson. The book also includes Athey’s own writings, including new pieces and hard-to-find archival texts.

The publication is lavishly illustrated with full-colour images by photographers including Catherine Opie, Manuel Vason, Elyse Regher, Slava Mogutin, Dona Ann McAdams, Bruce LaBruce, Rick Castro, Sheree Rose, Edward Colver, Jennifer Precious Finch, and others.

Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons) has written a foreword to the publication.

Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Atheyis the second title in the Intellect Live book series, a new collaboration between Intellect Books and the Live Art Development Agency.

OrderPleading in the Blood for £25 here