P·P·O·W is pleased to present Strip, a group exhibition bringing together three major works by the groundbreaking artists Jimmy DeSana, Carolee Schneemann, and Martha Wilson. In 101 Nudes, 1972, ICES STRIP / ISIS TRIP, 1972, and Transformance: Claudia, 1973, DeSana, Schneemann, and Wilson combine performance with seriality, text, and photo to establish the body as medium within conceptual art. Created between 1972-1973 in the context of a male dominated conceptual art movement and a cultural backdrop of conservative backlash against the recent civil rights, feminist, and gay liberation movements, these performance driven works undermined societal taboos and restrictions surrounding sexuality and gender within the art world and beyond. DeSana, Schneemann, and Wilson’s campy, provocative, and collaborative works claimed their autonomous subjectivity within spaces that were not accustomed to such commanding presence. By dressing up and dressing down, the artists in Strip simultaneously undressed assumed systems of authority, transforming them into sites of radical liberation.
