What’s Up with Former AGCC Studio Artist, Jocelyn Foye:

Former AGCC Studio Artist, Jocelyn Foye, opens ‘Ballet Abstracted’ in Actions, Conversations, and Intersections’ at Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery

Mixing traditional contemporary dance with an abstract art form, artist Jocelyn Foye spotlights an approach to interactive art that is redefining the art gallery experience.

Foye is one of 58 L.A.-based artists invited participating in “Actions, Conversations, and Intersections,” the largest exhibition of performance artists of its kind Jan. 24 to April 18 at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery in Barnsdall Art Park. Foye’s live performance, titled “Ballet Abstracted” featuring Chicago ballerina Kelly Valignota, is 6 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Municipal Art Gallery.

“I typically have performances on beds of clay that capture the movements of the dance or athletic event that happen upon them,” says Foye. “This exhibition offers me the opportunity to experiment with this process by changing the surface to a checkboard sand surface that allows the audience to see the movement very differently. Essentially, we’re watching a ballerina draw with her feet.”

During the six-minute performance, spectators will watch Valignota dance pointe to a portion of the opera musical score “Einstein on the Beach” by Philip Glass.

An internationally shown artist, Foye has exhibited her unique approach to performance art for more than four years. She is best known for transforming her blank canvas—a bed of clay—into an interactive masterpiece with the help invited performers including a pole dancer, a world-class Sumo wrestler, street fighters, and most recently a dancer with the San Pedro Ballet School in Los Angeles.

L.A. Municipal Art Gallery is located at 4800 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles. For more information on the “Actions, Conversations, and Intersections,” exhibit, call (323) 644-6269 or visit www.actionsconversationsintersections.com

Roller Derby Helps Local Artist Create Spectacle at Laguna Art Museum

Eight women on skates battling it out against two walls of clay. What could be more artistic?

Just ask Long Beach-based performance artist Jocelyn Foye, who will mix the spectator sport with sculptural art at the Laguna Art Museum’s OsCene 2010 next month, redefining the art gallery experience.

“I was looking for a contact sport that mixed a certain level of sensuality and violence, and roller derby had just become really popular,” says Foye, who first exhibited with the Roller Derby girls two years ago.

Foye is one of 49 visual artists invited participate in “The OsCene: Contemporary Art and Culture in OC” featuring painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, multimedia installations, video, performance, architecture and design Feb. 21 to May 16.

Foye’s live performance titled “Smash Down,” which pits the OC Roller Girls against the Long Beach Roller Derby team, is 6-8 p.m. Thurs. Feb. 18. DJ Autumn Beck will be opening the event.

• DJ Autumn Beck will be opening the event at 6pm.
• Derby game begins at 7pm.
• Beer and popcorn will be served.
• RSVP is required for this event: intern@lagunaartmuseum.org

For additional information click here.

Laguna Art Museum is located 307 Cliff Dive, Laguna Beach. For more information about the exhibit, call (949) 494-8971 or visit www.lagunaartmuseum.org