Rachel Rosenthal

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rachel Rosenthal (born November 9, 1926 in Paris - † May 10, 2015 in Los Angeles ) was a French - American performance artist and dancer .

life and work

Rachel Rosenthal was born in Paris as the daughter of the wealthy Russian trader Léonard Rosenthal (1875–1955) and his wife Mary. To avoid the looming Holocaust , the Jewish family fled to New York City via Spain, Portugal and Rio de Janeiro during World War II . Rachel Rosenthal graduated from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan . After the war, Rosenthal commuted between Paris and New York City and studied with the theater director Erwin Piscator , the pantomime Jean-Louis Barrault and the abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann . In the 1950s Rachel Rosenthal got an engagement with Merce Cunningham and came into close contact with Jasper Johns , Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage , who had a great influence on her.

Rachel Rosenthal moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s. She founded the "Instant Theater" with the actor King Moody (1929-2001), with whom she was married from 1960 to 1979. As an actress, she took on several roles.

Rosenthal was active in the feminist art movement during the 1970s and was one of the artists who supported the Woman's Building in Los Angeles.

Rachel Rosenthal had been bald since her head sheared in 1981 . In combination with her sonorous voice, eye-catching make-up and jewelry, she became an unmistakable, dazzling figure. She was often in the company of her rat Tatti Wattles. The cat DiBiDi and various dogs were also among their pets.

At the documenta 8 in Kassel in 1987 she showed "Rachel's Brain", a performance that revolves around the question:

"How do I edit my daily experiences to maintain the precarious balance between my mind, my elementary drives, my primitive emotions and my higher consciousness?"

-

In 1989 she founded the Rachel Rosenthal Company , where she worked as artistic director. She was one of the circles in which Paul McCarthy and Chris Burden moved.

With her dance, drama, improvisations, performances and dramatic monologues , she gave her most important themes an artistic form: female identity, environmental protection and animal rights.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ New York Times, Margalit Fox, May13, 2015 Rachel Rosenthal, Bold Performance Artist, Dies at 88, accessed on May 22, 2015 (English)
  2. ↑ KCET Departures, Jeremy Rosenberg Arrival Story: Rachel Rosenthal accessed on May 22, 2015 (English)
  3. ↑ Los Angeles Times, David Colker Pioneering LA performance artist Rachel Rosenthal dies at 88, accessed on May 22, 2015 (English)
  4. ↑ documenta 8 catalog: Volume 1: Essays; Volume 2: Catalog page 305; Volume 3: artist book; Kassel 1987, ISBN 3-925272-13-5 .
  5. ↑ LA weekly, Steven Leigh Morris Rachel Rosenthal: 83 and still swearing accessed on May 22, 2015 (English)
personal data
SURNAME Rosenthal, Rachel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French-American performance artist and dancer
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 2015
Place of death los Angeles