The School of the Art Institute of Chicago's announced its Spring 2014 Visiting Artists Program this week. The first artist in the lineup is Ron Athey, an iconic figure in the development of contemporary Queer 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 his exploration of key themes, including gender, sexuality, radical sex, queer activism, post-punk and industrial culture, body modification, and ritual. 

Athey began his underground performances in 1981, and in 1992 he began his performance "torture" trilogy: Martyrs and Saints, 4 Scenes In A Harsh Life, and Deliverance. His latest performance, Messianic Remains, is the fourth installation in the Incorruptible Flesh series and explores the artist's life within his own post-AIDS body. As in earlier works in the series, Athey plays into the myth of enlightenment in the face of death. 

Ron Athey, Solar Anus. Photo © Regis Hertrich, courtesy SAIC.

Athey's work has been supported in the UK and in Europe, but until recently, it has rarely been staged in the US. Following Athey's 1997 performance, with Lawrence Steger, of "Incorruptible Flesh" in Glasgow, arts writer Mary Brennan of the Herald Scotland wrote:

"They've contemplated castration in the service of religion and art, looked at how different cultures ritualise mourning, and at how various creeds represent the process of death and its aftermath to faithful believers. To this mesh of research they have also brought their own creative dynamics and personal performance styles -- the outcome, so far, is a work-in-progress that is heady with plangent iconography and... celebrates the mysteries we keep at arm's length... until we need them.

Verbally, visually, musically, this is a stream of carefully conceived, exquisitely presented, atmospherically lit images. Steger, in his sheer robes, is like some priest of shadows officiating at Athey's transfiguration and rebirth from one totemic state to another -- from primitive votive Venus to pouting kupie doll to Holy Eunuch.

It's a process that sees Athey's tattooed limbs slowly emerge from a mummy-like cocoon like some exotic insect. And like the crackly recording of Moreschi (done when the last-surviving castrato was already 80) that runs beneath Athey's eunuch text, it's a process that draws history into the heart of the current moment.

Tuesday, February 4, 6 pm: Ron Athey, at School of the Art Institute of Chicago Columbus Auditorium, 280 S. Columbus Drive, Chicago, IL Free, non-ticketed, and open to the public. Information  Read Jennifer Doyle’s article about Athey on the KCET Blog.

Also on the Spring 2014 lineup are Trevor Paglan, Xaviera Simmons, Roberta Smith, and Jennifer Doyle. In addition to making their appearances open to the public, SAIC presents many Visiting Artists Program lectures as audio podcasts online at saic.edu/vap. Recent presenters include Toyo Ito, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Catherine Opie, Marilyn Minter, and Wolfgang Laib. Join the conversation by following VAP on Facebook or by signing up for its eNewsletter.