In Performance: Zebra Katz’s Into the Black House (NYC)

Expanding his practice into the pop music arena, Brooklyn-based artist Zebra Katz has emerged as a fresh new model for contemporary performance practice. His single Ima Readmerged hip-hop lyrics about education (of the academic and dance floor variety) with minimal beats to stunning effect. Played during designer Rick Owen’s fall 2012 runway show during Paris fashion week, featured in clubs around the world, and shared across Facebook timelines and Gchat windows with dizzying speed, this work has presented Katz with sudden, startling notoriety.

By entering into the pop world, Katz continues a legacy of performance artists who have utilized the music industry to push not only the possibilities of fine art, but also of sound and performance. For his newest commission at MAD, Katz will explore this dynamic further by organizing an evening-long performance investigation. Through reading, movement, beats, and collaboration, Katz will transform the architecture of MAD into a laboratory for the continued evolution of the pop spectacle, underground music, and performance.