Joan
Jonas

Filmmaker, performer, sculptor and illustrator Joan Jonas is often considered the pioneer of performance and video art in the late 1960s. Her relationship to art is equal parts physical and intellectual. She questions representation and fiction, reality and illusion, time, introspection and narcissism.

Trained in art history and sculpture, Jonas was quickly influenced by New York's experimental scene and its trends. She takes inspiration from post-modern dance, which demystifies choreography by focusing on an approach to the body's energy and tensions with artists such as Isadora Duncan. In 1964 she discovered performance art and Bruce Nauman's work, which was decisive.

In 2018 the Tate Modern held a major retrospective of her work and she won the prestigious Kyoto Art Prize. The Pinault Collection is presenting Mirror Pieces Installation II for the first time during the “Untitled, 2020” show at the Punta della Dogana, Venice (2020).