The fascinating and spectacular world of renowned show-woman and Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Creative and Performing Arts Fellow Marisa Carnesky has been unveiled at a new exhibition at the University of Sheffield´s Western Bank Library.
Olivier Award winning Marisa Carnesky has been creating shows for over two decades, mixing illusions, live art, theatre and burlesque for contemporary audiences. For the first time, this unique exhibition will display Carnesky´s most infamous works together with unseen material and her inspirations from the University´s National Fairground Archive.
Drawing from a wide selection of material from Carnesky´s career so far, Memoirs of a Showwoman will include flyers, posters, film, costumes and props from her many productions, including the now permanently established live art dark ride Carnesky´s Ghost Train.
Trained as a dancer, Carnesky spent the early 1990s touring the UK and continental Europe, before moving to New York to model for performance artist Annie Sprinkle's Tarot Cards and appear in the alternative cabaret revue show Smut Fest. On return she created her controversial one woman shows Jewess Tattooess, The Girl From Nowhere and Magic War, which toured internationally. Her 2010 shows Dystopian Wonders at the Roundhouse and The Quickening of The Wax at Chelsea Theatre continued to receive critical acclaim for her original vision.
The exhibition, which runs from now until Friday 13 May 2011, showcases Carnesky´s performance career, fusing archival research from the National Fairground Archive and exploring ghost trains, tattooed ladies, magic, burlesque and waxworks with contemporary theatre practice.
The Sheffield exhibition has been curated by Professor Vanessa Toulmin and Karen Middlemast, of the University of Sheffield, with Marisa Carnesky.
Professor Vanessa Toulmin, Director of the University´s National Fairground Archive, said: "Marisa Carnesky is currently the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Creative and Performing Arts Fellow and what better way to celebrate this than to present a spectacular exhibition of her career to date.
"The displays will delight and disturb as they showcase amazing costumes from Marisa´s shows, including the dress worn by Paloma Faith for Carnesky´s Ghost Train, collaborative works with artists such as Anthony Bennett and Mark Copeland, inspirations from the NFA and unseen material from her personal archive. It promises to be a feast for the senses!"
The exhibition will run between Wednesday 9 February and Friday 13 May 2011, 9am – 7pm Monday to Thursday, 10am – 7pm Fridays, 12am – 6pm Saturdays and Sundays. The exhibition will be closed between Friday 22 April and Monday 25 April 2011.
http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/exhibition/showwoman
http://www.carnesky.com/carnesky_home.html
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AHRC Media Contact Jake Gilmore j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk Tel: 01793 41 6021
Notes to Editors
Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £112 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,300 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.