During Krakow Theatrical Reminiscences, three performances by Guy de Cointet will be presented, performed by Mary Ann Glicksman. The evening will be rounded off with an encounter with the participation of Mary Ann Glicksman and Hal Glicksman. In the performance Two Drawings (1974), the starting point of the plot is the purchase of a drawing with an unusual shape. Once she has scrutinised it closely at home, the protagonist is obliged to conclude that the modest drawing is strange. More, it is very strange indeed, just as strange as quite a different drawing… My Father’s Diary (1975) is the story of a certain precious book filled with text, signs, diagrams and drawings that a father hands over to his daughter on his death bed. Unfortunately, the father dies before he has a chance to explain what makes the volume special. The protagonist presents the book to the audience, together with the follow-up to the story. In the performance Going to the Market (1979), the main prop is a painting with colourful edging against a homogenous white background, which has been covered at randomly placed letters. Randomly? Perhaps not quite… In fact, not at all so. During just a few minutes, the performer explains the point of the story contained in this work.
The project has been realised in collaboration with the 39th Krakow Theatrical Reminiscences. Courtesy of the Guy de Cointet Estate and Air de Paris.

Guy de Cointet (1934–83) was a French-born artist based in California. He created text and sculptural works, often combining them as props and stage sets in theatrical performance pieces. His work is considered as the lost link of conceptualism and a connection with the achievement of avant-garde movements. In his activities, he directly referred to Raymond Russell and Stéphane Mallarmé, he also liked Marcel Duchamp’s linguistic puzzles. He spent his childhood in Algeria, where he attended school together with Yves Saint Laurent. At first, he was involved in the fashion industry. In the mid-1960s, he left for New York, where he was a regular visitor to Andy Warhol’s Factory. He settled down in Los Angeles. He was fascinated with cryptography as well as the nature of writing and language. He researched Egyptian writing, African culture and the Navajo Indians. He was always very sensitive to colour. Guy de Cointet hardly ever selected male actors for his performances. He preferred working with women of various ethnic origins. One of his pieces was made in collaboration with Viva from Warhol’s Factory. FOTO

Mary Ann Glicksman (b. 1943 in Tacoma, Washington USA) lives in Ymeray, France. Activism for the rights of people with disabilities and art are the two threads that have twined throughout her life between California and Paris. Guy de Cointet and Mary Ann Glicksman began their friendship and collaboration in 1976, which continued until his death in 1983. During these years, she interpreted his monologues, and with other actors played in his theatrical pieces in galleries, museums, universities and theaters across the United States. In 2006, After a silence of 25 years, Mary Ann and other actors have continued to represent his work.

Hal Glicksman (b. 1937 in Beverly Hills, California) curated a number of key exhibitions in Southern California during the 1960s and 1970s, and helped establish and foster several important Southern California art institutions. He exhibited the work of Guy de Cointet at the University of California in 1973 and Otis Art Institute in 1975. He met Mary Ann during her first performance of Guy de Cointet in 1976. They married in 1978.

Guy de Cointet, Huzo Lumnst, 1973. Performance views, Air de Paris, Paris, March 2012. Performed by Sarah Vermande. Courtesy Guy de Cointet Estate and Air de Paris, Paris. Photo Audrey Pedron.