Jimmy DeSana, Carolee Schneemann, Martha Wilson – Strip

P·P·O·W is pleased to present “Strip”, a group exhibition bringing together three major works by the groundbreaking artists Jimmy DeSana, Carolee Schneemann, and Martha Wilson. In “101 Nudes”, 1972, “ICES STRIP / ISIS TRIP”, 1972, and “Transformance: Claudia”, 1973, DeSana, Schneemann, and Wilson combine performance with seriality, text, and photo to establish the body as medium within conceptual art. Created between 1972-1973 in the context of a male dominated conceptual art movement and a cultural backdrop of conservative backlash against the recent civil rights, feminist, and gay liberation movements, these performance driven works undermined societal taboos and restrictions surrounding sexuality and gender within the art world and beyond. DeSana, Schneemann, and Wilson’s campy, provocative, and collaborative works claimed their autonomous subjectivity within spaces that were not accustomed to such commanding presence. By dressing up and dressing down, the artists in Strip simultaneously undressed assumed systems of authority, transforming them into sites of radical liberation.

Jimmy DeSana (1949-1990) grew up in Atlanta, GA, and received his bachelor’s degree from the Georgia State University in 1972 before relocating to New York’s East Village in the early 1970s.

Carolee Schneemann (1939-2019) received a BA in poetry and philosophy from Bard College and an MFA from the University of Illinois.

Martha Wilson (b. 1947) began making videos and photo-text works in the early 1970s while in Halifax in Nova Scotia, and further developed her performative and video-based practice after moving in 1974 to New York City, embarking on a long career that would see her gain attention across the U.S. for her provocative appearances as political personae.

Gallery hours Tue-Sat 11 am – 6 pm, and by appointment

Exhibition Duration 12 June – 31 July 2026

www.ppowgallery.com

Location:
P·P·O·W
390 Broadway
10013 New York, NY
United States