Lunch on Fridays: Alexandra Tatarsky and Anna Azizzy

"Pool Party" image by Anna Azizzy

Spend a lunch hour learning about the latest in art and design during these Friday lectures. This event is free and open to the public. Pizza and beverages will be provided.

Alexandra Tatarsky and Anna Azizzy are participants in Loaded, a yearly concert series held on the loading dock of moCa Cleveland. (This year’s event runs from 8:30 to 11:30pm Friday.)

Tatarsky, of New York City, makes work in the unfortunate in-between zone of comedy, dance, performance art, theater and deluded rant—sometimes with songs. Pieces often incorporate absurdist characters and improvised word play, fueled largely by anxiety. Interests include identity construction, humor and the abyss, self-loathing and psychoanalysis, late capitalism and meaninglessness, hybridity, madness, parades, and acrylic nails—basically, how words and worlds come together and fall apart. Tatarsky performs original work and the work of others at venues including Judson Church, New Museum, Bronx Art Space, MoMA PS1, The Kitchen, La Mama and many bars and backyards.

Anna Azizzy, of Pittsburgh, processes their identity by performing absurd and hilarious exaggerations of their life and wishes. Their practice spans many mediums, including performance art, video art, experimental music, and gymnastics, most often working with wonky green screen animation, flamboyant characters, and soft sculpture. They earned their BA in Experimental Theater and Sculptural Performance at Carnegie Mellon University, work various art gigs, coach gymnastics, and host the Side Split Variety Show. Their most recent body of work, “For Retired Gymnast,” is an absurd and hilarious multimedia performance depicting a fictional gymnastics team, their coach, and their moms, all of whom struggle with sexual shame, queerness, and the urge to keep their true identities secret.