Drawing Blood | Drawing the Body with Ryder Cooley an Every Woman Biennial X Leech House Collaboration
$25 Ticketed Event
Come spend two hours drawing with us…drawing blood that is! Ryder Cooley’s bloodletting bio-performance art sets the stage for a unique sketching experience. Using Hirudu medicinal leeches Ryder will perform a bloodletting ritual while posing for class attendees. Please note, this is real blood and if you are squeamish, this is not for you. Also note, that these leeches are pets, well-cared for, and well-fed, and not harmed in any way during this performance.
The Leech House Series is a symbiotic transference ritual whereby the human parasite becomes guardian host to the hermaphroditic leech, inviting the leech to feast upon and cleanse the blood with hirudin venom and gender-neutralizing verve.
In these rituals and exchanges, the performer subverts her gender by opting to feed medicinal leeches, suggesting a departure from the conventional gender mandate to nurture the human infant/parasite. In turn, the leech offers the medicinal hirudin peptide in this re-presentation of parasitism as a symbiotic exchange. The Leech House Series is produced and performed by Ryder Cooley in collaboration with a selection of photographers & artists.
Artist Bios
Ryder Cooley is an inter-disciplinary artist, musician, performer and animal advocate based in the NY Hudson Valley. She participates in a variety of exhibitions, performances and collaborative projects. Her work has been presented at locations including: Museum of World Culture (Sweeden), El Paso Museum of Art (Texas), Taboo, Transgression & Transcendence (Malta Society of Arts, Valetta) and at the Robert Wilson Watermill Center (Long Island). Ryder has an MFA from Rensselaer Polytechnic and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She frequently performs with her accordion-driven dark cabaret band Dust Bowl Faeries.
rydercooley.com | dustbowlfaeries.com
Dina Shirin is a photographer from Riga, Latvia and has been living in New York since 1991. She spends her time working on portrait projects and is drawn to experimental, surrealist compositions. In her work, she explores unpredictable points of view, dreamlike layering of images and organic textures. Dina is a member of the CMC photography collective in New York and a contributor to the Paris-based group Foto Femme United. She's exhibited her photographs in group shows in Chelsea and Tribeca in New York.
@dinashirin
Sarah Bachinger Pezdek is an award winning, internationally published and collected photographer. Her fine art photography is represented by Galerie Fledermaus in Chicago, IL and the Geras Tousignant Gallery in CA. Her work is collected by private collectors internationally. She has been published with Cosmopolitan, OUT Magazine, Vogue Japan, Vogue Italia and more. sarahpezdek.com
Richard Lovrich attended Parsons School of Design and works as an independent photographer, designer and producer of theatricals. studiolovrich.com
Robert Palumbo has been producing, directing, and shooting film and TV for over 20 years, and has been afine art photographer since the early 1990’s. He is an Emmy nominee and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Photography. As a still photographer, his work has been exhibited in New York, London, and Berlin, and is included in many prestigious private and public collections, including the New York Historical Society, the Smithsonian, and Lever House. He has worked for National Geographic, the New York Times, Du Magazine, Vice, YRB, The Fall, Gallimard, and many other clients. Robertpalumbo.com
Corey Aldrich is an artist, director, producer and experiential designer who works in the arts and cultural arenas, including music and fashion. His expertise is in designing environments that support story-based narratives. Deep research and materials / object sourcing are his typical approaches to accomplish this. Project partners of note include, but are by no means limited to, The Albany Symphony Orchestra, The Hyde Museum, The Alliance for the Creative Economy, the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company and WMHT
Public Television. @coreyaldrich
Annette Bragas is a freelance Hair & Makeup Artist based in New York and London. She graduated from London College of Fashion and specializes in film, music, theater and beauty/fashion.
annettebragasmua.com