Performance SW

Performance Southwest was founded in January 2013 by Dallas-based artists Courtney Brown and Alison Starr.

Performance Southwest is a project in support of the proliferation of performance art outside of the core discourse currently found in major metropolitan cities like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. Our mission is to educate audiences through collaboration in practice, scholarship, and curatorial development.

ARTIST BIOS:

Courtney Brown (b. 1987) lives and works in Dallas, Texas. She is an interdisciplinary artist practicing performance art, installation, and community advocacy. She has presented work in mainstream and alternative spaces throughout Dallas including the Dallas Museum of Art, (wo)manorial, The Goss-Michael Foundation, 500X Gallery, Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden, and Oliver Francis Gallery.

Brown’s solo performance work is grounded in endurance, ritual, spiritualism, autobiography and memory. In 2010, she received the Dallas Museum of Art’s Clare Hard DeGolyer Memorial Fund Award and the James S. Barnett Jr. Charitable Foundation. She holds a BFA from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Alison Starr (b. 1960) is graduate candidate in the Intermedia Studio Art program at the University of Texas at Arlington. She lives and works in Dallas, Texas. Her current body of work includes solo spontaneous and long-duration performances, video performance, and writing and directing for performance.
Starr’s work has been featured in various galleries, institutions, and venues both domestic and abroad including Conduit Gallery, the Dallas Museum of Art, 500X Gallery, (wo)manorial, Koelsch Gallery, The Eco Friendly Expo, and Dallas Pavilion presented at the Venice Biennial. In addition, she is an alumnus of the Alfred Ceramic Summer Studio Program and a fellow of the Taller Portobelo Norte Artist Residency in Portobelo, Panama.