Mirror Check

“It was a logical development and kind of abstraction of a solo work, standing nude in front of an audience, examining one’s own body with a mirror very slowly. It’s a very simple piece. There is the stipulation that it has to be done by women because that’s how it was originally performed and seen, and meant to be seen because it’s about a woman looking at her own body, having control of that gaze.”

Mirror Check, a work created by Joan Jonas in 1970, will be performed in the galleries for the final six weeks of Parallel Practices: Joan Jonas & Gina Pane at the Henry. In Mirror Check, a performer uses a small round hand-held mirror to inspect all visible parts of her exposed body. Mirror Check — one of Jonas’ earliest works — marks an important theoretical and artistic turning point in her practice, when mirrors cease to be a material utilized in her sculptures to and become actual instruments in her live performances.