DEFENSE: Installation-Performance by Georgia Lale

April 17 – April 23., 2023

The Border Gallery is pleased to present DEFENSE, a performance-activated installation by the artist Georgia Lale curated by Jamie Martinez. 

DEFENSE is an installation-performance that speaks to the ongoing healthcare and political crises in the United States. The space is dominated by a 10 feet long American flag made out of hospital gowns. Fragments of gowns such as sleeves, pockets, and laces form the USA flag. Fundamentally, the piece challenges the inadequate health care system and the government response during the Covid-19 pandemic and honors first responders, essential workers, patients, and the m­­emory of the people that lost the battle with the virus.

Both at the opening and at the closing reception, Georgia Lale will perform three-hour-long pieces with hospital gowns that have U.S. state mottos sewn on them. The performance questions the history, meaning, and sincerity of state mottos by positioning them directly on the intimate remnants of the ongoing healthcare crises—hospital gowns.

Lale has been working with hospital gowns since her cancer diagnosis in 2019. The gowns are donated by healthcare professionals and patients.

Georgia Lale is a Greek visual artist with an Anatolian heritage. Through their multidisciplinary practice, Lale explores the human body’s blueprint on the social and political realm of modern society. Their #OrangeVest performance was presented at the Greek Pavilion at the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale. Lale is a Goulandris Foundation scholar. They have presented work in major art festivals, such as the Immigrant Artist Biennial in NYC, Nuit Blanche Festival in Brussels and the Venice International Performance Art Week. Lale’s work has been exhibited in the New York City area, including Smack Mellon, Shiva Gallery, and The Hole, among others. They have been a panel member of academic conferences organized by the Dedalus Foundation, the Museum of Modern Art, the Yale History of Art Modernist Forum, and the Yale School of Management. Lale is represented in Greece by A.Antonopoulou Art gallery.