GARY STEVENS
L’UN DE NOUS (ONE OF US)
PHOTO CREDIT: KATHERINE LEEDALE
Created by Gary Stevens
Produced by Artsadmin
Nicky Childs
Senior Artists’ Producer
[email protected]
t +44 (0)20 7247 5102
f +44 (0)20 7247 5103
artsadmin.co.uk
artsadmin.co.uk/artists/gary-stevens
PHOTO CREDIT: SCREEN GRAB
L’UN DE NOUS
Reminiscent of Gary’s previous works, l’Un de Nous is both poignant and funny.
Twelve performers compete with each other to play the same character - Jean.
They constantly usurp one another adding different facets to his personality and
through continually re-playing and re-ordering events they gradually flesh out
Jean’s life story.
Originally created and premiered at l’Avant Seine, Colombes, l’Un de Nous can be
recreated in other contexts involving local performers. Developing new versions
of this utterly original work, the performers will speak in their own language.
Depending on the mix of cast, the performance may be presented in a combination
of languages.
Gary has developed an inter-related body of work that spans both solo and
ensemble performance and video installation. Many of his recent works (such as
Not Tony) can be presented as companion works to l’Un de Nous.
FURTHER INFORMATION
QUOTES
“The staging may be simple but the results are entirely riveting. Stevens’ compelling
and occasionally humorous videos and performances remind us that it is virtually
impossible to conceive of time and space without reference to the human subject.”
Art Monthly 2013
DOCUMENTATION
Click here to see a filmed performance of l’Un de Nous
PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES
l’Avant Seine, Colombes, France 2014
GARY STEVENS
Gary Stevens is an artist who creates performances and video installations, working
with a wide range of visual artists and performers from diverse backgrounds. His
solo & ensemble works have been presented internationally in gallery, theatre,
festival and public spaces.
The major live work, since 1984, is the result of long, practical and material
development; the structure, which often includes an elaborate text, grows out of
this process. His unique use of text and speech in a visual art context is formal,
yet seems casual. It describes and defines a fictive space and situation but the
conspicuous invention confronts us with something real. The work is also about
modes of thought; a psychology is often alien or animal and at odds with the
audience/spectators and performer’s states of mind. It is critical and funny.
The staging and productions are simple and stark, but the structures are rich,
compelling and complex.
He won a Paul Hamlyn Award for Visual Arts (1998), a Foundation for Contemporary
Performance Arts Award (New York) in 1996 and a One to One bursary from
the Live Art Development Agency (2005). He has taught in many art schools
as a regular visiting Visual Art and Performance tutor, including: Byam Shaw,
Goldsmith’s, Middlesex and Wimbledon. He has been a tutor on the BA Fine Art
course at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL since 2007. He ran a regular monthly
performance Lab at Artsadmin from 1999-2009.
Video installation include Slow Life and Wake Up and Hide, which were
commissioned and first shown at Matt’s Gallery, London in 2003 and 2007
respectively. Recent video installations Now and Again and Containment were
both shown at Southampton City Art Gallery in 2012. He has toured internationally
with live pieces such as Not Tony and Ape.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
l’Un de Nous can be recreated in other contexts involving local performers.
There are two options:
• Gary works with four members of the original cast together with local
performers over a two week period
• Gary works with a completely new local cast over a longer period (up to four
weeks)
The erformers will speak in their own language. Depending on the mix of cast,
the performance may be presented in a combination of languages.
Running time
Travelling company
Venue to provide
1 hour
1 or 5 depending on option taken
Studio Theatre Space
15-30 Performers
Interpreter/Assistant
Rehearsal Space
PHOTO CREDIT: SCREEN GRAB