Librairie Vigna 2023

Librairie Vigna 

November 17 to December 3, 2pm to 7pm

Sadie Benning, Girl Power, 1992, 15 minutes

Accompanied by the music of Bikini Kill (a girl group from Washington, D.C.), Sadie Benning’s « Girl Power » blends documentary footage, family archives and scribbled texts from her diary… to paint a portrait of a rebellious teenager in the 1990s. Benning recounts her revolt against school, family, gender stereotypes and homophobia. A story of personal freedom, inspired by the riot grrrl movement, which rejects the passivity and polite obedience traditionally associated with the feminine, in favor of radical independence and self-determined sexual identity.

Sadie Benning was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1973, and began making videos at the age of 15, using a Fisher Price Pixelvision toy camera. Benning’s early works were filmed in the privacy of her childhood bedroom, and reveal the desires and complexities of a developing identity. Benning’s floating camera functions as a witness, developing a raw, experimental language underlined by the music. Co-founder of the post-punk rock band « Le Tigre » (1998-2001), her work has been shown since 1990 in festivals and major group exhibitions (1991, MoMa; 1993, Whitney Museum Biennial, New York…). Her more recent work focuses on animation, film and installation, as well as painting.

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