Video and Performance: Cheryl Donegan is a touring programme featuring influential works by American artist Cheryl Donegan (b. 1962, Amarillo, Texas). Working across video, performance, painting, and digital media, Donegan has developed a practice that investigates the intersections of identity, gender, media culture, and self-representation. Since the early 1990s, she has been recognized for her pioneering use of video as a performative medium, often using her own body, gestures, and voice to question the construction of femininity and authorship within visual culture.
Donegan emerged during the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period when artists were increasingly experimenting with video and performance as alternatives to traditional art forms. Influenced by feminist art practices and the expanding presence of mass media, Donegan used the camera as both a recording device and an active participant in her performances. Her early works frequently adopt a deliberately low-tech aesthetic, incorporating humor, irony, and self-awareness to challenge conventional expectations of both performance and video art.
One of her most widely recognized works, Head (1993), exemplifies her provocative and ambiguous approach to performance for the camera. The video presents a close-up framing that complicates the relationship between performer and viewer, transforming a seemingly simple action into a layered exploration of perception, intimacy, and spectacle. Works such as this established Donegan as a significant voice within the development of artist video in the 1990s.
Throughout her career, Donegan has continued to explore the relationship between performance and mediated images. Her videos often combine references to popular culture, fashion, music, and art history, revealing how identity and desire are constructed through visual representation. In many works, she adopts multiple roles—performer, narrator, and director—blurring the boundaries between personal expression and cultural critique.
By the early 2000s, Donegan began to expand her practice beyond video into painting and digital platforms. Despite this shift in medium, the performative energy that characterized her early video work remains central to her practice. Her paintings and online projects continue to investigate the circulation of images and the performance of identity in contemporary media environments.
Donegan’s work has been exhibited widely in museums and galleries across the United States and internationally, including presentations at institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA PS1, and the MIT List Visual Arts Center. Her work has also appeared in major exhibitions including the Whitney Biennial. Through her innovative approach to video and performance, Donegan has made a lasting contribution to the evolution of contemporary media art.
Video and Performance: Cheryl Donegan is a Film and Video Umbrella touring programme funded by Arts Council England
