Bio
Dr Oriana Fox is a New York-born, London-based artist and para-academic who works primarily with video and performance to explore the connections between self-disclosure, non-conformity, creativity, belonging, and mental health.
With a Ph.D. in Visual Cultures and an MA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London, Fox has shown her work in renowned art venues such as the ICA, Tate Modern and Britain, Orchard Gallery in New York, and Kunsthalle Wein, Vienna. She currently lectures in critical contextual studies at The Art Academy and City and Guilds of London Art School.
all images - Oriana Fox, The O Show: You’re Only As Sick as Your Secrets (2018)
(production still) Courtesy of the artist and Block 336 Gallery, Brixton.
1 - Could you explain your practice? Only you know why you do what you do.
I fancy myself to be London’s top talk show host, a purveyor of the confessional from the mouths of artists and other experts. More specifically, my performance piece The O Show, and its spin-off podcast Multiple Os invite artists, cultural producers, activists, and psychotherapists to speak candidly about their work in front of a camera crew and a live audience. The show is itinerant, taking place in art, theatre, club, and academic contexts, but its aesthetics aim to consistently mirror that of TV talk shows (on a shoestring budget). I bring my American brashness to the role of host, although as a shy person, I’m usually only faking it. My frosted blonde wig, caked-on make-up, and shoulder pads may be artificial but my accent is real and so is the quivering of my voice as it wavers from confidence to self-consciousness and everything in between. The guests I feature, however, have little to no difficulty ‘spilling the beans, even when what they have to reveal defies expectations and norms, just like their mainstream counterparts. This is because I select them on the basis of their work which also entails confrontational forms of self-revelation that are socially or politically challenging. Through this medium, I explore the crossover between working on the self and working to change the world.
I arrived at this longstanding project due to stumbling upon a therapeutic tactic called ‘shame attacking’ during my first forays into performance art. Shame attacking entails acting against your own self-inhibiting irrational beliefs (and risking the negative judgments of others) in order to gain confidence. I have found out that this personally transformative strategy is also the basis of speaking truth to power. Not only is exemplifying and explaining variations of this practice central to The O Show, but I’m also currently writing a book about it.
Don’t want to say too much for fear of this chunk of text leading to TLDR. But I will say that due to a number of personal circumstances (my age, the pandemic, impending doom, etc.), my current fascination is with ‘midlife crisis’, or as a Texan self-help guru, Brené Brown refers to it, ‘midlife unraveling’. So for my most recent piece of work at Spill Festival’s Think Tank, I staged my own mini-retrospective and got in touch with my past artistic selves, the ones that painted, sculpted, and even did printmaking! So please check out both my websites if you’d like to know more about the scope of my work: www.theOshow.live & www.orianafox.com
2 - Is art relevant today?
Well, I really hope so, otherwise, I’ve been wasting my life. Seriously, of course, it’s relevant. Art makes marginalised folks powerful. As my friend, fellow artist, and past O Show guest, Lucy Hutson explains: “People listen to me because I’m an artist”.
3 – We are always asked what other artists influence us, we want to know what art you don’t like and which influences you.
I dislike hotel art and any other art that is made solely for commercial purposes that is completely void of feeling or thought.
There is some art that I have mixed feelings about. Since you didn’t ask, I will tell you anyway: Jeff Koons. I feel ambivalent about him. He’s one of the few (maybe the only?) white, cis, hetero men that has put his sexuality on display. I kind of respect that and I love the kitsch, can’t help myself. But because it’s so commercial, that gives me pause.
I’m influenced by the artists I feature on The O Show and Multiple Os, of course! Couldn’t resist the plug. That being said, having done so many types of art, I love and am inspired by loads of varied stuff. Here is a no doubt partial (forgetting someone important) list, in order of influence: Red Grooms, Pee Wee Herman, Frida Kahlo, Alice Neel, Jonathan Borofsky, Otto Dix, Ellsworth Kelly, Fragonard, Maya Deren, Monika Treut, Phoebe Gloeckner, Judy Chicago, Sophie Calle, Allyson Mitchell, Martha Wilson, Lorraine O’Grady, Carrie Mae Weems, Linda Montano, Annie Sprinkle, Amrita Sher Gil, KwieKulik, Clifford Owens. I also have had amazing teachers but these three stand out: James Dupree, Scott Williams and Sabina Ott.
4- If you could go back 10-20 years what would you tell your younger self?
Don’t put off taking action because you fear rejection or that it won’t be worth it. Getting a no, finding yourself at the next impasse, or even failing after a long delay is far worse than just facing and moving through it right away because then you can search for and realise plan B or C. Keep your work in motion! I still need to listen to this advice.
5 – If you could go forward 10-20 years what do you hope to have done or not done?
In terms of work, I hope that when my book is published it is well received and widely read; that my artwork continues, finds its audience and co-conspirators; and that I have been fortunate enough to have the experience of flow working independently and with others.
In terms of life, I hope to have done all I could to be a kind mother, partner, friend, teacher, citizen, and earthling. (I hope I’m closer to being a vegan and avoiding all single-use plastic than I am now and that I’ve managed to save some money for my golden years.)