Michael Portnoy (b. 1971, Washington, DC, USA) is a New York-based artist. Coming from a background in dance and stand-up comedy, his performance-based work employs a variety of media: from participatory installations to sculpture, painting, writing, theater, video and curation.
Portnoy is largely concerned with manipulating language and behavior as a tool for world-bending – either in his “Relational Stalinist” game structures in which confusion, complication, and ambiguity are used to stretch participants’ speech and movement; or his quest to “improve” existing breeds of art through re-engineering.
He has presented internationally in museums, art galleries, theatres and music halls, including recently Vleeshal, Middelburg (NL) 2020; IFFR Rotterdam (NL), 2020; steirischer herbst, Graz (AT) 2018 and 2019; Witte de With, Rotterdam (NL) 2016; the Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR) 2015; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (NL) 2014; Cricoteka, Krakow (PO) 2014; Palais de Tokyo, Paris (FR) 2013; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (DE) 2013; The Kitchen, New York, (US) 2013; dOCUMENTA 13, Kassel (DE) 2012; 11th Baltic Triennial (co-curator), Vilnius (LT) 2012; and the Taipei Biennial, Taipei, Taiwan 2010.
Click here to read his latest interview in Garage.
www.strangergames.com/