In the 1970s, as boundaries between artistic disciplines blurred and artists sought alternative modes of expression and presentation, performance emerged as one of the dominant art forms. Performance suddenly was being presented in art museums and galleries as well as on the traditional proscenium stage. The practitioners included not only those trained as actors, dancers, and musicians, but a new a breed of performer: the visual artist.

The term "performance art," coined in the 1970s, describes a range of activities that emerged as visual artists added action to their static works. Deriving from 1960s conceptual art (in which the idea or concept for a work was more important than the execution of a material object), these works were ephemeral, time-based, and process-oriented, and brought artists into more direct contact with the spectator. Performance art encompassed many forms, including Body Art, Fluxus, feminist art, mail art, and video art.

Since 1970 the Walker Art Center Performing Arts Department has presented a wide array of experimental dance and theater, avant-garde music, and multidisciplinary performance art. This exhibition includes objects from the permanent collection and videotapes by visual artists involved in performance art, as well as archival documentation of work by multidisciplinary performing artists. Whatever the specific genre, performance of the 1970s celebrates and scrutinizes both the mundane and the spectacular moments of everyday experience.

Support for the Andersen Window Gallery is provided by Andersen Corporation, Bayport, Minnesota. Special thanks to Hammel Green and Abrahamson, Inc., Architects and Engineers. Cello courtesy MacPhail Center for the Arts, Minneapolis.

Performance in the 1970s: Experiencing the Everyday is part of the Walker Art Center's "New Definitions/New Audiences" initiative. This museum-wide project to engage visitors in a reexamination of 20th-century art is made possible by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund.