Kirsten Leenaars co-creates Boulevard Dreamers

Fri, Sep 23 - Fri, Dec 16  2016

From September 23 until December 16, The Poetry Foundation will present ‘Boulevard Dreamers’ in their gallery, a performance for the group exhibition ‘Pegasus & Mermaids’, featuring work by cover artists from Poetry Magazine, depicting Pegasus and mermaid figures from immemorial poetry.

Boulevard Dreamers is a traveling installation and variety show that is responding to the specific narratives and communities of the sites and venues it visits. This collaborative project was founded by Danish artist Lise Haller Baggesen and Dutch artist Kirsten Leenaars. Baggesen followed higher education in the Netherlands, before relocating to Chicago and Leenaars also lives and works in Chicago. Their collaborative exhibition  consists of three parts: a site-specific stage set, a series of performances, and an installation of the growing collection of portraits of Boulevard Dreamers. This exhibition questions and celebrates the production of the self in a society that is dominated by one spectacle alone: desire. Through a little glamour, a little glitter, and with a little help from their friends, Baggesen and Leenaars explore how we, members of society, are moved by the agency of desire and the magical allure of being in the spotlight.

Performers include Rebirth Poetry Ensemble, Michael Green and Adam Sonderberg, The Pillowhammer, Ego Mechanics, Junior Magician, Riya Jain, Lucía Mier y Terán Romero, Henry Barrett, Chiara No, and Anni Holm.

On September 23 there will be an opening event for the exhibition from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. 

About the Poetry Foundation 

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience.

About Kirsten Leenaars

Kirsten Leenaars is fascinated by the human species and collects personal stories. She is interested in how these personal accounts reflect upon the larger narratives we are all part of. She uses these interests in her work and this helps her to understand the world around her better. All the people she meets are an inspiration to her. Leenaarts uses documentary photography and video projects to try to articulate the relationship between seeing and connecting, while at the same time trying to capture glimpses of a shared humanity and acknowledging the vulnerable state of being human. Improvising and responding to the situation at hand are a huge part of her work.