This week we welcome Christen Clifford. Clifford is a feminist performance artist, writer, curator, professor, actor and mother. Her work has been shown at Eva Presenhuber, The New Museum, PS 122/SoloNova, Dixon Place, Postmasters Gallery, EFA Project Space, to name a few. Her essay about gender and aging, “Mother, Daughter, Moustache,” was in the New York Times bestselling anthology “Women In Clothes” (2014). Molly Ringwald read it on national radio for WNYC’s Selected Shorts.
Clifford’s work spans a wide range of mediums from immersive installations to spoken word. She has just released a limited edition artist book, “Baby Love”, with Project for Empty Space. PES is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating safe and equitable spaces for audiences and artists alike. They are currently accepting applications for their residency program.
Clifford wrote “BabyLove” in a rush, in the delirium of new motherhood. It was first published on Nerve.com in 2004. The artist reflects on her role as a new mother nearly two decades later in the current second edition reprint. It comes at a time when the culture around mothering has changed. Clifford highlights a new paradigm in which society casually embraces the trope of the “sexy mom” and “momedy.”
“BabyLove” is a 28-page book produced by risograph, a kind of copy machine using a hybrid process between screen printing and photocopying. The four color art book includes documentation of the artist’s postpartum journey. “BabyLove” is a limited edition of 150 copies, 10 with a special cover featuring Gold Leaf Breastmilk. You can purchase the book here ($40/$100), and see more of Clifford’s work on her website and instagram.
