La Centrale galerie Powerhouse is proud to present the performance Tug-A-War by Tess Martens, Holly Timpener and Matthew Moir on April 28th and 29th, 2022 from 6-9pm. The performance will take place in the gallery*, and will also be visible from the window of La Centrale. On Saturday, April 30th at 2pm, the artists will be in conversation with Mathieu Lacroix at La Centrale to present their work.

Tug-A-War is a rat race between Tess Martens, Holly Timepenar, and Matthew Moir; tied together in the vitrine of La Centrale. For three hours, they will each pull a three-way 2 meter rope connected in the middle. A video installation will accompany this performance, where they will change directions to reach the buttons of a keyboard in an attempt to communicate with one another. Through this performance, they will commit to remain connected against unremitting force.

Tess Martens graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Master of Fine Art focusing on performance art in 2018. In her art practice, personal experiences are re-contextualized through performances. Between 2019-2020, she traveled and performed in 4 performance residencies in 4 different countries. She worked closely with Marilyn Arsem, La Pocha Nostra, VestAndPage and Andrigo & Aliprandi. She actively performs in Ontario and Quebec; may it be an official performance for festivals, galleries and artist run centers or performing more underground and relying on self to just create! More information

Matthew Moir transcends lived experiences through their work as a filmmaker, writer, and performance artist. They often create from dark humor, using themselves as a tool to provoke and satirize representations of masculinity and queer states of being. Moir envisions queer futurities by considering the affects of change, shifting perspectives, and fractured boundaries. More information

Holly Timpener is a queer non-binary performance artist working in depth with the theme of queer trauma and queer resistance. By balancing their personal experience, knowledge and memories with insight gained through community research, Timpener investigates “The Personal Is Political”; in a modern sociopolitical context. Timpener has held several international residencies and worked with multiple festivals. Most recently Timpener has been collaborating with artist and friend Tess Martens on live and virtual works show with FADO and the Lots of Love Festival. They are a founding member of the collective NO OBJECT and in 2019 established a queer performance event entitled Pi*llOry that shows three times a year in Toronto. More information

* The number of people inside the gallery will be limited

Photo credits : Richard Mugwaneza