Karen Finley
Presented
navigate, Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, UK
The Dreams of Laura Bush is a performance, book and visual exhibition by Karen Finley that premiered at navigate in 2005.
Dreams are presented by the 'First Lady' herself, revealed as an intimate recounting of Laura Bush's dream journal entries. In both visual representation and handwritten texts, they disclose repression, desire and and power. Revealing contemporary issues mixed with classic neuroticism and Oedipal transference, the dreams blend associative characters with personal meaning and public fame and display irrational, surreal elements of Bush's psyche.
Karen Finley is a New York-based artist whose raw and transgressive performances have long provoked controversy and debate. She has appeared and exhibited her visual art, performances and plays internationally. Her performances have been presented at Lincoln Center, New York City; The Guthrie, Minneapolis; American Repertory Theatre; The ICA in London, Harvard, The Steppenwolf in Chicago, and The Bobino in Paris. Her art works are in numerous collections and museums including the Pompidou in Paris and Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. Finley attended the San Francisco Art Institute receiving an MFA and honorary PHD.