Tanya Mars (born 1948) is a performance and video artist based in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada.
Biography
Mars was born in Monroe, Michigan in 1948, and has lived in Canada since 1967.
She was married once, and has one daughter.
Mars is also known as Tanya Rosenberg.
She was educated at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, Ann Arbor, Sir George Williams University in Montreal, and at Loyola College, Montreal (now incorporated into
Concordia University).
Mars currently teaches performance art and video in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media in the
University of Toronto Scarborough
The University of Toronto Scarborough, also known as U of T Scarborough or UTSC, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set up ...
and is part of the graduate faculty of the Master of Visual Studies Program at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
.
Work
Tanya Mars has been an active member of the Canadian arts scene, creating
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
and video works since 1974. She has performed widely across Canada, in Valparaiso, Chile, Mexico City, Sweden, France and Helsinki. Her work draws on feminist discourse and imagery, and often uses humour and satire.
Mars is a founding member of and director o
Powerhouse Galleries(
La Centrale) in Montreal, the first women's art gallery in Canada. She was the editor of ''Parallelogramme'' magazine from 1977–1989,
and very active i
The Association of National Non-Profit Artist-run Centresfor 15 years. During the 1970s and 1980s, Mars was a member and secretary of The Association of National Non-Profit Artist-Run Centres, a national lobby group for artist-run centres (1976-1989).
She is a past president and member of FADO, a non-profit artist-run centre for performance art based in Toronto, Canada.
Currently, she is also a member of th
7a*11dCollective that produces a bi-annual International Festival of Performance Art in Toronto.
''Tyranny of Bliss'' took place in 2004 in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
which had audiences travel by car to 14 tableaux representing the seven heavenly virtues and seven deadly sins.
With Johanna Householder, Mars co-edited the 2004 anthology ''Caught in the Act: An Anthology of Performance Art by Canadian Women''. A second volume, also co-edited by Mars and Householder, entitled ''More Caught in the Act: An Anthology of Performance Art by Canadian Women'' was published in 2016.
Mars' performance work received in-depth treatment in a 2008 critical anthology edited by Paul Couillard.
Videography
* The Granny Suites, Part 1: Happy Birthday to You - 2006
* 7 Deadly Sins/ 7 Deadly Virtues - 2004
* Hot! - 1998
* Doom - 1996
* Bronco's Kiss - 1996
* Mz. Frankenstein - 1993
* End of Nature, The - 1991
* PURE HELL - 1990
* Pure Sin - 1990
* Pure Nonsense - 1987
* Pure Sin - 1986
* Pure Virtue - 1985
* 24 Postcards of Rage: No Man's Land - 1983 (with Rina Fraticelli)
* Picnic In The Drift - 1981
Performance Art
*Good Buy!, 2018
*Crone, 2017 (FADO, part of MonoMyths curated by
Shannon Cochrane and Jess Dobkin)
*Homage to the City of Women: Leaves of Gold, 2016
*Rare Parity, 2015
*The Artist is A Present, 2015
*Vanitas for an Arctic Landscape, 2015
*Tyranny of Bliss, 2004
* Performance Art Starter Kit, 2000
*Pure Virtue, 1984
*Pure Sin, 1987
*Pure Nonsense, 1987
*Pure Hell, 1990
* Fat - 1978 (Thirteen Jackies)
* All Alone Am I - 1977 (Thirteen Jackies)
* Super Secretary - 1977
* Tanya-in-the-Box - 1976
* Codpieces: phallic paraphernalia - 1974
Awards
* 2008 - Awarded
Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts.
* 2005 - Awarded "Artist of the Year," Untitled Arts Awards, Toronto.
* 1981 - Received Chalmers Award for innovative collaboration in the performing arts for ''Picnic in the Drift'' with Rina Fraticelli.
Residencies
* 2008
The_Cité_internationale_des_arts_in_Paris,_International_Artist_in_Residence.
*_2008_
Lilith_Performance_Studio
in_Malmö,_Sweden._Presented_''In_Dulci_Jubilo''_curated_by_Elin_Lundgren_and_Petter_Pettersson.
*_1993_-_Western_Front_Society.html" ;"title="Cité internationale des arts">The Cité internationale des arts
in Paris, International Artist in Residence.
* 2008
Lilith Performance Studio
in Malmö, Sweden. Presented ''In Dulci Jubilo'' curated by Elin Lundgren and Petter Pettersson.
* 1993 - Western Front Society">Western Front in Vancouver, British Columbia. Presented ''Mz Frankenstein'' with Judy Radul and Brice Canyon as part of six-week residency, curated by Kate Craig.
* 1984 - Western Front in Vancouver, British Columbia. Presented ''Pure Virtue''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mars, Tanya
1948 births
Living people
American performance artists
American expatriates in Canada
American video artists
American women artists
Artists from Michigan
Artists from Toronto
Canadian performance artists
Women performance artists
Canadian video artists
Women video artists
Canadian women artists
Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners
People from Monroe, Michigan
University of Michigan alumni