Cradeaux Alexander: bluebeard

Bow Arts welcome back acclaimed video and performance artist, Cradeaux Alexander, to the Bow Arts Courtyard for a performance of his new work bluebeard, forming part of his retrospective exhibition Scripted Bodies, including 12 video works and recordings of performances created between 2009 and 2018 on display in the courtyard before the performance. In bluebeard Alexander inhabits the eponymous character from the folktale which tells the story of a wealthy, violent man in the habit of murdering his wives, and the attempts by one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors, popularised by the French writer Charles Perrault in 1697 and retold many times in the intervening period. Alexander's bluebeard portrays him as the embodiment of corruption.

The work is performed by an ensemble of performers, utilising video, live performance, visuals and original text. Alexander’s practice explores the intersection between theatre and art, an elision he employs to mediate and comment on a broad range of socio-political concerns, as well as postmodernist takes on subjects such as pornography and self-representation. However, in many cases he reaches into history and literature for inspiration: bluebeard is an example of the latter.