The Famous Lauren Barri Holstein’s practice investigates contemporary feminisms, critiquing problematic representations of women in mainstream culture whilst proposing alternative modes of female subjectivity. Her practice centres around mid-to-large scale stage-based work, blurring the lines between Live Art, Dance, and Contemporary Performance, whilst putting her own body at the centre of the work. In 2017, Holstein premiered and toured her largest work to-date, Notorious, supported by Arts Council England, The Barbican, Reykjavik Dance Festival/Lokal, PACT Zollverein, and Koneen Saatio, and commissioned by Fierce Festival and Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts. It has since toured to Kampnagel, Hamburg as their season opener, and will open Take Me Somewhere this coming May.
In 2018, Holstein was featured in a BBC Radio 4 Interview alongside Marina Abramovic and Laurie Anderson, interrogating the relationship between popular culture and performance art. In 2013 Holstein’s last large-scale work ‘Splat!’ reached wide audiences through its premiere at The Barbican, opening SPILL Festival of Performance to sold-out audiences and critical acclaim, including a feature on BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour.
Her work has been studied by international scholars and students, as it’s been featured in Kim Solga’s Theatre & Feminism (2016), and articles by Rebecca Schneider, Anna Watkins-Fisher, and Adam Alston (forthcoming) in various publications. In 2016 Holstein completed her PhD at Queen Mary, University of London, researching contemporary feminism, popular culture, and ‘ugly feelings’. For the past 7 years, she has lectured at numerous UK and European universities, and she has also published several articles, in: The Only Way Home Is Through the Show: The Performance Work of Lois Weaver; On Repetition: Writing, Performance, Art; Performance Research; Feminist Times; and Dance Theatre Journal.
