THE PIMP
Jen DeNike
THE PIMP (2015) - Video/Art Film Jen Denike
The Pimp examines the performative nature of gender expression, as he takes on the role of the drag queen, Jori. We meet her sprawled seductively in a magenta room, puffing pink smoke, and staring out through a web of artificial lashes. Here, femininity becomes synonymous with heavy eye shadow, bejeweled necklaces, and flowing gowns – material items that, when done, precipitate a consciously contrived metamorphosis. However, the identity expression through external means reveals itself to be ultimately inadequate, a fragile façade that is easily broken.
Written and Directed by: Jen Denike
Executive Producer: Marcus Vinicius Ribeiro
Producer: Charles Gepp
Starring: Jory Smiley, Ramon Brown, Malik Adjuia Smith-Thompson, Isaiah Lucas, Glen Rodriguez and Zachary Medina
PUBLISHED MEDIA
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JEN DENIKE - Director
About Filmmaker & Installation Artist:
The multimedia and performance artist Jen DeNike creates strange alchemy in her work by taking often rigorous forms from photography to ballet and bending them to occult purposes. A one-time student of the photographer Stephen Shore, she became known early on for her pictures of vampire-attack victims lying strewn across the floor and the predator nowhere to be seen.
As a video artist, Denike's works have been featured in numerous museum exhibitions, including at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin (2006) and in 2006 at MoMA/PS1 and Bard's Center for Curatorial Studies. Her performance Twirl, which incorporated a marching band in full regalia, took place at the Brooklyn Museum in 2009 as part of the Performa biennial.