Giuseppe Chiari – Concert for Woman. 1968 Fluxus Performance Postcard

Chiari, Giuseppe – Concert for Woman. [Florence: no publisher, 1968]. 16 × 10.5 cm. Original postcard, printed on recto only, with a black-and-white photographic image documenting Chiari’s 1968 performance Concert for Woman, showing the artist applying make-up to a seated woman. Captioned “Chiari: Concert for woman” beneath the image. Verso blank.

An original ephemeral document of a performance by Italian composer, conceptual artist, and Fluxus participant Giuseppe Chiari (1926–2007). Concert for Woman belongs to Chiari’s series of works treating the human body and everyday objects as instruments and subjects of musical action. In describing the work, Chiari noted that its principal element consisted of the varied sounds obtainable by blowing into a woman’s hair.

A scarce piece of Italian Fluxus and performance-art ephemera documenting one of Chiari’s characteristic extensions of music into gesture and everyday life.