Nora Herting took the stage at the Hideout last month wearing nothing but a red wig, a pink feather boa, two pink fur pasties, and a dozen pairs of white cotton briefs, each embroidered in red with a confessional slogan like “When I get bored I fantasize tragedies for my loved ones” or “I make my life unnecessarily complex.” Herting–an artist who first displayed the undies in a show at Artemisia gallery last September, stuffed with newspaper and strung from the ceiling–proceeded to take them off, one at a time, to musical accompaniment.
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She wasn’t the only person taking off her clothes. Burlesque Tartare, a variety show put on by a group of costume designers, fashion designers, and artists collectively called De Corps, also featured Adam and Eve stripping down to heart-shaped fig leaves and a dancer wearing light-up pasties; wig maker Kathi Isham debuted her collection of braided and pin-curled merkins attached to the models’ underwear. Hideout co-owner Katie Tuten liked it so much she asked De Corps back for two more performances this weekend.
Altenhofen is an Art Institute-trained sculptor whose current project involves soft-sculpture bricks, a reference to minimalist artist Carl Andre’s piles of bricks and cinder blocks. In school she worked in ceramics, but “when you can’t afford to buy a thousand-dollar kiln, you find other ways to make stuff.” Since she’d always sewn–she’s also worked for ten years as a professional costume designer–she went back to fabric.
Burlesque Tartare runs at 8 and 10:30 at the Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, on Saturday, May 11. Some of the acts have changed; the merkins won’t be on display, but Altenhofen has added something involving a red, bow-tied dancing bear. And this time, says Tuten, “we’re doing it with chairs, so the sight lines are better.” There’s a $7 cover. Call 773-395-0644 for more information.
