Andrew Ondrejcak is an American artist working in performance and design. He writes, directs, and designs[1] his original performances that have been produced in the U.S. and internationally. His design work crosses into the fashion industry and has been featured in Vogue, W, and Wallpaper,[2] among others.
Ondrejcak was born and raised in Mississippi[3] and studied architecture and painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design,[4] then Playwriting at Brooklyn College, where he studied under Mac Wellman. He has taught design and theatre workshops at Domaine de Boisbuchet in Lessac, France and, since 2002, is a freelance lecturer at the Museum of Modern Art.[5]
Ondrejcak's performance works bring together theater, dance and music and include performers from a variety of artistic backgrounds, ages and nationalities.[6] His work combines classical forms and pop aesthetics and includes allegorical characters.[7] His films link art historical objects with contemporary iconography, often putting a queer perspective on a classical form.[8]
Works include Veneration #1: The Young Heir Takes Possession of The Master's Effects (2010)[9][10] commissioned by Robert Wilson for the Guggenheim Works and Process; the play FEAST (2014) premiered at Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater in New York, featuring Reg E. Cathey;[11] the opera YOU US WE ALL (2015) with composer Shara Worden at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; and the play ELIJAH GREEN (2016) at The Kitchen in New York City.[12] Also at BAM, Ondrejcak created an installation for Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, an art festival curated by Bryce Dessner.[13]
Ondrejcak's film work also include the Story and The Writer, featuring Tilda Swinton; The Sword of Damocles, which stars Darren Criss and Rufus Wainwright; and Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours, a Stevie Wonder Tribute which in one version highlights James Franco and in another Rufus Wainwright.[14]
Ondrejcak reperformed the work of Marina Abramovic at MoMA in 2010 in her retrospective, The Artist Is Present.[15]
He has been an Artist in Residence at the Park Avenue Armory,The Watermill Center, NYC's Governor's Island, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Yaddo, Josef and Anni Albers Foundation’s Thread in Senegal, and the MacDowell Colony.[16]