1987 / Definitely Superior Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, ON
Belmore wore the dress in Twelve Angry Crinolines, a parade organized by Lynne Sharman as an acerbic, but playful rejoinder to the parallel celebrations welcoming the Duke and Duchess of York on their official visit to Thunder Bay in the summer of 1987. With Pocahantas braids held aloft like antenna, a warrior maiden’s breastplate made of two fine English porcelain saucers, buckskin fringed epaulets and beadwork embellishing its bodice, this robe is all about appearances. Behind its decorative façade protrudes an unruly beaver dam bustle with royalty memorabilia and trade objects (silver flatware, kitsch souvenir mugs, and so on) caught in the dense weave of branches and twigs.
Jessica Bradley, Caught in the Act: an anthology of performance art by Canadian women, YYZ Books, 2004
Video credit: Definitely Superior Art Gallery
