Farmhouse/Whorehouse, an Artist Lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra Starring Lili Taylor is the third in a series of performances by visual artist Suzanne Bocanegra. It follows When a Priest Marries a Witch, an Artist Lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra Starring Paul Lazar and Bodycast, an Artist Lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra Starring Frances McDormand. Bocanegra’s performance is part artist lecture, part memoir, and part cultural essay. Farmhouse Whorehouse considers the lives of Bocanegra’s grandparents on their small farm in La Grange, Texas, which was located across the road from the Chicken Ranch, better known as “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Using text, songs, film, and projections, Bocanegra and actress Lili Taylor, with special guests, tell a rambling story examining the idyllic place the rural world occupies in our urban imagination as well as the invention of the pastoral in art, contemporary homesteading and back to the land movements, and assorted utopian communities throughout history. 

Farmhouse/Whorehouse had a series of work-in-progress showings at Houston’s CounterCurrent Festival in April 2017 and was presented in September 2017 by Wexner Center for the Arts.

Farmhouse/Whorehouse officially premiered in NYC in December 2017 as part of BAM’s Next Wave Festival and most recently was presented by the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA in April 2018.

On May 5th, 2018 Farmhouse/Whorehouse was presented along with Suzanne Bocanegra’s companion ‘artist lecture’ pieces When A Priest Marries a Witch and Bodycast in an evening length performance at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College.

Created by: Suzanne Bocanegra
Performed by: Lili Taylor
Directed by: Lee Sunday Evans
Lighting Design: Eric Southern
PM/TD: Joseph Wolfslau
Producer: Sandra Garner