Julie Tolentino
thejulietolentino@mac.com

Extended Biography
Tolentino creates intimate solo movement-based installations including her time-based durational performances, sculptural endurance events and audio soundscapes.  She performed with David Rousseve/REALITY Dance Theater, Ron Athey, Ibrahim Quarishi, Helen Paris and Leslie Hill, Margarita Guergue, Amy Pivar, Ori Flomin, Rob Roth, Stosh Fila, Mark So and others.

Tolentino’s work has been presented at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Pact Zollverein, Essen, Germany; Studio 303, Montreal, Canada; La Batofar, Paris, France; Participant Inc, Performa05 Biennial, Momenta and Monkey Town Gallery, The Kitchen, Danspace Project, LePerc/BAM, Henry Street Settlement Center, Downtown Arts/Simon Says Festival, NYC, NY; Fierce Festival, Birmingham; Green Room, Manchester; Spill Festival, London, UK, Madre Museo, Naples, It; Walker Arts Center, On the Boards, Seattle; Soma Arts, SF; UCLA Center for Performance Studies, LA, CA and  the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Perform Now! Festival, Pieter Performance Space and Francois Ghebaly Gallery in Los Angeles.

She has performed Alison Knowles’ “Wounded Furniture” in ’07 Fluxus Party, curated by Nick Hallett and Zach Layton, Monkey Town, Brooklyn and presented a sculpture as part of Lovett/Codgagnone’s “Still Here” series at Momenta Art. Video appearances include: Deserter, curious.com; POSITIVE LIFE—Living with AIDS (c. 1993) and HALLELUJAH with Catherine Gund, Aubin Pictures, New York. She has performed in video works by Barbara Hammer, Tom Kalin, Ella Troyano/Carmelita Tropicana, BITTERSWEET with David Rousseve. as well as music videos of Diamanda Galas, Primus , Madonna, Chaka Khan (choreographer: Donna Uchizono) and Walking with the Dead, c. 1994 - text for John Killacky. She has worked with sound artists: Aldo Hernandez, F100, Bernard Elsmere, Julie Fowells, Deborah Melford, Mark So, Robert Crouch, Johanna Fateman. In 2009, she collaborated on an artist-to-artist studio visit exploration via video with Abigail Severance : EYE_WITNESS, premiered at OUTFEST LA,

Julie appeared in Red Hot and Blue's "Safe Sex is Hot Sex" poster and Gran Fury's national bus campaign "Kissing Doesn't Kill" in the early 1990's. She was highlighted as a Featured Artist in the the national Gay Games '94 ad campaigns. She appears in Madonna's SEX Book, as well as editorial pages for OUT Magazine, Visionnaire, The Pink Pages, DIVA, Tetu Paris, Time Out NY, Time Out UK, Curve, Movement Research Journal, Shifter 15 and numerous others.   Her work is frequently included in art and performance journals and conferences worldwide. She will appear in RODARTE’s forthcoming art book shot by Catherine Opie.

She was original founder and creator of the NY Clit Club (1990) as well as early 90’s queer weeklies hosting performance: Tattooed Love Child and Dagger. Tolentino performed at sin-a-matic, Los Angeles; Fetish Ball, Los Angeles; The Altar, The Cock and Pork, NYC and The Schmidt Theater, Hamburg, Germany (Six Sex Weeks). She curated a comprehensive performance video installation at the Film Anthology Archives for the '99 MIX Gay and Lesbian Experimental Film and Video Festival featuring an international roster of performance artists' works on video and alternate digital media.

Julie was awarded a Franklin Furnace Performance grant 1999-2000 and international travel support from Arts international in 2000.  FOR YOU (2005) was created in part with support of an ArtsAdmin Agency Bursary (grant and residency) in London, UK and the generous support of Participant Inc. She was awarded a Field Space grant from THE FIELD in New York City in June 2007 for the creation of a new work. She received a residency at Pact-Zollverein - Essen, Germany for the completion of a new work (Spring 2010) and is a recipient of a year CHIME 2010 Grant with Doran George. Most recently, she received a grant from ART MATTERS 2010-11 for research/travel to the Phillippines.

She is currently co-director, with Ron Athey:  PRAXIS MOHAVE BOOTCAMP FOR PERFORMANCE ARTISTS, a bi-annual ten-day intensive workshop for international artists based in Joshua Tree, California - where she also holds one-to-one seminars and workshops and offers lo-fee, off-the-grid artist residencies.

She trained in Massage Therapy at the Pacific School of Oriental Medicine in NY. Julie is certified in Thai Medical Massage and is a Watsu® practitioner.  She teaches “Company Class” at Pieter and is available for private yoga and bodywork sessions. She divides time between Los Angeles, New York City and Joshua Tree, California.

Tolentino has been a member of the advisory board for the Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender Anti-Violence Project and The New Festival Film Fest in New York City. She is the co-author of the Lesbian AIDS Project's Women's Safer Sex Handbook, and was a founding member of ACT UP New York's House of Color Video Collective.