John Boskovich, Without You I’m Nothing, 35mm on video, 89min., 1990

Sandra Bernhard takes on Nina Simone, Barbra Streisand, and Diana Ross, sings “Me and Mrs. Jones” as a lesbian torch song, and strips down to American flag G-string to the tune of “Little Red Corvette” in the film version of her hit one-woman show, Without You I’m Nothing, With You I’m Not Much Better. It was during the East Village run of the show that Bernhard made her infamous appearance on Letterman with Madonna, another of her many interventions into American pop culture, toying with notions of celebrity and sexuality.

After spawning Dixon Place as a salon in her Paris apartment in 1985, Artistic Director Ellie Covan pioneered the organization in her New York City living room for 23 years. Dixon Place is now a non-profit institution committed to supporting the creative process by presenting original works of theater, dance, music, puppetry, circus arts, literature, and visual art at all stages of development.

Curator: Karl McCool