Jennie Large is a painter.
Thatβs my first thought.
Actually⦠watching Wet Hard Long my first thought was daaaaaaamn ~ Jenni Large must be really good at pilates.
My experience of this piece was being struck by its impeccable taste; the creation of a series of indelible images; a process you donβt so much watch, as witness.
They say that sex is everywhere but no one is fucking. Wet Hard Long, first performed in 2024, and based on an award-winning shorter piece, Wet Hard (2022) ~ is a work of deep eros. The opening sequences put me in mind of an unnervingly eerie orgasm, as flesh creatures with Cremaster 3 makeup intertwine and undulate in perfect slowmo precision. Here, the feminine is both command and pastiche, bold and powerful, sensuous, wicked and witty. There are buckets of water, wet t-shirts, BDSM Chelsea smiles, the tantalisingly slow removal of gloves.
All contained within a work thatβs built on the glory of hard things, of exploring limits.
The first I ever heard of Large was in THAW by Legs On The Wall, gliding, skating and hanging on icebergs suspended from the sky ~
This is work of insane focus, a tight hour where I could not tear my eyes away. Thereβs a messy futurism to it ~ a T1000-liquid metal climbing frame (h/t Jemima Lucas) is centre stage for gravity-defying movement. Sound design, art direction, costuming and those indelible images are crystallised with discipline. Itβs creepy but elegantβ¦ a sci-fi strip club, threatening and sexy.
And seemingly not taking itself too seriously.
Right now, when wild images can be automated, and choke the feeds, the magic is in the creation of these moments. Jenni Large, the performer and the choreographer, is also a painter ~ and the way she creates these paintings is she throttles them into existence through sheer being. These acts of endurance push past the limits of what you think a body can do. They create gorgeous tableau past the point of pain, past even joy, into something unknown. It is defiance, and a laugh, and a challenge.
At moments in the piece, the performers stare wildly into the audience.
Amid the pain and the eros, a glove is thrown.
Youβre watching them watching you.
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Go further
Jenni Large site and Instagram
A note ~ images featured are from the 2024 performance of Wet Hard Long