Free the Beast

Free the Beast is a show presented by NYC-based multimedia artists Vilma Duplantier and Shelly Voorhees. Driven by the idea of interconnectedness, the artists explore anthropomorphic hybrids to bring awareness to Speciesism, body objectification, environmental consumption while searching for the real meaning of Freedom.

"By invisible strings, humans are entangled with nature, animals, and the universe in one single noetic field. We are all one, affecting one another", if we hurt others we hurt ourselves".

By placing their self-made animal masks on their human heads and industrial sculptures on their female bodies, the artists become hybrid beings - half humans, half animals. With altered vision, lack of air, and restricted movement, they imagine how it is to be in the place of another.

The exhibition itself is a collective of performance art as wells documentations of live performances in various formats; photography, painting, video, sound.

• Workshop: Community Flower Printing on Canvas - Apr 7, 2024 2:00pm-4:00pm
• Opening and Panel Discussion on Animal Rights - Apr 13, 2024 5:30pm-9:00pm
• Window Performance: Red Light Cow District - Apr 18, 2024 6:30pm-8:30pm
• Workshop: Animal Mask Making - Apr 19, 2024 4:00pm-8:00pm
• Community Performance: Free the Beast Masquerade - Apr 22, 2024 5:30pm-9:00pm

About the Artists

Artemis Beasts consists of multimedia artists Vilma Duplantier and Shelly Voorhees (Lithuania, NYC). They are two women, often finding themselves wearing masks and imagining being half-animal. The reason is not a fetish. It's their way to denounce injustice, take action and pay tribute to all the suffering species. Their mission as the activist artists is to confront, question, and unsettle truth-telling. Advocating for animal rights has become their purpose and the pathway toward their own freedom. They speak through live performance, poetry, song, dance, painting, sculpture, and other mediums that can provoke thoughts and evoke feelings toward change.

For more information on Artemis Beasts, visit the website and follow them on Instagram.

Event Venue

340 E 64th St, 340 East 64th Street, New York, United States