Katherine Araniello

Works with Live Art Danmark
2014 “Institutional Classics” with the “Disabled Avant Garde” and “The Feral Ladykillers” with Jenna Finch at Hitparaden 2

Institutional Classics
For Institutional Classics the Disabled Avant Garde mimic the format of a death metal concert replete with distorted feedback guitar and tambourine. The stars of the show, Katherine Araniello and Aaron Williamson take center stage, their faces covered in KISS-like make up and surrounded by their band of musicians. The DAG take on day-centre standards such as ‘Ten in The Bed (Rollover)’, ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ and ‘Skip to my Lou’, with the melodies heavily distorted into a very weird free form punk.

The Feral Ladykillers
Katherine and Jenna Finch adopt a deadpan approach in their collaborative performance. They find the banality of everyday life uplifting and rewarding. Through the surreal nature of the performance, sketches become pointless and absurd. They both desire to be normal.

About theArtist
Katherine Araniello was a London-based performance artist, who used performance, video and subversive humour in response to the mundane, social awkwardness and the negative representation of disability. She twisted taboos and the everyday into works which were never quite as they seem and constantly challenging notions of ability. No-one was exempt and everyone was under scrutiny. Araniello used improvisation, interaction and technology to create unpredictable scenarios that ranged from large scale productions to DIY and workshop activities. She worked with artists including Teresa Albor, Kim Noble, Ursula Martinez, Daniel Oliver, Aaron Williamson and Marcia Farquhar, and organisations including the Southbank Centre, Battersea Arts Centre, The Yard Theatre, China Plate, Tempting Failure, The Wellcome Trust and Guest Projects.

Sadly, Katherine passed away in 2019. Read the obituary by Colin Hambrook that outlines her education, work, career and influence here.

Her website is still online and can be viewed here.