BIOGRAPHY

Joseph Ravens creates time-based art works that encompass text, movement, installation, technology, costume, and object. He completed his undergraduate degree in theater at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, studied audio/visuals at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and is a graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with an MFA in Performance. Ravens is the founder and artistic director of Ravenous Productions, and a recipient of the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for Interdisciplinary/Performance Art as well as the Illinois Art Council Fellowship for New Performance Forms.

Ravens has received numerous travel and exchange awards that have enabled him to build a global reputation. He has participated in several international festivals including 10 Days of Veem, at Het Veem Theater, and Interzone at DeBalie Center for Culture and Politics, both in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Auf Eine Art II at Kulé Theater, and the 72 Stunden Kongress für Performance Art, both in Berlin, Germany; Man.In.Fest Experimental Theater Festival in Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Postsovkhoz4 Symposium, in Mooste, Estonia; and the International Media Arts Festival (IMAF) in Belgrade, Serbia. In the United States, Ravens has been invited to show work in the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and the Cleveland Performance Art Festival. In the summer of 2008, Joseph presented his work at the Zendai MoMA, Shanghai, China; and the Total Contemporary Art Museum, Seoul, Korea.

Ravens has collaborated on two films with filmmaker Danièle Wilmouth, Tracing a Vein, and Round. These films have shown internationally, including Russia, Germany, Australia, and China. A film written by Ravens and co-directed by Ms. Wilmouth, Containers, has aired on the Chicago PBS program, Image Union.

Ravens has also worked with established artists such as Ann Carlson, playing ‘Duck Baby’ in her work, Animals, as well as with Compagnie Felix Ruckert as a guest dancer in two works, Tools and Consulto, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. He was also chosen by movement innovator and MacArthur Foundation "genius" Elizabeth Streb to study with her in residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.

Ravens frequently presents workshops around the world that demonstrate his unique approach to creating time based art.