The United States has a long history of action / live art coming from dance, theater, and visual arts and covering a large range of focus.
Artists and Performance Art Groups
- Groups and Collectives
- Asco
- Goat Island Performance Group
- Knextiv (Performance art collective)
- El Teatro Campesino
- Odyssey Works
- Unresearched
- Vito Acconci
- Aku Matu
- Olaniyi Rasheed Akindiya Akirash
- Alexis Alleyne-Caputo
- Lindsey Allgood
- Richard Alpert
- Lian Amaris
- Laurie Anderson
- Jackie Apple
- Marilyn Arsem
- Ron Athey
- Amy Balkin
- Raul Baltazar
- Tosh Basco (Boychild)
- Dr. Myron M. Beasley
- Vanessa Beecroft
- Lynda Benglis
- Benjamin Bennett
- Nicole Blackman
- Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn
- Kevin Bonilla
- Brigit Brat
- Trisha Brown
- Nia Burks
- Nao Bustamante
- Jeffery Byrd
- Hector Canonge
- Marcela Casals
- Nick Cave
- Judy Chcago
- Ping Chong
- Houston Conwill
- Victor Dada
- Sonia Louise Davis
- Vaginal Davis
- T.J. Dedeaux-Norris
- Gary Deen
- Jimmy DeSana
- Allan DeSouza
- Dino Dinco
- Doorika
- John Duncan
- John S. Dykstra
- Alice Erickson
- Carmina Escobar
- Esparza
- Lehua Estrada
- Holly Fauot
- Brian Feldman
- Sherman Fleming
- Andrea Fraser
- Harry Gamboa Jr.
- María Gaspar
- Cheri Gaulke
- Óscar González-Díaz
- Gronk
- Alicia Grullón
- Guerilla Girls
- Joe Goode
- Miguel Gutierrez
- Anna Halprin
- David Hammons
- Keith Hennessy
- Esther Hernandez
- Sebastian Hernández
- Willie Herrón III
- Sha Sha Higby
- Jessica Fairfax Hirst
- Dahn Hiuni
- Xandra Ibarra
- Ken James
- Joan Jonas
- Pooh Kaye
- Mike Kelley
- Rosamond King
- Suzanne Kite
- Alison Knowles
- Dan Kwong
- Suzanne Lacy
- Simone Leigh
- Robert Legorreta (Cyclona)
- Kristina Lenzi
- Robert Longo
- Chip Lord
- Erica Lord
- Tsedaye Makonnen
- Deb Margolin
- Gordon Matta-Clark
- Jamie McMurry
- Tiamat Legion Medusa
- Jill Miller
- Tim Miller
- Linda Montano
- Frank Moore
- Carlos Motta
- Gabriela Muñoz
- Jayson Scott Musson
- Ray Navarro
- Senga Nengudi
- Nsumi
- Pat Oleszko
- Machine Dazzle
- Marisa Olson
- Dennis Oppenheim
- Laura Ortman
- Clifford Owens
- Susan Harbage Page
- Sarah H. Paulson
- Melina Peña
- Verónica Peña
- Adam Pendleton
- Adrian Piper
- Michael Portnoy
- Rammellzee
- Lourdes Ranero
- Charles Ray
- Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping
- Charlotte Richardson-Deppe
- Adriana Rondón RIvero
- Jorge Rojas
- Martha Rosler
- Sarah Ross
- Gabriela Ruiz
- Tamara Santibañez
- Bryan Lewis Saunders
- Sylvia Salazar Simpson
- Joey Skaggs
- Arleen Schloss
- Carolee Schneemann
- Barry Schwartz
- Farley Scott
- Aliza Shvarts
- Xaviera Simmons
- Smeza+Keegan
- Barbara T. Smith
- Jack Smith (pioneer)
- Michael Smith
- Annie Sprinkle
- Joe Stanco
- Sur Rodney
- Emma Sulkowicz
- Survival Research Laboratories
- TeAda
- Daniel Tisdale
- Julie Tolentino
- Christopher Torres Ticas
- Alessandra Torres
- Raegean Truax
- Annabel Turrado
- Hồng-An Trương
- Scott Tyler / Dread Scott
- Patssi Valdez
- Steve Vanoni
- Bill Viola
- John M. White
- Faith Wilding
- Hannah Wilke
- Anne Wilson
- Martha Wilson
- Robert Wilson
- David Michael Wojnarowicz
- Francesca Woodman
- Kristina Wong
- Wu Tsang
- Nathaniel Wyrick
- The World Famous Bushman
- Patssi Valdez
- Patssi ValdezWu Tsang
- JOSÉ VILLALOBOS
- René Yañez
- Yes Men
- Hennessy Youngman / Jayson Scott Musson
- Pamela Z
- Brian Zanisnik
- Literature and Links (Much more information here)
- America’s Most Influential Protest Art Was Quietly Removed. Here’s What Should Have Happened Instead
- Community Arts Network (US) – web resource for community-based arts, forums, elist
- My Modern Met: Performance Art and Artists
- Museum of Performance and Design
- Acción Latina
- Education, Activism, Performance Art: Sharing Metaphors for Cultural Work – pdf download
- Hernandez, Bernadine: The Next Stage: The Legacy of Latinx Performance Art in L.A. Lives On
- Loeffler, Carl E.: Performance anthology : source book for a decade of California performance art – 1989
- Out of Actions: between performance and the object, 1949-1979 Museum of Contemporary Art – Los Angeles 1998 exhibit. (Video recording)
- Performing Identity: The Politics and Pedagogy of Witnessing the Self (Doctoral Thesis) – pdf download
- Defibrillator Gallery – an international platform for Performance Art known for bold and courageous programming that aims to provoke thought and stimulate discourse regarding time-based artistic practices. Actively contributing to a global dialog surrounding conceptual, ephemeral, or enigmatic modes of expression, DFBRL8R aims to raise awareness, appreciation, and respect for the discipline of Performance Art.
- YBCA: Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art
