performance art

American  

noun

1. a collaborative art form originating in the 1970s as a fusion of several artistic media, as painting, film, video, music, drama, and dance, and deriving in part from the 1960s performance happenings.

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performance art British  

noun

1. a theatrical presentation that incorporates various art forms, such as dance, sculpture, music, etc

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Other Word Forms

• performance artist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of performance art

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

performance art

Even “Straight White Men,” which uses the old home-for-the-holidays genre as a springboard, can’t help spinning away from the drama’s droll hyper-naturalism toward something resembling performance art.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Trump is now in the stage of his performance art where he is like a comedian doing crowd work at a small club to test out new material.

From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026

Rhodes, 63, founded Sun Space in 2017 as a performance art venue for wayward artists who don’t properly fit the rigid mold of the Los Angeles club and bar circuit.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

Further events will take place later in the month and throughout the summer to celebrate Eric - including a family special educational needs session, a musical tribute and performance art project.

From BBC ● May 14, 2026

“Yeah, then we’re entering postfood, performance art territory. Which is not pathetic. I appreciate the thought, but please, follow my lead tonight.”

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner