performance art

noun

: a nontraditional art form often with political or topical themes that typically features a live presentation to an audience or onlookers (as on a street) and draws on such arts as acting, poetry, music, dance, or painting

performance artist noun

Examples of performance art in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tierra Whack’s hair is its own performance art—playful, unpredictable, and wildly creative. —Essence, 27 June 2025

Approximately 2,500 people experienced visual and performance art on Saturday at this year’s Arts Festival and Wine Tasting in downtown Grayslake. —Karie Angell Luc, Chicago Tribune, 9 June 2025

Wilson describes the job posting as performance art – a provocative social experiment examining what happens when the machine becomes the owner over its maker. —Aubrie Pagano, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025

And, for decades, its fine arts program has been viewed as a West Coast hub for everything from performance art, in the early 1970s, to digital art in the early 2000s. —Andre Mouchard, Oc Register, 11 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for performance art

• apart
• depart
• flowchart
• forepart
• impart
• pushcart
• rampart
• redstart
• restart
• subpart
• sweetheart
• upstart