Xavier Cha, 27, Performance Artist
If performance art is having a resurgence—Performa 07, the second edition of the group spectacular, kicks off October 27—then Cha is an especially exciting soldier to the cause. Having made her mark on the West Coast (mostly by dressing up as human advertisements), she pulled out the stops for her New York solo debut at Taxter & Spengemann, inviting all kinds of performers (opera singers, jazz musicians, and strippers showed up, naturally) to join her in an over-the-top happening, embraced by gallerygoers and critics alike for its oddball update of sixties-era in-gallery high jinks.