CALENDAR » EXHIBITIONS
1989: The End of History or The Beginning of the Future?
Video Art Exhibition - Comments on a Time Shift
November 6 – 24, 2009
Magda TOTHOVA, 'Lenin and the Maiden,' 2003, Video Animation, Color, Sound, 134 min, courtesy of the artist
Curated by Gerald Matt and Andreas Stadler
Presented by the Austrian Cultural Forum and the Kunsthalle Wien in cooperation with the Czech Center, the Hungarian Cultural Center and the Romanian Cultural Institute
Twenty years ago, who would have dared to hope that the dictatorial regimes of Central and Eastern European communism would be swept away one after the other in the wake of mass protests? Democratization and introduction of capitalist market economies were accompanied by heated conflicts about the direction of the future and the interpretation of the past. Austria also underwent a profound transformation. This selection of films was guided by asking how video artists in particular have reacted to these changes.
Marina ABRAMOVIC, Thomas DRASCHAN, Josef DABERNIG, Harun FAROCKI with Andrej UJICA, Anna JERMOLAEWA, Jonas MEKAS, Csaba NEMES, Jakub NEPRAS, Marcel ODENBACH, Marek PIWOWSKI, PUSHWAGNER, Joanna RAJKOWSKA, Isa ROSENBERGER, Miha STRUKELJ, Magda TOTHOVA
Austrian Cultural Forum New York
11 East 52nd Street, btw. Fifth and Madison Avenues, New York, NY 10022
212-319-5300
www.acfny.org
Dragan Živadinov, Dunja Zupančič,
and Miha Turšič
Postgravity Art: Syntapiens
Informance: November 10, 2009, Tuesday at 8:00pm
50 hours for the 50 Years Theatre Project: continuing thru November 12 with interventions on the hour
Gallery hours: 12:00-6:00pm
Photo courtesy Zavod Delak
Presented by Performa 09 and Zavod Delak
The 50-year theatre project Noordung 1995–2045 was initiated with the idea that post-gravitational art is the condition under which art will be produced in the future. Noordung has performances scheduled every decade, and for its last performance in 2045, it will use a spacecraft to convey satellites into orbit to transmit signals to Earth representing the roles played by the deceased actors, while simultaneously sending 3D projections of their faces into deep space. Starting with the Postgravity Art informance on November 10 and continuing with hourly on-site and digital interventions through November 12, cosmonaut candidate Dragan Živadinov, mechatronic visual artist Dunja Zupančič, and designer of zero-gravity environments Miha Turšič will introduce basic concepts of theatre in zero gravity, fight for abstract theatre, and artistic satellites.
Eyebeam Art + Technology Center
540 W. 21st Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues)
$10
Information: 212-937-6580
www.eyebeam.org
Revolutionary Voices: Performing Arts in Central & Eastern Europe in the 1980s
November 18, 2009 – March 20, 2010
Gallery Hours: Monday and Thursday 12:00-8:00pm; Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 11:00am-6:00pm; Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm
Detail of poster designed for November 1987 Orange Alternative happening, entitled "The Eve of the Great Revolution." Courtesy Orange Alternative Archives. Jacek Jankowski, artist.
Presented by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
This exhibition examines how performances attempted to break boundaries set by the Communist state’s politicians and censors, focusing on theater, music, and dance events that contested the prevailing totalitarian regime and anticipated the forthcoming political and social changes. As the revolutions in most Soviet bloc countries were not the result of a violent overthrow of power, art was one of the main arenas where “the revolutionary” started to happen. Curated by Karen Burke, Assistant Chief, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and Aniko Szucs, Ph.D. candidate in Performance Studies at New York University.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts gratefully acknowledges the leadership support of Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman. Additional support for exhibitions has been provided by Judy R. and Alfred A. Rosenberg and the Miriam and Harold Steinberg Foundation. Support for this exhibition has been provided by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, and the Polish Cultural Institute in New York. The Romanian presence in the exhibition has been conceived and supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York.
Materials in the exhibit are provided by the following European Organizations »
Vincent Astor Gallery, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, 111 Amsterdam Avenue (at 65th Street)
FREE
Information: 212-870-1630
http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/
Poland in the 1980s: Searching for Revolution in Dance
January-February 2010
Gallery Hours: Daily 9:00am-9:00pm
Polish Dance Theater in Ostatnia niedziela (The Last Sunday), Choreographed by Conrad Drzewiecki
Presented by Dance New Amsterdam
This multi-media exhibition features Polish dance documented through historical video, film, and photography. Curated by Dr. Jacek Łuminski, Founder/Executive Director of Silesian Dance Theatre, and Dr. Agnieszka Jelewska, professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, with advisors Roman Arndt (Poland) and George Jackson (U.S.).
Developed in conjunction with the 2009 Understanding Dance conference in Poland, and supported by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, American Express, Polish Cultural Institute in New York, and Silesian Dance Theatre.
Dance New Amsterdam
280 Broadway, 2nd Floor (enter on Chambers Street)
FREE
Information: 212-625-8369
www.dnadance.org
Performative Aspects in Art from
Eastern Europe
Works from Kontakt: The Art Collection of
Erste Bank Group
February 6 - March 7, 2010 (opening reception on February 5, 6-8pm)
Gallery Hours: Thursday-Sunday, 1:00-6:00pm
Rasa Todosijevic, Serbia “Was ist Kunst? (What is Art?)”, video, 1976
Presented by Erste Bank Group and La MaMa La Galleria
Curated by Walter Seidl
Artists: Ion Grigorescu, Sanja Iveković, Edward Krasiński, Natalia LL, Raša Todosijević
This exhibition focuses on the historically important decade of the 1970s in Eastern Europe, demonstrating how artists articulate performative gestures on a visual level, in opposition to the dominant, politically conservative and restrictive reality. The presented artistic statements create performative environments that reflect on given societal processes and their models of inclusion and exclusion. Curated by Walter Seidl, the Art Collection of Erste Bank Group.
LaMaMa La Galleria
6 East 1st Street (between 2nd Avenue and Bowery)
FREE
Information: 212-505-2476
www.lamama.org
Walter Steinacher
Yugostalgia
March 3-May 1, 2010 (opening reception on March 3)
Gallery Hours: Daily 12-7pm
Mama Tito #1
Presented by HERE Arts Center and WaxFactory in collaboration with Austrian Cultural Forum
This exhibition of paintings by Austrian artist Walter Steinacher captures the post-communist nostalgia Steinacher observed during his long-term residency in Slovenia. Most of the paintings on view are part of a series that humorously addresses the image of (Josip Broz) Tito, the Yugoslav president whose death in the mid-80s triggered the domino effect that led to the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the end of socialism in the Balkan region. Curated by Ivan Talijancic (WaxFactory).
HERE Arts Center
145 6th Avenue (between Spring and Broome, enter on Dominick)
FREE
Information: 212-352-3101
www.here.org
© The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, 2009