Saturday, December 7, 2013

Glorious Notorious, A Chronicle of Dance Artists

Cristina Moura (2007)
Peggy Jarrell Kaplan's exhibition at Ronald Feldman Gallery in Soho, Glorious Notorious (through Dec 21) chronicles the choreographers and performers who have defined our near-past and current cultural lives. Rather than focus on the body in motion, instead the 50 photographic portraits peer into the artists' psychological states as seen through their piercing gazes, or playfully posed with a prop or in a gesture or movement. A densely packed corner installation features artists shot in South Africa earlier this year. Several videos play, including of Trajal Harrell and Daniel Linehan, bright stars in the current dance galaxy.



Jodi Melnick (2011)
Kaplan is known for her portraits of icons such as Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris, and Trisha Brown. She has also photographed many visual artists. She works in richly toned black & white, and almost always in a formal studio setting, lending the photos a timelessness. She has compiled, and continues to archive, an unmatched catalogue of dance artists for the ages.

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