More than 200 internationally recognized visual artists and photographers are participating in a major series of collaborative drawings known as the Armitage Gone! Dance Exquisite Corpse project. They will be brought together at the Gasser Grunert Gallery for three weeks only.
As with the 1920’s surrealist parlor game “cadavre exquise,” each drawing is constructed in a sequential combination by three or four artists; one for the head and shoulders, one or two for the torso, and one for the legs and feet. Composed on one sheet of paper that is passed from one artist to the next, the process celebrates the themes of chance encounters, surprise and radical juxtaposition. Artists were unaware of who was participating in each composition and could not view the image/word provided by previous artist. Works were created over the past year at a number of drawing parties or were shipped from one artist to the next.
Among the artists participating are: Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Donald Baechler, John Baldessari, Ross Bleckner, Louise Bourgeois, Cecily Brown, Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Chuck Close, Will Cotton, Eric Fischl, Robert Gober, Alex Katz, Karen Kilimnik, Jeff Koons, Richard Meier, Malcolm Morley, Tom Otterness, Tony Oursler, Chloe Piene, Enoc Perez, Richard Phillips, David Salle, Dana Schutz, Andres Serrano, Joel Shapiro, Rosemarie Trockel, William Wegman, Robert Wilson and Terry Winters. David Salle serves as curator and the project is managed by Tanja Grunert.
The works are a universal size of 16×30 inches.
The “performative” aspect of art-making is celebrated as the Exquisite Corpse demonstrates how drawing and dance share an unpredictable nature and spontaneity. Proceeds will benefit Armitage Gone! Dance, an internationally acclaimed contemporary dance company under the direction of renowned choreographer Karole Armitage. For three decades as a choreographer and director, Armitage has actively pushed the boundaries of classicism to create a contemporary idiom blending new dance, music and art. Her dances are full of wit, humor and sophistication and possess a fierce and sensuous beauty. Like some of the best contemporary art, Armitage’s concept of beauty involves making connections between unlikely things. Karole Armitage has deep roots in the artistic community and has been dedicated to fusing dance with the visual arts. Her collaborations with artists such as Jeff Koons, Brice Marden, David Salle, Philip Taaffe, Vera Lutter and many others began early in her career an d continue actively to this day. The Exquisite Corpse project is a way for a wide range of artists to express their support for Armitage’s work and also a way for her to acknowledge artists who have played a large role in her career.
