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| Exquisite Corpse #25 Daniel Blochwitz Will Cotton Michael Bevilacqua |
Leading Artists Recreate Surrealist Parlor Game
To Benefit Armitage Gone Dance
More than 200 internationally recognized artists are participating in a major series of collaborative drawings known as the Armitage Gone Dance Exquisite Corpse Project. They will be brought together at Gasser Grunert 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 or work 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. The works are a universal size of 30 x 16 inches.
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 “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. 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.
