Dancing in a Lincoln Center ballet performance at age eleven left an indelible impression on Lorna Simpson. Momentum, Simpson's current show at Salon 94 Bowery features large-scale serigraphs printed on felt inspired by the artist's ballerina past. Recreating imagery from postcards from the 1960's in gold ink, Simpson's works show interior and exterior scenes of Avery Fisher Hall and The Metropolitan Opera House. Inspired by her memories of performing on stage, Simpson's nostalgic works depicting water fountains, chandeliers, empty theater seats, and the iconic buildings illuminated at night, look majestic and haunting.
Playing on a small flat-screen t.v. inside the gallery as well as on a large screen in the street-level window facing the Bowery is Simpson's new video, Momentum. Just under seven minutes, the video features a cast of dancers painted in gold body paint from afro wig to pointe shoes, alternating between twirling and pirouetting energetically to just standing around in long moments of repose. According to the show's press release, "the video's narrative structure... fragmented by moments of inactivity" mirror the artist's "memory of the event." By filming the golden dancers, Simpson "illuminat[es] the tenuous relationship between memory and event, performance and spectatorship." Learn more at salon94.com. Closes June 18th.
Curtain, 2011
Chandelier, 2011
Night Time, 2011
Momentum, 2011
Momentum, 2011
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