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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20121004
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20130324
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DESCRIPTION:Focusing on the extraordinary costumes that Comme des Garçons
  founder Rei Kawakubo created for Merce Cunningham’s 1997 dance Scenario
 \, this exhibition explores the collaboration between the Japanese fashion
  designer and the legendary choreographer. The show is the third in a seri
 es showcasing the Walker’s Merce Cunningham Dance Company Collection—t
 he single largest acquisition of visual art in the Walker’s history. \n\
 nCurator: Betsy Carpenter    \n\nDance Works III: Merce Cunningham / Rei K
 awakubo\nRei Kawakubo first started designing under the name Comme des Gar
 çons in 1969\, and formally founded her Tokyo- and Paris-based fashion la
 bel in 1973. Known worldwide as an avant-garde designer whose aesthetic is
  constantly evolving\, she shared similar creative philosophies with Merce
  Cunningham\, including interests in engaging multiple artistic discipline
 s and aggressively pushing the boundaries of the unknown.  \n\nAlthough pa
 rtnerships with other artists were integral to Cunningham’s artistic vis
 ion\, his invitation to Kawakubo was the first he’d made to a designer o
 f haute couture. As with all of his colleagues\, he embraced chance\, givi
 ng Kawakubo free reign to create the costumes and stage design for his dan
 ce Scenario (1997). She had initially declined but changed her mind while 
 creating her notorious spring/summer 1997 Body Meets Dress\, Dress Meets B
 ody collection\, which insiders later dubbed the “lumps and bumps” sho
 w.  \n\nKawakubo has spoken of the impetus for that body of work: “Fashi
 on was very boring\, and I was very angry. I wanted to do something extrem
 ely strong. It was a reaction. The feeling was to design the body.” Like
  the runway pieces\, the costumes she subsequently made for Scenario also 
 featured down padding that formed irregular bulges on the dancers’ hips\
 , shoulders\, chests\, and backs. The garments altered the performers’ p
 roportions and sense of their own bodies as well as their balance and spat
 ial relations to each other\, radically affecting movement itself.  \n\nAl
 so responsible for Scenario’s stage and lighting concepts\, Kawakubo\, w
 ith designers Takao Kawasaki and Masao Nihei\, created a stark white\, flu
 orescent-lit setting. “I was interested in the defiance and fusion of th
 e dancers within a limited and fixed white frame\,” Kawakubo explained. 
 “I didn’t want a ‘stage’ feeling\, but more like a room\, which th
 e audience would feel they shared with the dancers.”  \n\nDance Works II
 I presents a selection of Kawakubo’s costume pieces from the Walker’s 
 Merce Cunningham Dance Company Collection in a gallery designed to evoke S
 cenario’s original setting\, along with the extraordinary electronic sco
 re for the piece\, Wave Code A–Z\, by Cunningham company musical directo
 r Takehisa Kosugi. Also included are rehearsal and performance photographs
  by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders\, video interviews with company dancers\, d
 ocumentary photographs and ephemera\, and runway footage from the collecti
 on.  \n\nThis show is the third in a series of research exhibitions drawn 
 from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company Collection. (Other shows focused o
 n Cunningham’s collaborations with Robert Rauschenberg and Ernesto Neto.
 ) Although Kawakubo’s Scenario costumes have been exhibited on multiple 
 occasions\, including the Walker's 1998 exhibition Art Performs Life\, typ
 ically they have been presented in the context of her other fashion design
 s. With the recent acquisition of the Cunningham Archive\, primary documen
 ts and opportunities for research will undoubtedly contribute to a deeper 
 understanding of this unprecedented partnership that not only yielded extr
 aordinary costumes\, but also reimagined their relationship to the stage s
 pace.  \n\n\n—Curator Betsy Carpenter\, visual arts\n\n
LOCATION:Medtronic Gallery\n
SUMMARY:Dance Works III: Merce Cunningham / Rei Kawakubo
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
URL:http://www.walkerart.org/calendar/2012/dance-works-iii-merce-cunningha
 m-rei-kawakubo
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