'A PORTFOLIO FOR MERCE CUNNINGHAM' AT NEUBERGER MUSEUM OF ART

Friday, 11 January 2008 02:27

Purchase, NY - Merce Cunningham is one of the most important and influential choreographers of the past century who, in 1953, formed his own ensemble that continues to perform and tour to this day. Collaborative Compositions: A Portfolio for Merce Cunningham  is on view January 27 -  March 16, 2008, at the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College.
 
From the mid-1960s into the 1970s, Cunningham collaborated with some of the best-known artists of our time: John Cage, Jasper Johns, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol. In 1974, these seven artists were invited to produce prints for a portfolio, the first in a series of fundraisers for the Cunningham Dance Foundation.
 
This exhibition presents prints from the portfolio alongside footage of several of the collaborations. These recorded performances, filmed between the early 1960s and 1980, allow viewers to witness Cunningham’s groundbreaking choreography combined with innovative musical scores, costumes, and set designs.
 
Collaborative Compositions: A Portfolio for Merce Cunningham documents the rich history of these collaborations that synthesized and expanded the possibilities for choreographers, composers, and visual artists.
 
Curated by Margaret Winslow, Purchase College graduate student and Tracy Fitzpatrick, Neuberger Curator and Purchase College Assistant Professor of Art History.
 
Initiated in 1974 with Roy R. Neuberger's donation of 108 works of art, the permanent collection of the Neuberger Museum of Art has grown to over 6000 works of uncompromised quality and variety. Featuring prestigious examples of modern, contemporary and African art, holdings include the Roy R. Neuberger Collection of American Art, the Aimee W. Hirshberg and Lawrence Gussman Collections of African Art, the Hans Richter bequest of Dada and Surrealist objects, the George and Edith Rickey Collection of Constructivist art, and American, Mexican and European master works from the collection of the late Dina and Alexander Racolin. Visit : www.neuberger.org/