Christopher Williams News

On Site Opera, which has garnered acclaim for immersive, site-specific productions, will perform Rameau's one-act Pygmalion in two unusual—and unusually apt—venues this summer, just before the 250th anniversary of the composer's death: Madame Tussauds New York, on June 17, and Lifestyle-Trimco Showroom, on June 20 & 21.

Choreographers Camille A. Brown, Gabrielle Lamb, and Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener, who will be working together, have been awarded New York City Center's 2014 Choreography Fellowships. The Fellowship supports choreographers at critical stages in their careers and reflects City Center's long history of nurturing dance makers, from George Balanchine to Christopher Wheeldon.

Musica Sacra, the longest continuously-performing professional chorus in New York City, will present a performance in honor of Women's History Month featuring works by acclaimed composers Meredith Monk and Jocelyn Hagen at New York's Alice Tully Hall on Monday, March 31, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.

The Museum of Modern Art announces Christopher Williams: The Production Line of Happiness, the first retrospective devoted to Christopher Williams (American, b. 1956), spanning the 35-year career of one of the most influential cinephilic artists working in photography. Organized by MoMA in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago, the exhibition brings together about 100 works that engage the conventions of photojournalism, picture archives, and commercial imagery, presented within their sociopolitical contexts. Williams has pursued an artistic direction that examines the theoretical and political history of photography within the larger context of image production. On view from August 2 through November 2, 2014, in the International Council of The Museum of Modern Art Exhibition Gallery, Christopher Williams: The Production Line of Happiness is organized at MoMA by Roxana Marcoci, Senior Curator, with Lucy Gallun, Assistant Curator, Department of Photography. The exhibition is on view at the AIC through May 18; after its presentation at MoMA, the exhibition travels to Whitechapel Gallery, London.

Traditionally regarded as an abstract minimalist, 71 year old choreographer Douglas Dunn treads into unexpected territory with the world premiere of “Aubade,” at the Alexander Kasser Theater, today, January 24-February 1. The dance was commissioned by Peak Performances.

Traditionally regarded as an abstract minimalist, 71 year old choreographer Douglas Dunn treads into unexpected territory with the world premiere of “Aubade,” at the Alexander Kasser Theater, January 24-February 1. The dance was commissioned by Peak Performances.

The Art Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with The Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA), has organized the first retrospective ever mounted of Christopher Williams—one of the most influential artists working in photography today. The Production Line of Happiness—which premieres at the Art Institute of Chicago on January 25 and runs through May 18, 2014—charts Williams's 35-year career in a multipart installation, fronted by hundreds of feet of brightly colored vinyl, that spans three sets of galleries across the museum: the Allerton Building Photography Galleries (lower level, 1–4); the Bucksbaum Galleries for Photography in the Modern Wing (ground floor, G188–189); and the Architecture and Design Galleries in the Modern Wing (second floor, G283–285). This exhibition marks a homecoming for Williams, who had his first-ever museum showing in 1982 at the Art Institute. Following its premiere in Chicago, Christopher Williams: The Production Line of Happiness will travel to MoMA (August 2–November 2, 2014), and the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (April–June 2015).

David Zwirner will present a range of gallery artists at this year's Frieze Art Fair (Booth C12).

Gershwin, Bernstein, and Ravel...what a concert

Under the title ART, TWO POINTS. Barcelona lives contemporary art, the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) and the Obra Social 'la Caixa' (“la Caixa” Welfare Projects) present the first exhibition jointly organised and displayed at the same time in both headquarters. For the first time in Barcelona, the high quality of one of the most important collections of contemporary art in the South of Europe, bringing together more than 6,000 works, is presented. The merging of these collections has made it possible to create a new account that questions our recent past and places us in a better position to understand contemporariness. Art, dos punts is a broad selection of the collections of both institutions that explores the concept of modernity and its relationship with the avant-garde within the context of our history. The exhibition links MACBA's galleries, where the different episodes of the modern era in Barcelona are revisited from the point of view of contemporary art, with those of CaixaForum, where the interests of the post-modern generation are echoed. In a new global context, the visitor experiences the fragility and disenchantment resulting from the loss of the utopias that fought for freedom, as it appears in the art works of the 1980s and 1990s. Art, dos punts gathers 400 works by 125 artists such as Ignasi Aballí, John Bock, Joseph Beuys, Joan Brossa, Eduardo Chillida, Christo, Tony Cragg, Pep Duran, Öyvind Fahlström, Lucio Fontana, Richard Hamilton, Joan Hernández Pijuan, Jenny Holzer, Mike Kelley, Paul Klee, Jannis Kounellis, Muntadas, Juan Muñoz, Gerhard Richter, Martha Rosler, Dieter Roth and Jeff Wall, among others.

The New York Dance and Performance Awards (The Bessies), NYC's premier dance awards honoring outstanding creative work in the field, announced today the 40 nominees for the 2012-13 season. Announced at a press conference by members of The Bessies Selection Committee, the nominations (listed below) were made by an independent committee of 38 dance industry professionals. Produced in partnership with Dance/NYC, Bessie Award categories include Outstanding Production, Outstanding Performer, Outstanding Visual Design, Outstanding Composition or Sound Design and Outstanding Revived Work.

Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) and HERE have announced programming for the second annual PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now festival, running January 8-18, 2014.

Featured will be new, previously unexhibited works by gallery artists, including drawings by Adel Abdessemed, paintings and works on paper by Francis Alÿs, a shelf sculpture by Carol Bove, watercolors by Suzan Frecon, paintings by Yayoi Kusama, a leather painting by Chris Ofili, a large scale photogram by Thomas Ruff, and paintings and pastel works by Lisa Yuskavage.

Featured will be new, previously unexhibited works by gallery artists, including drawings by Adel Abdessemed, paintings and works on paper by Francis Alÿs, a shelf sculpture by Carol Bove, watercolors by Suzan Frecon, paintings by Yayoi Kusama, a leather painting by Chris Ofili, a large scale photogram by Thomas Ruff, and paintings and pastel works by Lisa Yuskavage.

The final Friday's at noon performance at the 92Y featured a presentation of works by Douglas Dunn, Jordan Isadore and Christopher Williams. Although each choreographer's work was unique and distinct, a common thread emerged amongst the three in their concept and creation.

The 55th Venice Biennale is underway! Curated by Massimiliano Gioni, the exhibition at Arsenale includes works by Robert Crumb, The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, and Christopher Williams, Angola to Vietnam* (on view through November 24).

New York Live Arts continues the 2012 - 2013 Studio Series work-in-process showings in May with Tara O'Con's Frame, Burr Johnson's untitled work and Lance Gries' Immanent Field.

New York Live Arts continues the 2012 - 2013 Studio Series work-in-process showings in May with Tara O'Con's Frame, Burr Johnson's untitled work and Lance Gries' Immanent Field.

Up and coming female artist Aja will open for Christopher Williams at B.B. King located at 237 West 42nd Street in NYC, Thursday, April 11th at 8PM. Recently signed to Christopher Williams' (CEO) Independent Record Label, HezLIght Music Entertainment, Aja brings a unique style to her artfully written lyrics and powerful songs. Combining her gift of storytelling with hip hop beats, rock guitars, and sprinklings of jazz undertones, Aja's sound will leave you wanting more.

Carolina Performing Arts at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) presents The Rite of Spring at 100 (Rite 100), an unprecedented nine-month festival which began in September 2012 and continues through May 2013. Spring season performances include three world premieres commissioned for Rite 100 including new works from Vijay Iyer, Basil Twist and Nacho Duato; a U.S. premiere from Nederlands Dans Theater 1; and a rare chance to see Martha Graham's groundbreaking version of The Rite of Spring.