VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston presents the exhibition Dance with Camera.  Opening reception: Friday, August 6, 7-10pm. Artists/Scholars Talk: Saturday, August 7, 2pm. On view August 7-October 17, 2010.

Dance with Camera is an exhibition that considers artists and dancers who make choreography for the camera. The exhibition features art works in film, video, and still photography that exemplify the ways dance has compelled visual artists to record bodies moving in time and space. Featuring 26 artists and filmmakers, Dance with Camera has been organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, and is curated by Jenelle Porter, ICA Curator.

The art works in Dance with Camera showcase the lens as not merely a recording device, but stage and audience simultaneously. The camera creates a unique space for dance. In some instances, choreography is created for the specific space of the camera; in others it is created in editing. The camera, unlike the stage, allows close-ups that bring us near the performer. Editing is used to compress time and create structure, and even to transform relatively static performers into dancers. Still photography freezes time while also expanding the notion of dance as time-based. Dance itself is a mode to explore broader themes of narrative, structure, metaphor, and abstraction. As part of the exhibition, numerous live performances have been scheduled, including one by Deborah Hay which is co-presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.

Dance with Camera begins in the 1960s with seminal works by Bruce Conner and Bruce Nauman. Conner's prototypical BREAKAWAY (1966) prefigured music videos, and threads through the recent work of robbinschilds. Early video artists of the 1970s took up dance as a subject, seen in work such as Eleanor Antin's narrative ballet-themed works, and Charles Atlas' first works with Merce Cunningham. The camera's role as documentarian characterizes contemporary works by Mike Kelley, Kelly Nipper, Tacita Dean, and Elad Lassry, among others. Works by Oliver Herring and Flora Wiegmann use dynamic camera views and kinetic editing to make vibrant videos of dancers, and nondancers. The drama intrinsic to stylized, physical movement is captured by Luis Jacob, Joachim Koester, and Uri Tzaig.

In the gallery:
Eleanor Antin, Charles Atlas and Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, Ann Carlson and Mary Ellen Strom, Shirley Clarke, Bruce Conner, Tacita Dean, Ed Emschweiler, Hilary Harris, Oliver Herring, Luis Jacob, Mike Kelley, Joachim Koester, Elad Lassry, Bruce Nauman, Kelly Nipper, Yvonne Rainer, robbinschilds + A.L. Steiner, Uri Tzaig, Flora Wiegmann, and Christopher Williams.

At Rice Media Center:
Sharon Lockhart (See Public Programs listing, below, for date and time.)

PUBLICATION
Dance with Camera is accompanied by a 176-page, fully illustrated catalogue published by the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS
All events are free and open to the public, and take place at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston unless otherwise noted. For complete listings and current information, please check www.camh.org.

Opening Reception: Dance with Camera
Friday, August 6, 7-10pm
This dynamic group exhibition and screening program explores a crossover between artists and dancers who make choreography for the cameras. Reception with cash bar.

Artists/Scholars Talk: Jenelle Porter
Saturday, August 7, 2pm
Discover more about this show with Jenelle Porter, Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, and curator of the exhibition.

Dance Performance: FLIP/SWITCH/REEL
Thursday, August 19, 6:30pm
Watch the original comedic skit by Flip Wilson, Tim Conway, and Richard Pryor morph into dance, social commentary, and circus. Conceived, arranged, and costumed by Earthen Vessels Founding Artistic Director Sandra Organ Solis.

Dance Performance: Richard Hubscher
Thursday, September 2, 6:30pm
Richard Hubscher, a choreographer and former Houston Ballet dancer, presents a work inspired by the exhibition.

Dance Performance: Points and Coordinates
Thursday, September 16, 6:30pm
Houston choreographer and dance filmmaker Lydia Hance and Rosie Trump, Artistic Director of Rosie Trump | With or Without Dance and Assistant Director of Rice University dance program and Artistic Director of Rice University Dance Theater, present the evening's performance.

Dance Film Festival
Friday, September 17, 7pm*
*Special location: Rice Media Center, Rice University, located at the corner of University Blvd and Stockton, entrance #8
A series of short films by contemporary choreographers and filmmakers, curated by Rosie Trump. For details, visit http://recreation.rice.edu/dance.

Dance Film Festival
Saturday, September 18, 7pm*
*Special location: Rice Media Center, Rice University, located at the corner of University Blvd and Stockton, entrance #8
A screening of Sharon Lockhart's Goshogaoka (1998, 63 minutes)

Loft Concert: Musiqa
Thursday, September 23, 6:30pm
Musiqa, a contemporary music group that takes a fresh look at the concert experience, presents a selection of compositions inspired by Dance with Camera.

Museum District Day
Saturday, September 25, 10am-5pm
Enjoy a free day in the Houston Museum District. Board a free shuttle bus at any of the 17 participating museums and spend the day exploring favorite museums and discovering new destinations. For more information, go to www.houstonmuseumdistrict.org.
  
Dance Performance: Works in Progress
Wednesday, September 29, noon
Pack a lunch and watch an informal performance by Rice Dance Theatre in CAMH's Brown Foundation Gallery.

Performance/Lecture: Deborah Hay
Saturday, October 2, 2pm
Innovative choreographer and artist Deborah Hay will present "Lecture on the Performance of Beauty," a performance/lecture framed around the question: "Can a formal and stimulating adherence to a prescribed set of hypothetical conditions be seen as choreography even if there is no learned movement?"

Co-presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.

Film Screening: Hail the New Puritan
Thursday, October 7, 6:30pm
Join us for a screening of Hail the New Puritan (1987, 84 minutes), directed by Charles Atlas, starring British dance celebrity Michael Clark and punk drag legend Leigh Bowery.

Family Day
Sunday, October 10, 1-4pm
Join us for family tours, dancing, and hands-on art activities. Art supplies are provided free of charge.

Dance Performance: Navigating the Hallway
Thursday, October 14, 6:30pm
An evening of collaborative dance by Houston dancer/choreographers Teresa Chapman, Leslie Scates, and Becky Valls, with Kathleen Dyer of KDNY (New York), and Several Dancers Core (Atlanta/Houston).

EXHIBITION SUPPORT
Dance with Camera is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania. The exhibition is curated by Jenelle Porter, ICA Curator. ICA is grateful for primary funding from an Anonymous donor. We acknowledge additional support from Jody and John Arnhold & Babette and Harvey Snyder, and The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through Dance Advance. Further funding has been provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; The Dietrich Foundation, Inc.; the Overseers Board for the Institute of Contemporary Art; friends and members of ICA; and the University of Pennsylvania.

Dance with Camera and its related programs are sponsored in part by Sara and Bill Morgan. The exhibitions in the Brown Foundation Gallery have been made possible by the patrons, benefactors and donors to the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston's Major Exhibition Fund: Major Patron-Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, Fayez Sarofim, Michael Zilkha; Patrons-Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Ballard, Louise D. Jamail, Mr. and Mrs. I. H. Kempner III, Ms. Louisa Stude Sarofim, Leigh and Reggie Smith; Benefactors-City Kitchen Catering, George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation, Jackson Hicks / Jackson and Company, Marley Lott, Beverly and Howard Robinson, Andrew Schirrmeister, Susan Vaughan Foundation, Inc., Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Wilson; Donors-Baker Botts, L.L.P, Bergner and Johnson Design, The Brown Foundation, Inc., Susie and Sanford Criner, Elizabeth Howard Crowell, Marita and J.B. Fairbanks, Jo and Jim Furr, Barbara and Michael Gamson, Mr. and Mrs. William Goldberg / Bernstein Global Wealth Management, King & Spalding L.L.P., KPMG, LLP, Judy and Scott Nyquist, David I. Saperstein, Scurlock Foundation, Karen and Harry Susman, and Martha Claire Tompkins.

EDUCATION SUPPORT
The Museum receives support for its education programs from: Anonymous, Baker Botts L.L.P., Baker Hughes Foundation, Ruth Dreessen, Louise D. Jamail, Mr. and Mrs. I.H. Kempner III, Kinder Morgan Foundation, M.D. Anderson Foundation, Marian and Speros Martel Foundation Endowment, and 20K Group, LLC.

Teen Council is supported by Ms. Louisa Stude Sarofim, Baker Hughes Foundation, and Baker Botts L.L.P.

GENERAL SUPPORT
The Museum's operations and programs are made possible through the generosity of the Museum's trustees, patrons, members and donors. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston receives partial operating support from the Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through the Houston Museum District Association, National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and The Wortham Foundation, Inc.

Continental Airlines is the official airline of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

CAMH MISSION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is an idea and a place shaped by the present moment. The Museum exemplifies the dynamic relationship between contemporary art and contemporary society through its exhibitions, public and educational programs, and publications. The CAMH provides the physical and intellectual framework essential to the presentation, interpretation, and advancement of contemporary art; it is a vibrant forum for artists and all audiences, and for critical, scholarly, and public discourse.

ALWAYS FRESH, ALWAYS FREE

GENERAL INFORMATION
The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is located at 5216 Montrose Boulevard, at the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet, in the heart of Houston's Museum District. PLEASE NOTE CAMH'S NEW HOURS: Wednesday 11am-7pm, Thursday 11am-9pm, Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am-6pm. Admission is always free. For more information, visit www.camh.org or call (713) 284-8250.

Pictured:  Sharon Lockhart, detail Goshogaoka, 1998. 16mm film, sound, 63 minutes. Courtesy of Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. (full image, below).