Exhibitions, Summer/Fall 2011

The Dancer and the Dance
Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
July 29 - December 23

		Barbara Morgan. American, 1900-1992 Martha Graham: Letter to the World (Swirl), 1940 Gelatin silver print, reprinted 1980, 16 x 20 in, 40.64 x 50.8 cm (sheet) Gift of L. Bradley Camp, 1984.25.200.6 © Barbara Morgan Archives, courtesy of Bruce Silverstein Gallery, NY

Curated by Stephen Margulies, Volunteer Curator

In honor of the residency of renowned choreographer Bill T. Jones, The Dancer and the Dance: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs presents images of dance drawn from UVaM's permanent collection and a private collection. Through the work of artists spanning many centuries to the present, the exhibition explores themes of motion, materiality, and temporality. Photography, for example, captures the most ephemeral and detailed of dance gestures. Great art allows us to understand these subtleties, whether in classical dance or in the visual records of photographers, printmakers, and draftsmen.

The revelatory artists in this exhibition, including Giovanni Podesta, Jan Sadeler I, Paul Gavarni, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Käthe Kollwitz, Man Ray, Reginald Marsh, Barbara Morgan, Garry Winogrand, Honoré Sharrer, Red Grooms, Ed Roseberry, and Dove Bradshaw, explore these themes, highlighting dance’s ability to turn the human body into a work of art.

The title of the exhibition comes from the last line of the poem "Among School Children" by William Butler Yeats: "O body swayed to music, O brightening glance / How can we know the dancer from the dance?" The Dancer and the Dance tries to capture that conundrum.

The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Albemarle Magazine, Arts$, The Hook, and Ivy Publications LLC's Charlottesville Welcome Book.

Download exhibition labels copy (pdf) >

Final Friday Receptions
August 26
5:30-7:30 pm
In the Museum

September 30
5:30-7:30 pm
In the Museum

Featuring two dance performances on UVaM's terrace inspired by the special exhibition The Dancer and the Dance.

U.Va. students in the Dance Minor Program will perform two special site-specific pieces choreographed by U.Va. faculty members Kim Brooks Mata, Interim Head and Artistic Director of Dance, and Susan Barnard, Adjunct Faculty in Dance. Performances will be held at 6 pm and repeated at 6:30 pm. Percussionist Matt Wyatt will provide musical accompaniment.

October 28
5:30-7:30 pm
In the Museum

Lunchtime Talk
by Stephen Margulies
Tuesday, September 13
12-1 pm
In the Museum

Family Art JAM
Capturing the Gesture of the Dance
Saturday, October 15 & Sunday, October 16
1-3 pm & 3-5 pm
RSVP 434.243.2050

Saturday Special Tour
by Stephen Margulies
November 26
2-3 pm
In the Museum