Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Wednesday's Who We Are Into!

by: Grace Courvoisier

A list of artists we feel are making waves. Some are old, and some are new, but performers, visual artists, musical, or not - these young ladies and gentlemen are turning our heads, and making us think:

NATHALIE DJURBERG (claymation short films and sculpture):
http://youtu.be/gNgKCqQS9HM

After seeing her show a year and a half ago at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, I was completely blown away by her amazing way to saturate uncommon, desperate, and morbid material with vibrancy, saturation, and color. The New York Times describes her work as, "... girls or young women engaged in various kinds of vileness: from mild deception, friendly torture and oddly benign bestiality to murder and mayhem."

JASON COLLINS (dancer/choreographer):
http://www.hewmancollective.com/see/

Peridance Contemporary Dance Company member, Jason Collins, along with co-founders James Lindsay Harwell, and Ingrid Kapteyn, have created a new company called Hewman. Jason, a myriad of talents spread throughout his expressive body, has developed a new company bringing awareness and also recognition to the human anatomy which is the instrument by which we live in. Hewman is developing their new repertory all around NYC and beyond, so make sure and check out this new and upcoming initiative!


BRENDAN DUGGAN/MALLORY LYNN (Loud Hound Movement):
http://www.loudhoundmovement.com

With a full evening length work at Gowanus Art + Production under their belt, these two extraordinary movers and choreographers are flying high and fast! Who doesn't want a brilliant piece of their repertory; including installation, and multimedia works. They're focus on the individuality of their dancers, and the expressive nature of their collaborations puts Loud Hound at the top of contemporary dance these days.


WES ANDERSON (film director):
http://vimeo.com/89302848

This fabulous director, who recently released his most successful film yet The Grand Budapest Hotel, has been creating quirky moments on film since the 90's. With finely honed dialogue and an impeccable framing of actors and actresses, Anderson's films speak to the inner child of every adult. A huge fan, and an ever growing fascination with the man behind the camera, I highly suggest any of his films from Royal Tenenbaums to Moonrise Kingdom.


ALEXANDER EKMAN (choreograher/dancer/film maker):
http://alexekman.com

I'm not sure what it is about Alexander's work that I adore so much; perhaps it's the amount of play and juvenile air he manages to squeeze into an evening length of work with serious professionals, but something about it all makes you believe in the absurd again. While I never tend to gravitate towards work that's necessarily "about" something, I must say that Ekman's crystal clear vision on a specific subject is refreshingly executed.