Graffito Works, a unique platform for dancers and performing artists to create site-specific work, launches its second season at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), 118-128 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 7:00pm with movement inspired by the exhibition Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis.
Literally translated as “little scribbles” of movement, Graffito Works offers a non-traditional approach to creating dance – spontaneous, improvisational and collaborative, with a focus on the juxtaposition of bodies moving in space and their inter-relationship with sounds, objects and place. Graffito Works offers audiences an opportunity to experience a transient moment of improvisational dance, which is specific to the place and context in which the movement is created.
The performance marks the new Wednesday evening hours with programming at PAFA, creating improvised movement in the galleries, according to Steven Weisz, the group’s founder, “that reflects Lewis’ commitment to duality of abstraction and representation, using both geometric and natural forms, in the depiction of both the city and natural world, and expressing both righteous anger and joyous celebration with regards to the social consciousness of a nation.”
DANCERS: Asimina Chremos, Lee Fogel, Meg Foley, Loren Groenendaal, Beau Hancock, JungWoong Kim, Megan Mazarick, Marion Ramirez, Jenny Sawyer, Zornitsa Stoyanova
LIVE MUSIC: Julius Masri
PROJECT COORDINATION: Asimina Chremos & Marion Ramirez
ARTISTIC DIRECTION: Steven Weisz
PROCESSION: THE ART OF NORMAN LEWIS
Through April 3, 2016
The first comprehensive museum overview of abstract painter Norman Lewis, the exhibition explores the artist’s use of multiple styles in his work spanning several decades of the 20th century. Lewis was a pivotal figure in American art, a participant in the Harlem art community, an innovative contributor to abstract expressionism, and a politically-conscious activist. www.pafa.org/normanlewis
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is America’s first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the 2005 National Medal of Arts, PAFA is a recognized leader in fine arts education with world-class permanent collection of American art. www.pafa.org
Graffito Works
March 9, 2016 at 7:00 PM
PAFA
Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building
128 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Performance inspired by Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis exhibition
Free with museum admission ($15 general admission; free for PAFA members)
www.pafa.org
