FIVE (The Drawing Center) is a multimedia performance that highlights the art of vogue, a dance form characterized by angular and linear body movements inspired by the stylized poses of high fashion models on the catwalk and in the pages of magazines. As Newsome’s work illuminates, it also evokes a number of qualities long associated with the medium of drawing: the latter’s emphasis on repeated gestures; its mapping of time and space. New York-based vogue dancers and musicians, including renowned opera singer, Stefanos Koroneos, and distinguished Vogue Commentator, Kevin Jz Prodigy, perform and are conducted by Newsome for this performance at The Drawing Center. For FIVE (The Drawing Center), Newsome uses cutting edge technology to challenge the ephemeral nature of live performance by transforming the dancers’ movements into unique line drawings. In addition to the March 6 evening performance, video documentation from FIVE (ARTHK), originally performed at the 2012 Hong Kong International Art Fair, is exhibited alongside five multi-colored, line drawings produced using motion-tracking software from that performance.
Produced by Joanna Kleinberg Romanow.
Rashaad Newsome: FIVE (The Drawing Center) is made possible through the generous support of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s Artistic Innovation and Collaboration Program, which supports risk-taking and innovative collaborations in the spirit of Robert Rauschenberg.
Special thanks to Galerie Henrik Springmann, Berlin.