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Mikhail Baryshnikov: Dance this Way, Venezia - Cortina d'Ampezzo

Past exhibition
27 May 2013 - 21 April 2014
  • Overview
  • Selected Works
  • Publications
Overview
Mikhail Baryshnikov, Dance this Way, Venezia - Cortina d'Ampezzo
The blurred outline of the dancer, assimilated to the general dim effect, registers as a metaphor of motion. 
“For two decades I used a conventional 35mm camera, and practiced traditional landscapes, portraits and travel shots in primarily black and white. I made a point of rejecting obvious opportunities to photograph dance, thinking the results were boring and unnecessary. Then, going through some old books of dance photography—notably Alexey Brodovitch’s Ballet, and Paul Himmel’s 1954 Ballet in Action—I discovered that abandoning the crystalline image in favor of blurred edges and amorphous figures approximates the excitement of dance in performances. Ilse Bing’s mesmerizing images of CanCan dancers at the Moulin Rouge, as well as her photos of Balanchine’s Errante, and perhaps most importantly, the recent images of Alexandra Beller in Dancer by Irving Penn were further evidence that the thrill of movement can be captured without being destroyed. Edwin Denby describes this process eloquently in the text accompanying Brodovitch’s photographs. ‘…The blurred outline of the dancer, assimilated to the general dim effect, registers as a metaphor of motion. Sometimes the misty shape that joins successive points through which the dancer’s body has passed astonishes you by the clarity of its graphic design, and it illustrates the plastic continuity of dancing. Here and there the contrast on a picture between blurred and clear outlines draws your eye to the position of a still figure that on stage might have passed unnoticed in the hubbub, but that in the photograph reveals its momentary pathos.’
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Selected Works
  • Baryshnikov Untitled 2 2010 Archival Pigment Print Ed 1 Of 3 Cm 115 5 X 140 9 X 5 08 Cm 111 76X137 16
  • Baryshnikov Untitled 34 Mark Morris Dance Group In Gran Duo By Marc Morrir 2012 Print On Canson Ed 1 Of 3 Cm 194 X 115 5 X 5 08
  • Mikhail Baryshnikov Untitled 32 Mark Morris Dance Group In Gran Duo By Mark Morris 2012 Print On Canson Ed 1 Of 3 Cm 194 X 115 5 X 5 08
  • Baryshnikov Untitled 1 Night Club Dancer In The Dominican Republic 2006 Print On Canson Ed 1 Of 3 Cm 109 5 X 141 3 X 5 08
  • Baryshnikov Untitled 4 Rebecca Hytting And Bobbi Smith Of Batsheva Dance Company 2011 Print On Canson Ed 1 Of 3 Cm 115 9 X 141 3 X 5 08
  • Baryshnikov Untitled 7 2008 Archival Pigment Print Ed 1 Of 3 Cm 115 5 X 140 9 X 5 08 Cm 111 76X137 16
  • Baryshnikov Untitled 9 2008 Archival Pigment Print Ed 1 Of 3 Cm 106 6 X 141 2 X 5 08 Cm 102 50X137 16
Publications
  • Dance this Way

    Dance this Way

    Mikhail Baryshnikov Galleria d'Arte Contini, 2013
    Paperback 86 pages
    Publisher: Bandecchi & Vivaldi
    Dimensions: 245 x 320 mm
    Read more

Related artist

  • Mikhail Baryshnikov

    Mikhail Baryshnikov

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Venezia


Calle Larga XXII Marzo,

San Marco 2288


Calle Larga XXII Marzo,

San Marco 2414


venezia@continiarte.com

+39 041 241 0433

Cortina d'Ampezzo


P.zza Silvestro Franceschi 1-7


cortina@continiarte.com

+39 0436 867 400

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