Solomon R. Gugenheim Museum and Works & Process Present Images From Wind Shadow

Artist Cai Guo-Qiang and Lin Hwai-min of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan Collaborate in Conjunction with the Exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe

Rotunda Performance

* *Thursday, April 3, 2:00pm & 8:00pm (ONE DAY ONLY) * *

"No company in the world dances like Cloud Gate. It presents a distinct and mature Chinese choreographic language. The importance of this evolution in Asian dance is no less profound than the impact of Forsythe's Ballett Frankfurt on European classical ballet." – Dance Europe

“In his art Cai Guo-Qiang creates a system of poetic analogies by mixing ancient and modern while injecting social commentary and, occasionally, art-historical references.” – Artforum


( NEW YORK, NY – February 29, 2008) On Thursday, April 3, at 2 PM and 8 PM, the U.S. premiere and Guggenheim site-specific adaptation of Images from Wind Shadow, a multimedia dance performance conceived as “moving installation art” by Cai Guo-Qiang and Lin Hwai-min, Artistic Director and Founder of the Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan, will be presented at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, produced by Works & Process and the Guggenheim Museum.

Images from Wind Shadow is made possible by Thomas Lee and Asia Art Center , Eslite Gallery, and the Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan. Additional support is provided by Shiseido and many generous individual donors.

Cai Guo-Qiang majored in stage design at Shanghai Drama Institute (also known as Shanghai Theatre Academy ) in 1981–85, and the modus operandi he has developed as a visual artist is comparable to that of a theater or film director. He has brought together and directed diverse groups of people to actualize his explosion events, installations, and social projects.

This collaboration with Lin Hwai-min on the production of the visually stunning and thought provoking Wind Shadow, which premiered at the National Theater in Taipei in 2006, began when Lin declined to participate in Cai’s project for the opening and closing ceremo­nies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games owing to scheduling conflicts for Cloud Gate, and instead invited him to provide the company with the concept and visual direction for a stage work. Cai conceived of this piece as “moving installation art,” not just dance. The staging is a study of motion in the monochromatic palettes of black and white, light and shadow. In combination with choreographed lighting and video projections of Cai’s explosion events, dancers create a variety of allusions to shadows and reflections. Props of billowing flags and angel wings (on the dancers’ backs) help visualize wind, whereas endless swaths of black silk mimicking waterfalls and dancers in black allude to shadow. This collaboration rekindled Cai’s interest in the human body as a subject matter for his gunpowder drawings.

Images from Wind Shadow will start in the Peter B. Lewis Theater of the Guggenheim where Alexandra Munroe, Senior Curator of Asian Art and co-curator for the exhibition, will moderate a discussion between Lin Hwai-min and Cai Guo-Qiang. The discussion will be interspersed with dance excerpts and video clips from the original production of Wind Shadow. Immediately following the Works & Process portion of the evening, Images from Wind Shadow will be performed inside the dynamic Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda. This special one-day-only event is the performance centerpiece of the retrospective exhibition.


TICKETS:
$80 Premium Ticket
$50 Ticket

The public may call (212) 423-3587, M-F, 1–5 PM to order tickets after March 10.
For more information go to ww.guggenheim.org or www.worksandprocess.org

About the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Founded in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of art, architecture, and other manifestations of visual culture, primarily of the modern and contemporary periods, and to the collection, conservation, and study of the art of our time. The Foundation realizes this mission through exceptional exhibitions, education programs, research initiatives, and publications, and strives to engage and educate an increasingly diverse international audience through its unique network of museums and cultural partnerships. Currently the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation owns and operates three museums: the Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue in New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection on the Grand Canal in Venice, and the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Las Vegas . The Foundation also provides programming and management for two other museums in Europe that bear its name: the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin . With nearly three million annual visitors worldwide, the Guggenheim and its network of museum is one of the most visited cultural institutions in the world.

About Works & Process
For over 23 years and in over 300 productions, Works & Process has been a pioneer in creating ground-breaking, carefully crafted programs which uniquely blend performance and discussion, providing unprecedented access to today’s leading performing artists, choreographers, composers, writers, and directors. Works & Process capitalizes on the rich talent found only in New York and only at Works & Process are these artists engaged in conversation and creation with performers and audiences. Often sold-out programs are filled with interested and excited audiences. Following each performance in the intimate Frank Lloyd Wright-designed 285-seat theater at the Guggenheim Museum , a reception for the audience and artists takes place in the museum’s rotunda. Described by The New York Times as “a popular series devoted to shedding light on the creative process,” by The Village Voice as “revelatory,” and by The New Yorker as “exceptional,” Works & Process has become well respected by both artists and audiences alike, and for over 23 years has been produced by Mary Sharp Cronson.

Lead funding for Works & Process is provided by The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation. Additional support provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation, The Christian Humann Foundation, Louisa Sarofim, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Inc, and The Evelyn Sharp Foundation.

Works & Process at the Guggenheim is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

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February 29, 2008

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PRESS TICKETS, PHOTOS AND TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS, PLEASE CONTACT:
Duke Dang
General Manager
Works & Process at the Guggenheim
Telephone: 212/758.0024
E-mail: ddang@worksandprocess.org

Betsy Ennis, Director, Media and Public Relations
Claire Laporte, Associate, Media Relations
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
212 423 3840
E-mail: publicaffairs@guggenheim.org