Social Choreography

Francisco-Fernando Granados, Igor Grubić and Emily Roysdon

Curated by Julia Paoli

June 8 – July 21, 2012

Opening Reception: Friday, June 8, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm.

Gallery TPW is pleased to present Social Choreography, a group exhibition curated by Julia Paoli. Works by Francisco-Fernando Granados (Canada), Igor Grubić (Croatia) and Emily Roysdon (USA) point to the intersection of choreography and politicized spaces in contemporary art. The exhibition aims to call attention to the dual meaning embedded in the term movement: at once referencing movement as a political ideology and movement of the body through time and space. Taken from cultural critic Andrew Hewitt, the show’s title suggests that choreography is linked to organization and can intricately demonstrate and interrupt the ways people relate and interact with one another. Granados presents a series of choreographed instructions that consider the political and performative possibilities of movement in public and private spaces. Grubić’s two-channel video juxtaposes graphic documentation of the first Gay Pride parades in Belgrade and Zagreb with dancers later responding to the events in the same locations. Roysdon’s photographic and video installations pursue an ongoing interest in representations of movement and the potential for corporeal gestures to convey shifting concepts of community and site. Together, the works address both the potential and the problems of representation developing out of a specific place and community, and moving into the space of the gallery. Reflecting on the relationship between action and documentation, lived bodies and drawn lines, Social Choreography at once participates in and updates the interest in how choreography and politics intersect.

Francisco-Fernando Granados will perform at the opening reception on Friday, June 8, 2012 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm and the closing day of the exhibition on July 21, 2012 at 12 pm.

Image Credit: Emily Roysdon with MPA, “Untitled” from Sense and Sense, detail, 2010.

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Artist Biographies

Francisco-Fernando Granados is a Guatemalan-born, Toronto-based artist and writer working in performance, drawing, video, cultural criticism, and curatorial practice. His work has been exhibited and performed at venues including, Kulturhuset Stockholm, Ex Teresa Arte Actual (Mexico City), the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Images Festival (Toronto). Recent projects include a performance at the RAPID PULSE International Performance Festival (Chicago) and a performative lecture at the Hessel Museum, Bard College (NY).

Igor Grubić has been active as a multimedia artist since 1996. His work includes site-specific interventions in public spaces, performances, photography and video works. His work has been exhibited at Manifesta 4 (Frankfurt), Tirana Biennale 2, 50th October Art Salon (Belgrade), 11th Istanbul Biennale and Manifesta 9 (Genk).

Emily Roysdon is an interdisciplinary artist and writer based in New York and Stockholm. Her work has been shown at the 2010 Whitney Biennial, Greater NY at PS1; Manifesta 8 (Murcia), Bucharest Bienniale 4, Participant, Inc. (NY); Generali Foundation (Vienna); New Museum (NY); and the Power Plant (Toronto). Recent solo shows include new commissions from Art in General (NY), Konsthall C (Stockholm) and a Matrix commission from the Berkeley Art Museum. Her videos have been screened widely, most recently at the Berlinale and the Images Festival (Toronto).

Curator Biography

Julia Paoli is an independent curator and writer based in Toronto. Recent work includes an exhibition of work by Aleesa Cohene for Vtape; she is a Curatorial Intern at the Power Plant, a former Curatorial Intern at FAG (Feminist Art Gallery) and a member of the Pleasure Dome Programming Collective. Paoli received her MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College.