Standing anywhere in the space in a relaxed position
Silke Otto-Knapp

July 25 – September 27, 2009

Silke Otto-Knapp Single Figure (Yvonne Rainer), 2006 Watercolour and gouache on canvas
Collection of David Simkins

Painter Silke Otto-Knapp is known for her delicate views of L.A. skylines, Las Vegas’s neon boulevards, and lush gardens. In this exhibition of recent work, which includes paintings made at The Banff Centre, the London-based artist explores the body in motion and the figure in relation to pictorial space.

Inspired by the productions of Bronislava Nijinska, the ballet master George Balanchine, and the American avant-garde dancer Yvonne Rainer, particularly Rainer’s departure from the conventions of theatrical dance in her minimalist performance Trio A (1966), Otto-Knapp’s posed figures capture the beauty and contemporaneity of these iconic performances.

For almost five years, the artist has been investigating the possibilities inherent in watercolour. She applies opalescent glazes repetitively, layer upon layer, and then partially washes down the canvas to create translucent ethereal surfaces emphasizing the transient nature of a dancer’s body, creating an effect that art critic Jan Verwoert refers to as “threshold moments of motions.”

For this exhibition, Otto-Knapp will collaborate with the American dancer and choreographer Flora Wiegmann, who will make visible what the paintings cannot by performing in the exhibition space itself.

Read the ARTFORUM review

Yvonne Rainer: Trio A
Silke Otto-Knapp’s paintings in Standing anywhere in the space in a relaxed position are inspired by Trio A. In conjunction with the exhibition, a vitrine of material on Yvonne Rainer and Trio A are on display in the Walter Phillips Gallery lobby. Yvonne Rainer, born in 1934 in San Francisco, is well respected for her experimental approaches to dance, choreography, filmmaking and writing. Trio A, a five-minute-long sequence of movement is the clearest statement of Rainer’s innovative choreography. Dance historian Sally Banes has called Trio A “a paradigmatic statement of the aesthetic goals of post-modern dance,” and perhaps the most influential piece of choreography of the 1960s and 1970s.

Silke Otto-Knapp: Present time exercise is a publication produced to coincide with exhibitions at Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK, and Waltaer Phillips Gallery. This catalogue includes a fully illustrated monograph on Otto-Knapp’s work from 2003 to the present, with essays by Suzanne Cotter, Jan Verwoert, and Catherine Wood.

Opening Reception and Book Launch: Saturday, July 25, 3 – 5 p.m.

Dancer and choreographer Flora Wiegmann will perform work in the gallery
Watch a video of Flora Wiegmann performing work in the gallery
on The Banff Centre on iTunes U. (requires iTunes)
July 25 – August 9
Wednesday to Sunday 2 – 4 p.m.
Thursday 7 – 9 p.m

Panel Discussion: Standing anywhere in the space in a relaxed position
Sunday, July 26, 4:30 p.m. Walter Phillips Gallery