September 12–December 9, 2012
Opening: Wednesday, September 12, 6–8pm
Mills College Art Museum
5000 MacArthur Blvd.
Oakland, CA 94613
Hours: Tue–Sun, 11–4pm,
Wed, 11–7:30pm
Curated by Melissa E. Feldman
The Mills College Art Museum is pleased to present the first one-person museum exhibition on the West Coast of internationally acclaimed American artist Karen Kilimnik. Dance Rehearsal: Karen Kilimnik’s World of Ballet and Theatre is dedicated to Kilimnik’s longstanding fascination with 18th and 19th century classical and romantic story ballets and historical theatre.
Featuring over 30 works from the late-1980s to the present, Dance Rehearsal encompasses all the diverse styles and mediums in which Kilimnik has worked—from figurative drawing and painting to mixed media mise-en-scène installations, collage, photography, and video, as well as more recent forays into set and costume design and choreography. Kilimnik often revisits and revises her work—historical theatres and stage sets, as well as famous dancers, pop stars and actors, make repeat appearances. Kiliminik’s consuming drive to re-envision certain plot lines, images and motifs relates to the ever-evolving nature of the performing arts with its endless variations, renditions and remakes.
In addition to opening Dance Rehearsal, MCAM is excited to launch a new publication by the same name. Dance Rehearsal: Karen Kilimnik’s World of Ballet and Theatre features over 60 large-scale, full color images of Kilimnik’s work, some of which have never been reproduced before, and includes new scholarship by independent curator Melissa E. Feldman, art critic and frieze co-editor Jörg Heiser, fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, and dance critic Apollinaire Scherr. Distributed by ARTBOOK | D.A.P.
Dance Rehearsal: Karen Kilimnik’s World of Ballet and Theatre will travel to the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver where it will be on view in Spring 2013.
Emerging in the late-1980s, American artist Karen Kilimnik is a key figure in contemporary art whose work in media ranging from traditional painting to video and live performance has reinvigorated and expanded the lexicon of narrative figuration. Swept up by beauty and the emotional tides of her often-tragic subjects—be they Patti Hearst or Giselle—Kilimnik’s work nonetheless retains the knowing criticality possessed by all great cultural producers. The artist has been the subject of major solo exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States, including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia and the Consortium, Dijon, both in 2007, the Serpentine Gallery, London and ARC/Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, in 2006, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice (2005), and the Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2000).
Dance Rehearsal: Karen Kilimnik’s World of Ballet and Theatre is supported by the Joan Danforth Art Museum Endowment.
Public Programs
(Visit mcam.mills.edu for full details)
Opening Reception
Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 6–8pm
Mills College Art Museum
Free shuttle service will be provided from the MacArthur Bart station.
Monday Night Tights: Ballet Film Series
September 24–December 3, 2012, 7pm
Danforth Lecture Hall, Mills College Art Center
Sleeping Beauty and friends: Talk and Video Screening
Monday, October 29, 2012, 7pm
Danforth Lecture Hall, Mills College Akron Art Center
Lecture by Melissa Feldman
Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 7pm
Danforth Lecture Hall, Mills College Art Center
Sleeping Beauty and friends: Screening at the de Young Museum
Saturday, November 17, 2012, 2pm
Koret Auditorium, de Young Museum
About the Mills College Art Museum (MCAM)
Founded in 1925, The Mills College Art Museum is a forum for exploring art and ideas and a laboratory for contemporary art practices. Through innovative exhibitions, programs, and collections, the museum engages and inspires the intellectual and creative life of the Mills community as well as the diverse audiences of the Bay Area and beyond.
Media Contact
Maysoun Wazwaz: T 510 430 3340 / [email protected]