Natural Abstractions IV: China & Japan
Keyes Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Dec. 2019 -Jan. 2020
Exhibition Opening December 17, 2019
“Natural Abstractions” Performance Series with Ninja Ballet Company
“Natural Abstractions” was an immersive art experience inspired by Bill Claps’ Natural Abstractions series artworks, performed in collaboration with The Ninja Ballet Dance Company of NY. The original performances took place in Jan. 2020 at Keyes Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. They were a series of dance movements inspired by the groups of artworks in Claps’ exhibition “Natural Abstractions IV”, incorporating traditional Japanese and Chinese martial arts and dance, fused with classical ballet and contemporary dance, with an original score performed live by composer/musician William Catanzaro.
“Natural Abstractions” Performance I, Jan. 8, 2020
“Natural Abstractions” Performance II, Jan. 22, 2020
About Ninja Ballet Dance Company www.ninjaballet.com
A fusion of Eastern and Western dance methodology, practice, and performance, the Ninja Ballet Dance Company seeks to bridge the gap between Classical Ballet and Martial Arts to create a new genre: 'Swan Lake' meets 'The Matrix’. Ninja Ballet performers blur the line between real and imaginary, using acrobatics, fire and weapons, combined with contemporary technologies, to facilitate an interactive theater experience. Ninja Ballet seeks to reconnect people with nature and to create a space where dance, music and visual arts merge as one.
Ninja Ballet is led by dancer/choreographer Shoko Tamai, a classically trained ballet dancer who has performed with leading dance companies in venues around the world, including Dance Theater of Harlem, Ballet Central of UK, Tokyo Ballet, and Cirque du Soleil, at the Royal Opera House in London, Lincoln Center, and Jacob’s Pillow, among others. Shoko received the Solo Seal award from the Royal Academy of Dance in London and was a finalist in the World Ballet Competition. She has studied with Jamie H.J. Guan, martial arts trainer from the Beijing Opera.
Press Release
Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 12, 2019. Keyes Gallery is pleased to present “Natural Abstractions IV, China and Japan”, a solo exhibition of mixed media artworks by New York artist Bill Claps from his Natural Abstractions series. The exhibition will run from Dec. 17 to January 20th and will be open Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm and by appointment.
The “Natural Abstractions” series is Claps’ homage to traditional Chinese painting and to the 18th century Japanese master printmakers whose graphic style greatly influenced the European Impressionists. In this series he creates contemporary interpretations of nature motifs used by many generations of artists. "Chinese and Japanese landscape painting has been an inspiration for me for some time now, and I wanted to pay tribute to those artists” - says the artist – “Each work is executed in a positive and negative version, in order to articulate the duality that is the basis of much of oriental culture."
These works evoke a sense of the brush strokes, musicality and spiritual content of Chinese calligraphy, together with the spiritual evocation of Chinese landscape painting. Taoist and Buddhist sentiments are evoked through his unique visual language, which invites the viewer to perceive the beauty of invisible spaces. In referencing this history, Claps creates dynamic images that live in balance between figuration and abstraction, expressionism and impressionism.
Claps’ signature process begins with photographs taken in varied forests and mountains around the world: China, Japan, Cuba, Egypt, the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, and the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains of the U.S. His technique recalls the Byzantine gilding practices, updated for the 21st century by combining them with photographic and digital processing technologies, and a unique gold foil process he developed for this series.
Gold is the symbol of immortality, eternity, perfection, and the divine. Reflective, spiritual, and metaphysical, Claps’ works constantly change and transform as the day’s light evolves.
Contact:
Keyes Gallery
211 McGuinness Blvd., Brooklyn, NY 11222
Julie Keyes
C: (917) 509-1379