Cuban-American Dancer and Choreographer Rosie Herrera brings Make Believe; Andrew Ondrecjak creates a Landscape with Figures; SweetArts 2019 is Made with Love; a landmark exhibition Hinge Pictures: Eight Women Artists Occupy the Third Dimension explores politics and form in the three-dimensional practices of eight leading international artists; Bonnie Maygarden: Principle of the Hinge and Aimée Farnet Siegel: Principle of Uncertainty move beyond the plane and the gallery; Aurora Nealand and Goat in the Road Productions presents a musical/theatrical performance KindHumanKind; dance company David Roussève/REALITY celebrates the life of famed jazz composer Billy Strayhorn in Halfway to Dawn; and the Argento New Music Project culminates a season that offers something for everyone.
The Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) of New Orleans announced its Spring 2019 season celebrating contemporary art through exhibitions and performances of work that creatively explore identity, relationships and the interconnectivity between our lives. “We are proud to offer a robust schedule, including a compelling selection of dance, theater musical performances, and thought provoking exhibitions by world renowned and local artists,” states MK Wegman, Interim Executive Director of the CAC. The 2019 Spring season kicks off with Rosie Herrera’s dance presentation of Make Believe on Friday, January 18 & Saturday, January 19, 2019 at 7:30pm. Make Believe is an exploration of love and romance through the lens of religious iconography in which Herrera, a Cuban-American choreographer, investigates religious spectacle and how themes of paganism, magic and celebrity worship affect our understanding of romance. With a unique original score influenced by both sacred and pop music, Herrera’s Make Believe also incorporates film and other visual elements to create an ecstatic performance experience.
Next, CAC is proud to present Andrew Ondrejcak’s Landscape with Figures on January 31, February 1 and February 2 at 7:30pm. Ondrejcak, an acclaimed writer, director and producer whose formative development in the fashion industry is legendary, will engage and collaborate with 20 local performers and artisans to present a surrealist work that explores the interconnectivity of the lives of the unrelated. Ondrejcak draws his inspiration from the paintings of Pieter Bruegel as he seeks to blur the lines between theater, dance, installation art, painting and literature with his work. Audiences will watch from above while performance makers perform individual stories in costumes created by artisans from a variety of cities and countries including New Orleans, facilitated through the United Nations Ethical Fashion Initiative.
SweetArts, CAC’s premier annual gala returns on Saturday, February 9, 2019 with “Made With Love” as its theme. Gala honorees include: Carol Bebelle, Executive Director of the Ashe Cultural Arts Center, for Visual Arts; performing and teaching artist Cameron-Mitchell Ware for Arts Education; musician and performer Aurora Nealand for Performing Arts; and Dorothy Coleman (in memoriam), Founder and former President of the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, for Philanthropy. Funds raised by the SweetArts gala support the CAC’s mission to present diverse and exciting multidisciplinary contemporary arts programming including visual arts, performing arts, and educational and public programs. This year, famed poet and New Orleans native Cleo Wade will serve as Honorary Chairperson,Anna & Scott Dunbar, Patron Party and Gala Chairs, and Leopoldo J. Yanez & Emily Degan, Late Night Party Chairs.
Our ongoing Fall Exhibitions: Zarouhie Abdalian: Production, Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick: Labor Studies, and William Monaghan: I—Object will continue to elevate our insight into the struggles of equity and justice until their closing in February which will give way to our Spring Exhibition, Hinge Pictures: Eight Women Artists Occupy the Third Dimension which opens on March 14 and will be on view through June 16, 2019. This eight-part body of work is a confrontation with the patrimony of European modernism in the practices of eight leading women artists: Sarah Crowner, Julia Dault, Leslie Hewitt, Tomashi Jackson, Erin Shirreff, Ulla von Brandenburg, Adriana Varejão, and Claudia Wieser. Across eight successive galleries, Hinge Pictures will present practices that evolve from the plane of the wall to immersive sculptural environments. Staging a performance of material history, spatial occupation, and social positioning, Hinge Pictures: Eight Women Artists Occupy the Third Dimension resuscitates abstract modernist vocabularies, marked by patriarchal and colonial histories, for use in a new feminist formalism. Hinge Pictures: Eight Women Artists Occupy the Third Dimension takes its name from the writings of Marcel Duchamp in The Green Box and invites this community into a history of Modernism with rich and complex installations.
In conversation with the group exhibition, Hinge Pictures: Eight Women Artists Occupy the Third Dimension, the CAC proudly presents two solo artist presentations, Bonnie Maygarden: Principle of the Hinge and Aimée Farnet Siegel: Principle of Uncertainty, that partner to stage a dialectic between the flat plane and three-dimensional space, between logic and chance, and between open and closed structures. These exhibitions will be free and open to the public and on view from March 14–May 12, 2019.
Deepening its support for the musical creators of New Orleans, the CAC welcomes back Aurora Nealand and Goat in the Road Productions on March 29-March 31, 2019 as they present a concert of Ms. Nealand's self-released album, KindHumanKind, a progressive and personal take on electronic pop. The performance will also feature local musicians Free Feral, Tiffany Lamson (The Givers), and Alexis Marceaux (Sweet Crude). Nealand has emerged as an innovative, sensitive and daring music creator and performer in the New Orleans music scene since her arrival in 2004. Her work has been supported by the CAC over the last six years through our performance support program and the Distillery Project.
In an exploration of one of the most important bodies of work in American music history, the critically-acclaimed writer and choreographer David Roussève brings his nine-member company REALITY for the New Orleans premiere of Halfway to Dawn, a multi-media dance exploration into the life of famed jazz composer and writer Billy Strayhorn on April 5-7, 2019. Strayhorn, who led a private life as an out, gay man in Harlem from the 1940s through the ‘60s, was Duke Ellington’s main arranger, co-writing many of Ellington’s signature songs including Take the A Train and Satin Doll. Strayhorn’s notoriously private life takes center stage in explorations of fame, privacy, and creative authorship. Halfway to Dawn creates an abstract portrait by layering video-projected text conveying the biographical facts of Strayhorn’s life, projected abstract video art exploring the emotional undercurrents of his journey, and expressionistic physical theater expanding the political urgency of his narrative into our own lives. Roussève, whose father was a jazz musician in New Orleans, said “I love how jazz can go from really tight ensemble work, creating a community of music together, and then everyone gets to shine as a soloist. That becomes a core part of this piece.”
Closing the season will be the Argento New Music Project—New York’s premier virtuoso chamber ensemble. The ensemble champions contemporary cutting-edge composers who inspire musical inquiry through artistic collaboration and education. Presented at the CAC in association with UNO School of the Arts’ Musical Excursions Series, Argento will perform Gérard Grisey’s Vortex Temporum, written between 1994–96 and Alban Berg’s 1925 Chamber Concerto. Local New Orleans musicians will be incorporated into the Berg Concerto. Argento will perform again on Wednesday, April 25that the UNO Recital Hall. This performance will include works by UNO faculty and students.
Second Thursdays occurs every second Thursday of every month from 6-9pm at the CAC. Designed to enhance our communities’ appreciation of contemporary art and artists, Second Thursdays features panel discussions with artists, interactive art experiences, happy hour specials, music and community food trucks. Upcoming Second Thursday will be held on March 7, April 11 and May 9, 2019.
On Social Media, #CAC2019 encourages all supporters and followers to share their experiences and spread the word about all of the happenings at the CAC, from performances and exhibitions to panel discussions, parties and more!
CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER SPRING 2019 SEASON
Dance
Friday, January 18, 2019 & Saturday, January 19, 2019, 7:30pm
Rosie Herrera presents Make Believe
Tickets:$25/$20 CAC Members
Buy Tickets
Theater/Performance
Thursday, January 31, Friday February 1, 2019, Saturday, February 2, 2019, 7:30pm
Andrew Ondrejcak presents Landscape With Figures
Tickets:$30/$25 CAC Members
Buy Tickets
Fundraiser
Saturday, February 9, 2019
SweetArts “Made with Love” Gala
SweetArts is the CAC’s premier annual gala, supporting our mission to present diverse and exciting multidisciplinary contemporary arts programming including visual arts, performing arts, and educational and public programs. Honorees include Carol Bebelle for Visual Arts; Cameron-Mitchell Ware for Arts Education; Aurora Nealand for Performing Arts; and Dorothy Coleman (in memoriam) for Philanthropy.
Honorary Chair: Cleo Wade
Patron Party and Gala Chairs: Anna & Scott Dunbar
Late Night Party Chairs: Leopoldo J. Yanez & Emily Degan
6:30pm SweetArts Honoree/Patron Party
8:00pm SweetArts Gala
Buy Tickets
Exhibition
March 14-June 16, 2019
Hinge Pictures: Eight Women Artists Occupy the Third Dimension
This eight part body of work is a confrontation with the patrimony of European modernism in the practices of eight leading women artists: Sarah Crowner, Julia Dault, Leslie Hewitt, Tomashi Jackson, Erin Shirreff, Ulla von Brandenburg, Adriana Varejão, and Claudia Wieser.
Admission: $10 (Free on Sundays for Louisiana residents) courtesy of
The Helis Foundation "Art for All"
Exhibition
March 14 - May 12, 2019
Bonnie Maygarden: Principle of the Hinge
Aimée Farnet Siegel: Principle of Uncertainty
Admission: Free
Performance/Music
Friday March 29, 2019, 7:30pm, Saturday, March 30, 2019 &
Sunday, March 31, 2019, 3pm
Aurora Nealand and Goat in the Road Productions presents KindHumanKind
Tickets:$25/$20 CAC Members
Buy Tickets
Dance
Friday, April 5, 2019, 7:30pm, Saturday, April 6, 2019, Sunday, April 7, 2019, 2pm
David Rousseve/REALITY presents Halfway to Dawn
Tickets: $30/$25 CAC Members
Buy Tickets
Music
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Argento New Music Project
Tickets: $25/20 CAC Members
Buy Tickets
All events take place at the Contemporary Arts Center at 900 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA. Advance Tickets can be purchased at www.cacno.orgor by calling 504 525-2580.
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About the CAC: The CAC is a multidisciplinary arts center that is dedicated to the presentation, production, and promotion of the art of our time. The CAC is a cultural leader. As such, it organizes, presents, and tours curated exhibitions, performances and programs by local, regional, national, and international artists. It demonstrates proactive local and regional leadership by educating children and adults, cultivating and growing audiences, and initiating and encouraging collaboration among diverse artists, institutions, communities, and supporters.
Media Contact:
Laura B. Tennyson
External Affairs Director
Contemporary Arts Center
900 Camp Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 319-9943
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