Allora & Calzadilla

Following the U.S. Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, the 54th International Art Exhibition, the Indianapolis Museum of Art brings works by the collaborative team Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla to Indianapolis. The IMA acquired Delta (Body in Flight), which is presented with scheduled performances in the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion March 8 through April 22, 2012. The artists’ Vieques Series, including Half Mast\Full Mast from the Pavilion, will also be shown in its entirety for the first time in the United States as part of the exhibition Allora & Calzadilla: Vieques Series, on view March 8 through October 14, 2012.

Body in Flight (Delta) and Half Mast\Full Mast are among the six commissioned works that comprised the U.S Pavilion exhibition Gloria (www.imamuseum.org/venice). Organized by the IMA, the exhibition employed a variety of artistic practices including sculpture, performance, video, and sound elements that destabilize existing narratives around national identity, global commerce, international competition, democracy, and militarism.

In Body in Flight (Delta), Allora & Calzadilla appropriated the form of a state-of-the-art elite business class airline seat and reproduced it in full-scale. When activated by a female U.S. gymnast in her red, white, and blue competitive unitard, the painted, wooden airline seat replica becomes an unlikely gymnastic apparatus reminiscent of a balance beam. The female gymnasts perform a routine developed by Olympic gymnasts, Allora & Calzadilla, and choreographer Rebecca Davis. This routine, which emphasizes flexibility and fluidity, is an unexpected combination of gymnastic skills and modern dance techniques. Sadie Wilhelmi, who performed in Venice throughout the run of the Biennale, will inaugurate Body in Flight (Delta) with a special performance on March 8. Wilhelmi also trained female athletes from clubs affiliated with Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics to participate in regularly scheduled performances in the entrance pavilion.

Additionally, the IMA presents Allora & Calzadilla: Vieques Series, an exhibition of short films that the artists filmed on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. This island was controlled primarily by the U.S. Navy until 2003, when military exercises ceased and environmental remediation began. The videos include Returning a Sound (2004), Under Discussion (2005) and the U.S. premiere of Half Mast\Full Mast (2011).

About the catalogue Gloria is a 160-page catalogue that documents Allora & Calzadilla's exhibition in the U.S. Pavilion, including a plates section displaying images of the works as they are installed in Venice as well as documentation of performances by professional athletes affiliated with USA Gymnastics and USA Track and Field. Essays by exhibition curator Lisa Freiman, and art historians Carrie Lambert-Beatty and Yates McKee explore the competitive themes addressed in Gloria such as the Olympic Games, international commerce, the military industrial complex and even the Biennale itself. Designed by Abbott Miller of Pentagram, the catalogue is published by DelMonico Books-Prestel USA.

Allora & Calzadilla
Body in Flight / Vieques Series

Body in Flight 08.03.2012 - 22.04.2012
Vieques Series 08.03.2012 - 14.10.2012