DANCE CONSTRUCTIONS
by Amanda Keeley


September 17 - October 19, 2015



A solo exhibition of new sculptures and prints by Miami based artist Amanda Keeley.

In Dance Constructions Keeley continues her exploration into the history of choreography and dance notation, as well as the ways in which movement of the body can be designated as living architecture. The exhibition’s publication opens with the statement, “think of your body and the shape it makes in space,” challenging the viewer to become a participant as they enter the room. Keeley has created a suite of five geometric, sculptural forms for the show, each of which corresponds to a specific range of motion in the body. Throughout the exhibition the sculptures will be activated by the movement of dancers, the sculptures then delineating the connection that develops between the object and the human figure. Within this environment Keeley’s work probes the relationship between abstract composition, the human body, time, and space in the field of architecture.

Keeley worked with choreographer Marissa Alma Nick who provided notational scores for each sculpture that Keeley incorporated into the installation. Also featured is a soundtrack by composer Giles Martin. For the opening reception, Alma Dance Theater will activate the installation. The company will be working with a combination of three instructions: the first designates a sculpture for the dancer to activate, the second dictates the combination of choreography, and the third appoints the texture of the prescribed movement. The instructions will be selected randomly, so that the performance will be realized according to John Cage’s principles of chance operations. The installation will be symbiotic: the dancers, music, and artworks will all function as a whole.

Keeley has also created an artist’s book Dance Instructions, to complement the exhibition and provide further information to audience members seeking to engage with the sculptures. The installation will be activated several times throughout the exhibition- dates to be announced.

Keeley received her MFA in Sculpture from Parsons School of Art & Design in 1998. Recent exhibitions include de la Cruz Collection, Miami; Bas Fisher Invitational, Miami; Locust Projects, Miami; UNTITLED Fair, Miami; and Fitzroy Gallery, NYC. She is the recipient of NYFA’s Blackburn Fellowship for Printmaking, and recently completed artist residencies at Kala Institute, Berkeley, and Lower East Side Printshop, NYC.

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Double Arc.2015. photographic print 12" x 16.125"

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Double Arc.2015. steel, wood, cast hydrocal, with photograph 47" x 68" 55.875"

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Diagonal Stretch.2015. photographic print 12" x 16.125"

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Inversion Support.2015.