VISIONAIRE PRESENTS
A BUTOH PERFORMANCE
BY VANGELINE
IN DANIEL ARSHAM’S
LUNAR GARDEN

On October 26 from 6-7pm, Visionaire presents a performance by
renowned Butoh dancer Vangeline in Daniel Arsham’s Lunar Garden
at the Gallery at Cadillac House, 330 Hudson Street, New York City.
Butoh, a style of dance also known as ankoku butoh (“the dance of utter
darkness”), originated in Japan when founders Tatsumi Hijikata and
Kazuo Ohno searched for a visual and physical medium they’d never
experienced before. The dance-style is slow and often performed by white
painted dancers in a dimly lit and empty stage. Vangeline has mastered
the technique and will be moving across the raked, moonlit garden in an
haute couture gown while viewers are invited to experience the zen that
both Arsham’s installation and Vangeline’s elegant movements induce.
The event is free and open to the public.

VANGELINE, PERFORMER she is a teacher, dancer, and choreographer
specializing in the Japanese postwar avant-garde movement form Butoh. She
is the Artistic Director of the Vangeline Theater (New York), a dance company
firmly rooted in the tradition of Japanese Butoh while carrying it into the 21st
century, and the founder of the New York Butoh Institute. Vangeline’s work has
been heralded in publications such as the New York Times (“captivating”),
Los Angeles Times, (“moves with the clockwork deliberation of a practiced
Japanese Butoh artist”) and LA Weekly to name a few. Time OUT Chicago
named Vangeline’s, “one of the best Dance Visits of 2011.” More recently her
BUTOH BEEETHOVEN: Eclipse received critical acclaim in New York and was
dubbed:‘incredibly moving and powerful. It is clear that Vangeline is an artist
who knows the darkness of Butoh well, and has the incredible skill to make that
darkness dance...Vangeline has the control and poise of a true master of Butoh."

MATTHEW PLACEK, DIRECTOR his diverse practice, which includes
photography, video and digital art explores the psychological concerns of
the random encounter and probes the body’s ability to remember. Using his
camera often engaged with a human subject (visible or invisible), placek
makes visible the uncertainty and doubt that we all carry in an age of instant
replays and digital capture. What does remembering mean and how does
the body remember? Placek’s fascination with this subject derives from
watching his grandmother succumb to alzheimer’s. In his last meeting with
her, he was struck by her lack of recall, a traumatic experience, which led to
placek’s early forays into photography. The discipline of photography was the
underpinning of his artistic evolution. Now, Placek engages with immortalizing
his relationships and experiences through various forms of documentation.

DANIEL ARSHAM, ARTIST he re-imagines The Gallery at Cadillac House as
a “Lunar Garden” combining sculpture, sound, and an immersive environment
that offers visitors a re-interpretation of a traditional Japanese rock garden with
a unique colored gradient. At one end of the space is a 9 foot diameter light orb
which resembles the moon. The design in the sand garden is further enhanced
by the single light source. In Arsham’s version of the traditional garden, rocks
have been replaced by a petrified tree and lantern. Arsham’s use of gradient
pink is a significant departure from his earlier work, which relies on a palette
of black, white and gray tones. Arsham is colorblind but has recently been
able to see a broader, more vibrant spectrum of color by using special glasses.
This vibrancy has translated into his work and marks an important new visual
language in this exhibition. “We’re excited to share Daniel Arsham’s vision
with a new audience,” says Cecilia Dean, curator of The Gallery at Cadillac
House along with her Visionaire partner James Kaliardos who adds, “And we
hope it will offer a moment of calm and contemplation.”