There is no shortage of brilliance in the physical work of renowned French high wire artist PHILIPPE PETIT, MacArthur Foundation genus grant juggler MICHAEL MOSCHEN, and foremost French movement teacher JACQUES LECOQ. Most people are not aware of the intriguing visual works this trio has also produced.
Selections of these works: intricate, pencil renderings of rigging and rope knots by Petit, kinetic multi-media sculptures by Moschen, and prints of sketches from the collection of the late Lecoq - which are being shown for the first time in the United States - will be on exhibit aboard the Lehigh Valley Barge #79 in Red Hook, Brooklyn, from June 3rd-June 30th
PHILIPPE PETIT,
The world’s greatest artist of the high wire, transcended his celebrity into legend when he spanned his wire across New York’s World Trade Towers and created a performance that inspired millions. His lifelong fascination with ropes and knots are the subject of his drawings, which depict details of the rigging he uses for his high wire plays. Petit has traveled the globe creating unique artworks for such momentous events as the French Bicentennial at the Eiffel Tower, and for 500,000 people at the 1200th Anniversary of the city of Frankfurt. Petit’s current project is to create a high wire opera 1,600 feet above the Grand Canyon.
MICHAEL MOSCHEN,
The Nijinsky of Juggling, is known throughout the world for his innovative manipulation of cylinders, rods, crystal balls, and a variety of original linear objects. He draws a great deal from nature in his experiments with small kinetic forms that he creates to study movement, time, space, and suspension. His home and studio are filled with such models from which he chooses and develops pieces and techniques for the stage. Moschen is the only juggler ever to receive a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.
JACQUES LECOQ,
Europe’s legendary mask, movement, and theater teacher of such great artists as Ariane Mnouchkine, Lion King Director Julie Taymor, Avner the Eccentric, and movie actor Geoffrey Rush, died in 1999 at the age of 77. At the time of his death he was still fully involved in the daily running of his long-established and revered International Theatre School in Paris. The school continues to inspire theatrical innovation under the direction of his wife, Faye, who has generously loaned prints of Lecoq’s line drawings.
MASTER PIECES is conceived and curated by KAREN E. GERSCH, Artistic Director of the CIRCUSundays in June series aboard the Showboat Barge.
MASTER PIECES will run from June 3-30, 2001. An Artists’ Reception will be held aboard the Barge on Monday, June 4th, from 6:30-9:00 PM. Philippe Petit, Michael Moschen and Faye Lecoq will be in attendance.
