This exhibition, curated by Matthew Chesney, features works by the creators of Einstein on the Beach: Lucinda Childs, Andrew De Groat, Philip Glass, Christoper Knowles and Robert Wilson.
“Einstein on the Beach is a revolutionary opera by Phillip Glass and Robert Wilson and is recognised as one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th Century. Einstein on the Beach is an opera in four acts framed and connected by five “knee plays” or intermezzos. The opera eschews traditional narrative in favour of a formalist approach based on structured spaces, minimalist sets, an exuberantly complex score, and distinctive choreography by Lucinda Childs.
The work portrays the icon purely as a historical figure; in the absence of a storyline however, incorporate symbols from Einstein’s life within the opera’s scenery, characters, and music, representing poetic notions of spectacle, time and space.
Nearly four decades after its first staging, Backlit will reimagine the unique visual, dramatic and musical languages of Einstein on the Beach through the exhibition of props, manuscripts, stage designs and music from the original performance in 1976. The project is in partnership with Paula Cooper Gallery, and the Watermill Center, New York. Dance 4 will deliver talks and events in response to the exhibition.”
More information can be found here.