Ann Ponce and Peter Hurley are two gifted artists that have spent the last year creating works of art based on our dancers. On Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 The Joffrey Ballet will be hosting a wine and cheese reception to showcase their work. The paintings will be for sale and proceeds will benefit Joffrey programs and performances. For more information about the art show, biographies of Ann and Peter, and previews of their work visit www.joffrey.org/artshow. Join us as we sit down with them and learn more about these talented artists and what inspired them.
How did you first meet?
A - We first met in Denver, where we were both attending the same art school. Five or ten years later we ran into each other at a restaurant in Evanston. I went up to Peter and asked if he happened to be related to a man named Peter Hurley, and of course it turned out to be Peter Hurley himself!
P – While we were at school Ann actually hosted some figure drawing classes at her house which is where we first crossed paths.
A – That’s right! I had nude live drawing at the basement of an apartment I was renting and when my landlady, who lived in the attached bungalow, found out I had NUDE people in the basement! Oh my gosh…
What inspired you to paint dancers?
P – Well the sublime beauty of a dancer and the sculpted state they’ve evolved to is really incredible. Having revered the Masters and the ancient Greek ideal in sculpture and what have you, it’s really like the living embodiment of the Greek Ideal, and they move! It’s not just a static statue. However, I also want to go a little bit counter to that and not depict dancers in just the classic ballet poses that culminate when they are performing. It’s my intent to record the moments that lead up to that. I think it would be kind of redundant to paint a figure in pose. I love the happenstance and the sense of arbitrariness as they prepare their bodies, their tools. Painting a dancer, whose body is such a fine-tuned instrument, it’s a different experience. There are so many parallels between fine art, dancing, and music, and I think the three are intrinsically connected. They are all rooted in tradition and history, but with time they all evolve and change and integrating them all together is fun! I am really driven by my love of movement, figure and music.
A – Peter really brought me on board with painting dancers. Until now I was painting fat people on a beach! I’ve always been interested in figure painting, but in the past I was more drawn to character studies of “regular people.” This parallel between art and dance, two totally separate art forms, but there is a connection, and he thought, and I agree with him that wouldn’t it be neat if we went to the Joffrey and work together and make this connection evident. The ballet is fleeting and is about motion. Like music it’s temporal and ephemeral and the painting is a record of that fleeting movement. We thought it would be great to not only capture that moment but to then share it and be able to hang it on your wall and keep it.
How were you introduced to the dance world?
P – Well I had one sister that was a ballerina, and another sister who always loved ballet, and she brought me to my first ballet.
A – I did take ballet as a child. So I know the five positions. Ha!
Why use photography as part of your artistic process?
A – Well photography has been used by painters since the 1800’s.
P – With the advent of photography, it freed the artist. Until that point realism was the province of the painter, but once photography started to capture a certain degree of realism, forward-thinking artists no longer felt compelled to have realism as their goal and they were able to improvise and create a whole new motive.
P – A photo is very useful for the accuracy of movement, but it’s really just a foundation. I often align myself with music forms maybe even more than many visual art forms. Like jazz, there’s a baseline, a structure that the photo provides, but like in jazz, I really allow myself to improvise from that baseline. That’s something I feel akin to with Ann and a parallel to The Joffrey Ballet as well. There’s a respect and adherence to tradition, but there’s also variation.
How is it working with a partner?
P – It’s a Pas de deux of sorts.
A – On the practical end, we are able to create more quantity in a limited amount of time, but there is also a stylistic contrast which makes the art more enjoyable to look at. Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were both working in France in the late 1800’s and Van Gogh set up a studio together and worked side by side for a month. Recently there was a show with both of their work from that and it’s fascinating because the audience actually enjoyed it more because you could see the stylistic contrast. It’s kind of fun to look at our work the same way and consider the different ways we portrayed the same models, and maybe even the same moment, but they turn out completely different.
A peak inside their studio
What are some differences between your two processes?
P – I think there is a gender component, in the difference of what we create. What that speaks to, I can’t really define. I approach my work very physically and almost vicariously as a dance. The way I go at the canvas there’s a lot of back and forth and ebbs and flows of energy. In some respects it’s almost as if I’m a frustrated dancer living vicariously through their movements.
A – I Start out with a pretty structured drawing while Peter goes straight to the paint which I think is manifested in our work. If we were to make the music analogy I would say Peter is more aligned with a Jazz style, while I would be more aligned to a Classical style. Peter loves to use cropping in his paintings, I also use it but not as much so we have different ways of composing. I also think one of the key differences is probably the way we approach color. I’m a little truer to the colors that I find in the photograph.
P – I really only use the photographs for the movements. I’m completely free with the color.
A – We don’t paint at the same time. I enjoy painting alone, but I also enjoy painting with others, I’ve often taught classes where we will all paint in the same room.
P – For me it’s a more private process. I don’t paint when other people are around!
Did you both take photos, or did one of you take the photos and you work from the same pool of photos?
A – We each took our own photos
P – We don’t share them though. We actually haven’t even seen each other’s photos.
Did you interact with the dancers at all? Did you learn anything interesting from them?
P - I was able to talk to dancer Temur Suluashvili, who is a photographer. We had a really interesting dialogue. I would really like to get to know the dancers, but it’s not necessary for this project. My goal is to show my respect for them through the art that I created.
A – I tried to stay invisible to the dancers. I didn’t want to interrupt them, but like Peter, I would love the chance to get to know them.
P – Something that struck me while watching them was this unspoken dialogue between the Ballet Masters and the dancers, and in particular with Ashley Wheater. As they talk through the movements they are about to do both Ashley and the dancers “short-hand” all of the movements with their hands in this casual, unspoken sign language. It is interesting how it is untaught but somehow universal to them. Then when it comes time for them to actually do the movements they just have it down. They really absorb the information quickly. I was also very impressed by Joffrey’s dancers’ ability to respond to the music that was being played.
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