Thank You
Jonah Bokaer
Saturday, November 6, 2021
6:30pm
signs and symbols is pleased to present Thank You, a special performance by interdisciplinary artist and choreographer Jonah Bokaer. Coinciding with the opening of our inaugural exhibition, That was then, this is now, at our new location at 249 East Houston Street, this performance celebrates the importance and preciousness of being in community. Thank You also marks the resumption of our live performance program since 2020 — we could not be happier to (safely) return to this essential aspect of our programming.
Dancers:
Jonah Bokaer
Hala Shah
Nadia Khayrallah
jonah bokaer is an interdisciplinary artist working in the fields of choreography, visual art, video, and research. Since 2002, Bokaer has cultivated a new form of choreography merged with visual art and design. He has created over 63 works in a wide range of mediums, such as film, opera, mobile apps, and installation, in a variety of venues ranging from stages, museums, and galleries to architecturally resonant locales. Bokaer has presented works that operate between choreography, visual art, and moving images at many museums including the Guggenheim Museum, MoMA PS1, New Museum, Cooper Hewitt, Museum of Art & Design, MASS MoCa, Musée d’Orsay, Ludwig Museum of Budapest, MAC Marseille, Miami MoCA, IVAM Valencia, Palazzo Delle Arti Napoli, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, Delaware Art Museum, SCAD Museum of Art, MUDAM Luxembourg, and Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. Bokaer is a recipient of a Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Residency (2019), a UNC DisTIL Mellon Foundation Fellowship (2019-2020), the Mohr Prize at Stanford University (2019), among numerous others. His work resides in many private collections and in the permanent public collections of the Parrish Art Museum and Center for Jewish History, New York. In his dance and choreography practice, Bokaer has worked with Merce Cunningham (2000–2007), John Jasperse (2004–2005), David Gordon (2005–2006), Deborah Hay (2005), Tino Sehgal (2008), and many others. He has also interpreted the choreography of George Balanchine as restaged by Melissa Hayden. Bokaer is also a frequent choreographer for Robert Wilson (2007–Present). Jonah Bokaer Choreography, Bokaer’s multi-ethnic dance company, has authored 63 original works produced in 34 nations, 27 American states, and 292 cities across the globe, and is currently exhibiting and touring worldwide with 8 international dancers. In addition to his artistic practice, Bokaer has established a nonprofit practice that has succeeded in delivering 3 permanent arts facilities for younger artists: The Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which through the support of its Board, generous donors, foundation grants, and government support, the organization has triumphed in crafting and fulfilling a dual mission: to foster the development, research, and presentation of new performance works across disciplines, while establishing affordable art spaces for artists, notably Chez Bushwick (2002) & CPR (Co-Founded 2008), adjacent affordable studios in Brooklyn, and Space 428 Hudson (2016): incubator of The Hudson Eye. Bokaer is Tunisian-American and an LGBTQIA leader.
