Kyle Abraham Dances Through ‘Social Abstraction’ at Gagosian Beverly Hills

Kyle Abraham, a figure in contemporary dance and collaborator with the likes of Beyoncé, blended dance and sound with visual art as he led a performance inside Gagosian in Beverly Hills on Friday evening.

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The choreographer and dancer, with members of his company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, formed a connection with Rick Lowe’s “Cavafy Remains” — a vibrant large-scale acrylic and paper collage that served as backdrop throughout.

“I was hoping to give a nice range of what we do as a dance company, while also trying to be in conversation with Rick Lowe’s painting,” said Abraham.

It was for the unveiling of “ Social Abstraction,” an exhibition running through Aug. 30 curated by Antwaun Sargent. Featuring an intergenerational group of Black artists, the show explores the “intersections of nonrepresentational form and social consciousness,” said Sargent.

The theme was interpreted by Abraham in movement to a rendition of Jacques Brel’s “Ne Me Quitte Pas” and Nina Simone’s “Little Girl Blue.” Costumes were kept muted, he said, to complement the canvas.

“I thought, ‘How can I key into this idea of social abstraction?’” Abraham went on, of the dances. “And, ‘What could that mean to me?’”

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The concept evoked several thoughts, including his childhood in Pittsburgh, he continued: “As someone who makes work with some kind of social commentary and works in every kind of abstracted way, it can be representing my queerness, my Blackness, all those things. I think, growing up when I did in the early ‘80s, there’s so much camp, and there’s so much grit to a lot of what I was experiencing in life. And I feel free to put that in my work in a way that isn’t ashamed of any aspects of those parts of my upbringing.”

Sargent, director and curator at Gagosian, has been a longtime fan of Abraham’s, he said, when asked about incorporating dance as part of the show. “It’s quite the accomplishment to build a company in a dance world that has historically left voices like Kyle’s out. And I just thought that it was really beautiful to add a different element and to think more broadly about notions of abstraction, but also think more broadly about the way different media and mediums intersect in different spaces.”

Displaying works in oils and acrylics, ceramics, hair glue, mosaics, resins, textiles, wigs, and other materials, “ Social Abstraction” also features artists Kevin Beasley, Allana Clarke, Theaster Gates, Cy Gavin, Alteronce Gumby, Lauren Halsey, Kahlil Robert Irving, Devin B. Johnson, Eric N. Mack, Cameron Welch and Amanda Williams. A second iteration with the artists will travel to Hong Kong in the fall.

“Rick Lowe thinks about community and connectivity,” Sargent added. “And dance, in a lot of ways, also thinks about some of those themes. But also, those themes abstractly, right? The way that the dancers are moving in those pieces that Kyle and the performers performed today in the gallery was about abstract movements of the body. And so, to have the Rick Lowe in conversation with the dance is really about thinking about abstraction, thinking about movement, thinking about the way that movement can be abstract, and thinking about the way dancers connect with people through movement.”

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