Singing in the rain

Video – 2008
HDV, 4.22 min

In the magical morning hour of downtown L.A., a female figure appears in the deserted city center wearing nothing but a nude costume of skin-colored tights, underwear and a handmade-bra with stuffed breasts. As she begins to reenact Gene Kelly’s famous dance of Singing in the Rain (1952), Kelly‘s male movements find realization in Marcin‘s improvisational act. Lacking the significant rain of the original scene that serves as a catharsis and relief, the nude continuous her tap dance on a water fountain’s steps, and finally jumps into a larger basin. The ongoing movement with the autonomy of a child’s play or a private practice is underlined by the strong presence of melancholy. Hiding the identity of the person, the character’s nudity reduces her to a clownish gender stereotype. Contradictorily, her clumsy and authentic movement reveals an imperfection that shows personality and Gestalt. Marcin’s ambiguous spectacle of Singing in the Rain reverses the pretense to an uneasy amusement.

EXHIBITIONS

S: Solo Exhibition | G: Group Exhibition | Sc: Screening

Out of Blink, Sarah Crown Project, New York, 2013 (G)
AIVA 2012, Ängelholm International Video Art Festival, Ängelholm, 2012 (Sc)
Spring Show, 532 Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York, 2012 (G)
Sarah Crown presents, Sarah Crown Pop Up Gallery, New York, 2012 (G)
Action Manual II, Schloss Rheda & Werkstatt Bleichhäuschen, Rheda, 2012 (S)
The Solo ProjectNadja Verena Marcin, Jens Fehring Gallery, Basel, 2011 (S)
Lost in translation, Jens Fehring Gallery, Frankfurt, 2011 (S)
Reenactment- Basic Offers, Stoffwechselbar, Essen, 2010 (Sc)
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Columbia University, Fisher Landau Center for Art, New York, 2010 (G)
As you like it II, Heidi Cho Gallery, New York, 2010 (G)

EXHIBITIONS

US MFA@Bezalel, Bezalel Academy, Tel Aviv, 2010 (G)
Taken as Given, The Balcony Project Space, Budapest, 2010 (G)
Monitoring, Fridericianum / Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofestival, Kassel, 2009 (G)
Women’s Voices / Women’s Visions, St. Mark’s Church, New York, 2009 (G)
Confessions of a donkey, Kunstverein Dorsten, Dorsten, 2009 (S)
Imaginary Geometries, Chelsea Gallery, London, 2009 (G)
Kauno Biennal TEXTILE’09, Picture Gallery, Kaunas, 2009 (G)
MFA 1st year show, Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 2009 (G)
Screendance, Film Festival, Basel, 2008 (Sc)
EJECT- Performance Festival, Ex teresa arte actual, Mexico City, 2008 (Sc)

Link

PRIZE

1. Price Women’s Voices, juried by K.Brinson (Guggenheim), Musique à la Mode, New York, 2009


© 2024 Nadja Verena Marcin