Craneway Event

Tacita Dean’s Craneway Event captures moments and auras from a rehearsal for one of the last events the choreographer Merce Cunningham would create for his dance company. Each print is drawn from stills of the film Dean made over the course of three days with the company in Albert Kahn’s 1930s Ford assembly plant in Richmond, California, overlooking San Francisco Bay.

The series forms a moving portrait of one of the most influential choreographers of the 20th century. It also reflects the special perspective which the artist brings to all her subjects. Dean’s unique treatment of the prints creates a dialogue between dancers, architecture, sunlight and passing ships, delicately moderated by the tranquil, yet forceful presence of Merce Cunningham, just months before his death.