Modern Living, a project by Gerard & Kelly, explored themes of queer intimacy and domestic space within legacies of modernist architecture. The project unfolded in two chapters, beginning with performances at the Schindler House and continuing at The Glass House in New Canaan, CT, in May 2016.
The Schindler House, built in 1921 by R.M. Schindler, housed two families who shared a kitchen, garden, and other common spaces—an early example of communal living. The Glass House famously sheltered its architect Philip Johnson and his partner, David Whitney, in a relationship that preceded the Stonewall rebellion. Working with the nine dancers of LA Dance Project, Gerard & Kelly created a performance score that re-imagined the homes as sites of experiments in living, positing architecture as choreography for relationships.
Modern Living was presented by the MAK Center and The Glass House, in association with Art Production Fund. The project was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’s National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Modern Living received support from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In kind support provided by VOLUME.
Gerard & Kelly
Gerard & Kelly (Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly) have collaborated since 2003. Working within an interdisciplinary framework to create project-based installations and performances, Gerard & Kelly use choreography, video, and sculpture to address questions of sexuality, memory, and the formation of queer consciousness. Their work has been exhibited at numerous institutions including the Guggenheim, New York; the New Museum, New York, the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and The Kitchen, New York . Gerard & Kelly have received numerous recognitions for their work, including the National Dance Project grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts (2015) and the 2014 Juried Award from the New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessies, in addition to grants from Art Matters (2014), Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts (2014), and the Van Lier Fellowship (2010). Gerard & Kelly completed the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in 2010, and received their MFAs in 2013 from the Interdisciplinary Studio in the UCLA Department of Art.