Movements for Monoliths by Jonathan VanDyke

May 9 and June 27, 2015

Storm King Art Center

In a new durational work created for Storm King Art Center, Jonathan VanDyke uses the expansive and multi-faceted terrain of the sculpture park to explore the intersection of painting and performance, color and movement. The land of Storm King is re-imagined as setting and stage while the sculptures become "characters." The two performers carry paint-stained tarps and signs, folding, manipulating, and interacting with these painterly objects. At times their movements suggest the rhythmic marching of a street protest, while in other segments they playfully suggest a high school color guard troop inventing a new political language, or a pair of street performers who have wandered off path. The canvases might serve as ground covering, tent, backdrop, dance floor, uniform, flag. As they move erratically across the Storm King grounds, they ask the viewer to contemplate, whether from at close hand or afar, how the thin membrane of a "painting" might also appear like a sign or a gesture of resistance, how an art object might be mobile rather than stationary, and how monumental sculptural works stand in contrast to their painterly cousins. Here, the painting engenders a theatrical dialogue, and the sculpture figures as both foil and audience. Jonathan VanDyke will perform this work with Bethany Ides.

Viewers are welcome to view the piece at any time during its three hour duration, and as long as they wish. The audience may move as close to the performers as they like, but the performers will remain silent over the course of the piece. The performers are improvising from a score created by VanDyke. Viewers may photograph this piece; if you post the work to social media please tag it with @jonathanvandykestudio and @stormkingartcenter.

Jonathan VanDyke makes object-based works and performance that addresses how painting comes into contact with bodies, architecture, and the world at large. He develops his work through a close relationship with a team of performers. Recent performance works have been presented by Knockdown Center, NY; Power Plant, Toronto; Vox Populi, PA; and more. His work has been reviewed in Art Forum , Art Review , Modern Painters , and Art Papers , among other publications.

Shandaken Projects and Storm King Art Center collaborate on Wanderings and Wonderings programs presented in 2015. This public program invites poets, artists, scholars, and performers to engage Storm King's visitors, collection, and grounds through creative exploration. Wanderings and Wonderings is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

All photographs by Danny Carroll. As seen at, first from top, © 2017 The LeWitt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.