ZLATKO COSIC + ASHLEY MCQUEEN: HARMONY IN 3

2015 KRANZBERG EXHIBITION SERIES

For the 2015 Kranzberg Exhibition Series, video artist Zlatko Ćosić and choreographer Ashley McQueen honor the labor that goes into the manicured landscape at Laumeier. Through a series of dance performances held in 2014, culminating in a short film, Ćosić and McQueen explore Laumeier’s unique partnership with St. Louis County Parks, highlighting the passion and hard work that goes into the care and maintenance of the Park. The exhibition represents Laumeier’s interest in representing a range of art forms in the Park, challenging traditional definitions of “sculpture.”

Dance is often seen as an art form constrained to the stage; however, this unique collaboration aims to provide and construct a new stage for dance. Based on the principle of movement, dance—like cinema—began as an art form centered on the human body, physical performance and communication through action and image. The film combines techniques of documentation and abstraction, pitting the real versus the performance and presenting a narrative that brings to the foreground that which is often overlooked. With their collaboration, Ćosić and McQueen demonstrate the pervasive affinities between these two mediums through play on the sounds of the environment and the performer as movable, kinetic sculpture by combining views of the micro and macro world of the Park, literally linking art and nature through the language of movement.

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Read the Essay in Bosanski

FILM CREDITS

Direction: Zlatko Ćosić

Art Direction: Zlatko Ćosić and Ashley McQueen

Choreography: Ashley McQueen

Dancers:
Alexa Moor / Sarah Starkweather / Ellen Vierse

Lawnmower Drivers/Performers:
Don Gerling / Yvette Luedde / Tom Schweiss

St. Louis County Parks Staff:
Sharon Brown / John Corcoran / Pat Cotter / Gabe Cotton / Rich Edwards / Don Gerling / Josh Gerling / Tom Griffin / A.J. / Yvette Luedde / Ana Miller / Dave Miller / Bob Moritz / Tara Morton / Karen Mullen / Rich Neal / Dan Sachsenheimer / Tom Schweiss / Bud Spindler / Alex Stokes / Jenna Summers / Jason White / Greg York

Camera and Sound: Rachel and Zlatko Ćosić

Production Assistant: Rachel Ćosić

Music: Alan Schilling and Jesse Schilling

Editing: Zlatko Ćosić

Production: Eye Production

SPONSORS + SUPPORTERS

Harmony in 3 is supported by St. Louis County Parks, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the Regional Arts Commission, Missouri Arts Council, the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis, the Mark Twain Laumeier Endowment Fund. The Kranzberg Exhibition Series is generously supported by Nancy and Ken Kranzberg. 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Zlatko Ćosić was born in Banja Luka, Yugoslavia. He earned his M.F.A. in Visual Art from Washington University and his B.A. in Video Production & Interactive Digital Media from Webster University. Ćosić's work spans from short films, video and sound installations to theater projections and live audio-visual performances. His themes often relate to issues of identity, immigration and the complexity of living in a new environment, concentrating on the necessity to embrace cultural differences and establish dialogue among people. Ćosić's video installations have been shown at the Kemper Art Museum, Regional Arts Commission, Sheldon Galleries, Des Lee Gallery and Gallery 210, St. Louis; Project 4 Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Hunter College Time Square Gallery, New York; Kulturprojekte, Berlin; Kulturkiosken Gallery, Gävle, Sweden; Academy of Fine Arts, Sarajevo; Patarei "The Battery" Prison, Tallinn, Estonia; and Stimultania Art Gallery, Strasbourg, France. His videos have also been shown at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis; Saint Louis Art Museum; dokumentART Festival, Germany; Atlanta Underground Film Festival; FIVA, Argentina; Espacio AVAart Gallery, Spain; Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles; Institut Für Alles Möglische, Berlin; XX.9.12 FABRIKArte, Venice; East Art Gallery, Tehran; Holdudvar Gallery, Budapest; National Historical and Architectural Museum, Kiev; VIDEOPLAY, Buenos Aires; Regional Museum of History of Colima, Mexico; Moscow Museum of Modern Art; The Format Gallery, Milan; Qorikancha Museum, Peru, and Pinnacles Gallery, Australia. Ćosić currently lives in St. Louis and works as a multimedia producer, professor and artist.

Visit www.zlatkocosic.com for more information.

Originally from Montgomery, Alabama, Ashley McQueen began dancing with the Alabama Dance Theatre under Kitty Seale and Foye DuBose. She received training from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theater, Mark Morris Dance Group, Paul Taylor Dance Company and the Alabama Ballet. McQueen attended Birmingham-Southern College before transferring to Webster University and graduating with her B.F.A. in Dance, Ballet Emphasis (with honors). In 2013, she studied in Thailand under the direction of Pichet Klunchun. McQueen has created works for Southern Danceworks, Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company, Big Muddy Dance Company, Alabama Dance Theatre and Arova Contemporary Ballet. Her work has been presented at Southeast Regional Ballet Association Festival performances, St. Louis National Dance Week and the American College Dance Festival. McQueen received the Monticello Award and full-tuition scholarship to attend the National Choreography Intensive as both a dancer and choreographer; as well as a scholarship to the Glenda Brown Choreography Project. She performed with Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company in St. Louis 2013-15. McQueen has choreographed and directed her own concerts through ANNONYArts, "Variations on Exchange," presented at Satori, and "Drenched," an exploration of contemporary dance and water. Ashley currently lives in New York City dancing with STBDance and directing SMASHWORKS, a dance collective dedicated to the promotion of unique and innovative collaboration..