The Mercury Project: Dancers Painted Silver Form Ballet Imagery for the West Australian Ballet's 2014 Program.

To celebrate its Season 2014 launch and Artistic Director Aurelien Scannella's first year of programming, West Australian Ballet collaborated with Artist and Photographer Emma Hack to create a series of striking images for its 2014 program.



WAB commissioned the well-known body illustrator and artist who painted the dancers' g-string clad bodies in silver and then positioned them so that they created human sculptures to represent next years' performances.

Snow White:

A close-up of the apple:


Inspired by the beauty, the fluidity and the smoothness of the element mercury – a metaphor for dance – Emma created a series of images to celebrate Aurélien Scannella’s first curated season. She has also worked with WAB dancer and upcoming choreographer Daniel Roberts on a performance piece which will be unveiled at the company’s launch event on 17 October. Together, Scannella and Hack developed the project to showcase what ballet is capable of.

Radio (that's not a typo) and Juliet:

close-up of lips and chin:


In painting them silver, all dancers merge together as one to create beautiful things. It embraces the traditional elements of ballet by creating silhouettes that are classic looking, paired with something as progressive as body painting and building structures of twisted bodies. It has never been done before.

La Fille Mal Gardée:


Giselle:

detail from above image of Giselle:



Images from behind the scenes, courtesy of The West Australian:





Check out this behind the scenes mini-documentary, the making of 'The Mercury Project':



WAB SEASON 2014


•RADIO AND JULIET: BALLET AT THE QUARRY
7 February > 1 March, Quarry Amphitheatre, City Beach

•GISELLE
9 May > 24 May, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth

•LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
5 September > 20 September, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth
15 October > 18 October, Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra

•SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 DWARFS
21 November > 14 December, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth

Bookings:
Season Package Subscriptions are available from West Australian Ballet from 10am, 18 October. Call (08) 92140707, go to waballet.com.au, fill in the form inside the Season 2014 Brochure or visit the West Australian Ballet Centre. Individual tickets are available from 18 November.

For Radio and Juliet: Ballet at the Quarry contact Ticketmaster on 136 100, visit waballet.com.au or any Ticketmaster outlet.

For Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardée, and Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, call Ticketek Theatre and Arts Hotline 1300 795 012, visit waballet.com.au or any Ticketek outlet.

See more of Emma Hack's work in these previous posts:

•Emma Hack Takes Body Art To A New Level With Her Latest Collection

•Body Painting Artist Emma Hack Goes "Pop!"

•Some Serious Bodywork. Car Wreck Made Of 17 Painted Bodies by Emma Hack For Anti-Speeding Ad (and A Look Behind the Scenes).

•New Body Art From Emma Hack. Beautiful Women And A Look At Painting Them.

www.emmahackartist.com

New Body Art From Emma Hack. Beautiful Women And A Look At Painting Them.

Body painter Emma Hack recently completed and launched a new series called "Beautiful Women." The "Housewife" and The "Oriental" were both created as a live installation in her Pop-Up Gallery in Adelaide.

"The Housewife" series has been inspired by the stereotypical American housewife depicted in many films of the 50's: her facade is polished and beautiful but, there is a hidden sadness to her posture and a yearning for a life of freedom and happiness.

"The Oriental" series clearly references the work of Vladimir Tretchikoff, in particular his “Chinese Girl” (1953). However in the hands of Hack, the subjects exude an inner strength, through their posture and demeanor. Again, the insertion of birds has been utilized to reference a yearning for freedom.


above: Vladimir Tretchikoff's Chinese Girl served as the inspiration for Emma's Oriental

She painted two canvas backgrounds and two models for these new works and debuted them at her Collectors Dinner last month. As is the case with all her work, Emma paints both the backgrounds and the clothes you see on the models' naked bodies.

The Housewife (3 versions):




The Oriental (4 versions):





Here's a look at the works in progress.

The backdrop for "Housewife" in progress:

The final backdrop for  "Housewife":

Detail:


Painting the "Housewife":





The backdrop for "Oriental" in progress:

The final backdrop for "Oriental":

Detail:


Painting the "Oriental":




The Catherine Asquith Gallery in Melbourne will be showing her Beautiful Women series in from July 9th through July 27th.


all images courtesy of the artist

Don't forget to see these great works by Emma:
•Taking Body Art To A New Level
• Car Wreck Made of 17 Painted Bodies
• POP Art Series


Emma Hack

Body Painting Artist Emma Hack Goes "Pop!"

This is my third post on the jaw-dropping work of Australian body artist, Emma Hack because I continue to be amazed at her seamless combining of the human body with backgrounds. Emma is the artist behind the famous Goyte music video and the Car Crash image made of 17 painted bodies for South Australia's Motor Accident Commission.


above: a still from the Gotye video and the car crash image of painted bodies by Emma Hack

POP! explores Emma's fascination with the pop art genre - a fun, modern day approach into the comic-inspired work of Roy Lichtenstein. Emma's heroines are not helpless however, they are strong women.

There are 3 collections within this theme. All shown below.

'The Optimists', offering a wider crop - looking at the positive side of life:

Paint The Town:

So Dangerous:

When The Dust Settles:

Enjoy The View:


'Lessons of Love', features messages to get over that bad break-up:

Big City of Hearts:

Hit Him In The Heart:

No Use Crying Over A Drop In The Ocean:

Revenge:


'.com' is based on a social media theme, drawing the girls into todays .com culture:

Sexy Babe:

Tag Me:

Text Me:

Google It:


Purchase prints of these:
Each image is mounted on glossy perspex and is an edition of 50. A fun, affordable-art line addition to Emma's current collections, you can purchase these in two sizes: 100 x 100cm or 45 x 45cm.

To purchase art works please select your region from the pull-down list on this page to be directed to your nearest Gallery.

Upcoming Gallery Show:
Emma's “Pop” collection – The Optimists opens at Seaview Gallery January 12th and runs through January 28th.

all images © and courtesy of Emma Hack