The Barbican is to stage a summer exhibition exploring the work of choreographer and dancer Michael Clark, marking the 15th year of Michael Clark Company’s collaboration with the venue as an Artistic Associate, from 12 June to 30 August 2020, which will tour to Tramway in Glasgow in 2021.
The exhibition explores Clark's combination of classical and contemporary influences such as ballet and punk and looks back to his rise as a young choreographer in the 1980s with a comprehensive overview of his career and his multi-disciplinary approach.
Film, photography and material from Clark’s practice will be presented with his collaborations across visual arts, music, fashion and film. New commissions include Charles Atlas revisiting the acclaimed Hail the New Puritan (1986), which featured Leigh Bowery and The Fall, along with work by Sarah Lucas, Wolfgang Tillmans, Cerith Wyn Evans, Peter Doig, Silke Otto-Knapp, Duncan Campbell and others.
Clark was born in Scotland in 1962 and trained at the Royal Ballet School in London before joining Ballet Rambert in 1979, working primarily with Richard Alston. The first presentation of his own choreography was in 1982 at London’s Riverside Studios, where he became resident choreographer, and in 1984 Michael Clark and Company was launched.