VOLUMES

VOLUMES, an interactive installation by Ezra Masch coming to the Ringling. The performances will include professional drummers as well as drummers from the community. The installation connects sound and light for a unique visual and audio display.

The fact sheet is below my signature and includes all of the professional musicians who will perform. Let me know if this strikes a chord for you at all. Here is a dropbox with images and a video of the Taylor Gordon performance. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/d8wcd6lhtseassr/AACl7E4-JKya0oSgsnjioU_Fa?dl=0

Exhibition: VOLUMES

Dates: Aug. 12-Sept. 9, 2018

Venue: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, USA

About:
VOLUMES is an immersive audio-visual installation by contemporary artist Ezra Masch. The piece uses live sound from a drum set to activate lights in a site-specific 3-dimensional grid. Velocity and pitch will determine the amount of light that fills the Monda Gallery for Contemporary Art. The piece translates sound into a visual language and gives percussionists the opportunity to improvise and compose with light and space. The exhibition will be open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.-noon and 3-4 p.m., when nearly 60 participating drummers will give performances. While many performers are from the Sarasota region, several are traveling from around the country to participate, and range in age from 12 to 82 years old. As part of this installation, the Ringling is presenting four special evening performances highlighting influential and versatile percussionists.

Artist:
Ezra Masch (b.1982) is a sculptor, musician and interdisciplinary artist from Philadelphia. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at The Mattress Factory Museum (Pittsburgh, PA), The Icebox Project Space (Philadelphia), The Philadelphia Museum of Art, TSA NY, Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Philadelphia), MASS Gallery (Austin, TX) and Galleria L’Acquario (Rome). He has a BFA in Sculpture from The Rhode Island School of Design (2004) and an MFA in Studio Art from The University of Texas, Austin (2012). He also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2011.

Special Performances:
Taylor Gordon AKA “The Pocket Queen”
Aug. 16, 7:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Originally from New Orleans, Taylor Gordon began playing drums at age 2 and joined her New Orleans church band at 7. At 14, she became a member of the Cedar Hill High School drumline and the school’s steel drum and jazz bands, and later she took up the marimba and other percussion instruments. She was accepted into the prestigious Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship for her superior skills on drums. She plays with so much passion, it’s reminiscent of the great Shelia E. She has also performed with several influential music artists such as Stevie Wonder, Musiq Soulchild and many more. She also performed at the Super Bowl 50 Halftime show with Beyoncé.

Brian Blade
Aug. 24, 7:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Brian Blade is an American jazz drummer, composer and session musician. His career took off at a young age when he began touring and recording with legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter. In 1997, Blade formed The Fellowship Band with pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Chris Thomas, saxophonists Myron Walden and Melvin Butler, guitarist Jeff Parker, pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. The band released its debut album, Brian Blade Fellowship, in 1998, Perceptual in 2000, Season of Changes in 2008, Landmarks in 2014 and Body and Shadow in 2018. Blade has toured and collaborated with numerous artists, including Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.

Greg Fox
Aug. 30, 7:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Greg Fox is a multi-instrumentalist, interdisciplinary artist and teacher born and based in New York City. A versatile and prolific creative, Fox studied percussion with Guy Licata, Thurman Barker and Marvin “Bugalu” Smith. He has a B.A. in integrated arts from Bard College, and has toured, recorded and released numerous records with Liturgy, Guardian Alien, ZS, Ex Eye, Skeletons, Teeth Mountain, Dan Deacon, Colin Stetson, Ben Frost and many more.

Antonio Sanchez
Sept. 6, 7:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Antonio Sánchez is a Mexican Jazz drummer and composer. In 2014, he composed an original score for the film Birdman, directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. The soundtrack album was released on Oct. 14, 2014. The score earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and BAFTA Award for Best Film Music; he won the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Score and Satellite Award for Best Original Score. Sanchez has gone on to win five Grammy awards. He currently tours with guitarist Pat Metheny, and with his own band, Migration.

Curator: Sonja Shea, assistant curator of performance

Admission: Exhibition: $25 general admission includes the Museum of Art, special exhibitions, Circus Museum and bayfront gardens; senior citizens (65 and over) are $23; children ages 6-17 are $5; free admission for children 5 and under accompanied by an adult museum member.

Special Performances: $15/$5 students, may be purchased at Ringling.org or by calling the box office at (941) 360-7399.

Credits:
Support for this performance exhibition has generously been provided, in part, by the Brunckhorst Endowment and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation.

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The Ringling is a center for art and history, situated on 66 magnificent acres on the shores of Sarasota Bay. It is built on the remarkable legacy of circus entrepreneur, collector of art and financier John Ringling and his wife Mable.

The Ringling inspires visitors with an acclaimed collection of Old Master paintings, explores with them the diverse cultures and art of Asia, delights them with the story of the American circus as told through the first American circus museum as well as the world’s largest circus model, and transports them to the Roaring Twenties during a tour of the magnificent Ca’ d’Zan mansion.

The Ringling is also committed to exhibiting the work of an emerging community of living artists whose work moves beyond traditional practice and features dynamic and engaging contemporary visual and performing arts, including a diverse roster of theater, music, dance and film.

The Ringling is the State Art Museum of Florida. Affiliated with Florida State University, it is one of the largest university art centers in the nation.

Media Contacts:
The Ringling
Isabel Lower
941-359-5700 x2808
isabel.lower@ringling.org

Blue Water Communications
Sara Stacy, MPA
800-975-3212
sara@bluewatercommunications.biz