Books by Ana Janevski

Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done

by Adrian Heathfield, Malik Gaines, Thomas Lax, Giampaolo Bianconi, Ana Janevski, Harry CH Choi, Vivian A. Crockett, Danielle Goldman, Elizabeth Gollnick, Martha Joseph, Victor “Viv” Liu, Jenny Harris, Sharon Hayes, Benjamin Piekut, Kristin Poor, Julia Robinson, Gloria Sutton

Using "ordinary" movements, the Judson Dance Theater stripped dance of its theatrical conventions
A New York Times Book Review 2019 holiday gift guide pick

Taking its name from the Judson Memorial Church, a socially engaged Protestant congregation in New York's Greenwich Village, Judson Dance Theater was organized as a series of open workshops from which its participants developed performances. Redefining the kinds of movement that could count as dance, the Judson participants―Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Philip Corner, Bill Dixon, Judith Dunn, David Gordon, Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Fred Herko, Robert Morris, Steve Paxton, Rudy Perez, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Rauschenberg, Carolee Schneemann and Elaine Summers, among others―would go on to profoundly shape all fields of art in the second half of the 20th century. They employed new compositional methods to strip dance of its theatrical conventions, incorporating "ordinary" movements―gestures typical of the street or home, for example, rather than a stage―into their work, along with games, simple tasks, and social dances to infuse their pieces with a sense of spontaneity.
Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done highlights the workshop's ongoing significance. The catalog charts the development of Judson, beginning with the workshops and classes led by Anna Halprin, Robert Ellis Dunn and James Waring, and exploring the influence of other figures working downtown such as Simone Forti and Andy Warhol, as well as venues for collective action like Judson Gallery and the Living Theatre. Lushly illustrated with film stills, photographic documentation, reproductions of sculptural objects, scores, music, poetry, architectural drawings and archival material, the publication celebrates the group's multidisciplinary and collaborative ethos as well as the range of its participants.

Joan Jonas Good Night Good Morning

by Ana Janevski

A comprehensive retrospective of work from one of the foremost performance artists to emerge from the 1970s

Since her earliest performances in the late 1960s, Joan Jonas has concerned herself with animation and moving images, asking what it means to move images, or to be moved by them. The artist constantly returns to her ever-expanding archive of images, sounds, gestures, ideas and places, reworking materials into new forms across the decades. Published in conjunction with the artist's most comprehensive retrospective in the United States, presented by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Good Night Good Morning spans more than 50 years of her remarkable career and features works in all mediums--including videos, drawings, notebooks, photographs and major installations and performances.
The abundantly illustrated publication features essays by curators and scholars that delve into the political, social and historical impact of Jonas' working method, a suite of oral histories gathered specifically for this project and a new photographic portfolio by the artist Zoe Leonard. Featuring extensive archival materials, many previously unpublished, this monograph sheds new light on Jonas' unique role as a trailblazing figure of video and performance, and highlights her enduring multimedia legacy for generations of younger artists.
Born in New York City in 1936, Joan Jonas is a pathmaking figure in video and performance art, and one of the most important artists to emerge from the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 2015 she was the sixth woman artist to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale. She lives and works in New York and Nova Scotia, Canada.