{"data":{"id":"12527","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":12527,"topgoose_id":839,"tms_id":12527,"display_name":"Yvonne Rainer","sort_name":"Rainer Yvonne","display_date":"1934–","begin_date":"1934","end_date":"0","biography":"\u003cp\u003eYvonne Rainer has worked as a dancer,\nchoreographer, filmmaker, and writer for\nmore than fifty years. In 1962 she cofounded\nthe Judson Dance Theater, a loose\ncollective of choreographers who ushered\nin the era of postmodern dance through the\ncooperative efforts of dancers, artists,\nand musicians. Gathering in the Greenwich\nVillage basement of the Judson Memorial\nChurch, the participants championed\npedestrian actions and the use of everyday\nobjects, and they accepted nondancers\nonto the stage, a space that was not always\nclearly demarcated from where the\naudience sat.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\nBetween 1966 and 1969 Rainer\nmade five short 8mm and 16mm black-and-\nwhite films. She incorporated them into\nlive multimedia performances, but they were\notherwise rarely seen prior to their 2004\nrelease under the overarching title\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/37652\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eFive Easy\nPieces\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. In the opening seconds of Rainer’s\nfirst film, \u003cem\u003eHand Movie\u003c/em\u003e, the back of the\ndancer’s hand appears against a neutral\nbackground, filling the camera frame from\nfingertip at the top to wrist at the bottom\nedge. Isolated from the rest of her body,\nthe hand’s components—wrist, palm,\nand five fingers—move as a dancer might:\nit contracts and extends; it stretches,\nturns, and bends at the joints. The fingers\nmove in isolation, press together, or spread\napart. The tendons push against the\nskin as the hand flexes and disappear\nwhen it goes slack.\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;Hand Movie\u003c/em\u003e emerged\nfrom severely limiting circumstances.\nRainer made it with the help of fellow dancer\nWilliam Davis while convalescing in the\nhospital after a life-threatening illness and\nsurgery. “I was very ill,” Rainer explained,\n“but I could move my hand.”\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500104494","wikidata_id":"Q452238","created_at":"2017-08-30T15:54:53.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-10T07:02:42.116-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/12527/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/12527/exhibitions"}}}}