A 2016 Guggenheim Fellow and alumnus of Rennie Harris Puremovement, hip hop dancer and choreographer Raphael Xavier draws inspiration from his background as an artist, photographer and musician. In early November, Xavier made his Annenberg Center debut with the Philadelphia premiere of hip hop work, Point of Interest. Now, we welcome an exhibition of a different kind – his artwork! Stop by our Studio Lobby any time we are open to enjoy Out of Time.
Artist Statement:
A good friend of mine, Walton Ford, always says, “Astound me!”
I’m still trying.
The older I got the more I realized I was trying to define something while everybody else was doing the opposite. I just felt that, in order to be understood, I had to be defined.
I move. I break-take apart, decipher, decode and put back together to find a solution. I’ve accepted that it’s all a continuum and extension—visual art, music and performance. I’m challenged by movement and the manner of moving through time with age that results in a big-picture vulnerability.
To be vulnerable is to be exposed, even for a split second judged by weakness and a lack of understanding. We understand the photos are moving bodies. But we can’t understand how to see between or past time. We make mistakes through time, and redeem ourselves with time. We get hurt and heal with time.
Measurements of error are patiently tailored into measurements of success through a psychological relationship with running out of time. Character, wisdom and age are evidence of time. The loss of beauty, strength and life are evidence of time. But all of 1.5 seconds can eradicate the latter.
I don’t create anything specific, I don’t paint anything specific and I don’t dance anything specific. I shoot when I see something, I paint what I’m feeling. I dance to keep moving forward and to be able to move forward effortlessly, as long as possible until I can’t do it the way I know.
It’s all about moving through time.
Raphael Xavier
