FOCUS: Joanna Haigood + Wayne Campbell

This exhibition celebrates over twenty years of creative collaboration between internationally acclaimed aerial dancer and choreographer Joanna Haigood and master of set and rigging design Wayne Campbell. Co-founder and Artistic Director of San Francisco’s Zaccho Dance Theatre, Haigood is inspired by architectural, cultural, or natural environments as points of departure to explore movement, and is known for expanding spatial range into aerial dance. Campbell develops innovative solutions for site-specific performance, forming evocative staging, and secure rigging for dancers who may be performing off tall buildings or high in settings such as San Francisco Airport’s international terminal or a structure that conveys the isolation of a jail cell. Whether portraying painful social issues or beauty, Zaccho’s team of inspired dancers and theater designers bring Haigood’s deeply considered narratives to fruition. Through video, artistic props, and theater ephemera, this exhibition presents a range of compelling collaborations including Invisible Wings (1999) that examines slavery and the Underground Railroad, and The View From Here (2001) inspired by love, circus, and the dreamlike imagery of Marc Chagall’s paintings.

Joanna Haigood’s creative work has earned her many esteemed awards such as the Doris Duke Artist Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Wayne Campbell, a gifted artist, furniture maker, and architectural designer, honed his rigging skills as an expert rock climber, international innovator of climbing walls, and Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit team