Klaus Frahm, "Markgräfliches Opernhaus", Bayreuth, 2010

 

Frahm gives us the opportunity not only to change the familiar perspective, looking at the stage and the audience hall through the eyes of artists and theater staff but also literally tries to capture in its lens that invisible boundary between the audience and the artist, known to us as the "fourth wall":

" Rooted in theater terminology, the „Fourth Wall“ is reference to the division between the performance space and its audience. Actors perform their scene as if the stage were a room, with the audience hidden behind this fictional wall. It serves both portal and bulwark, an imaginary barrier that keeps the performers from interacting with the audience and the audience becoming participants of the show. By pointing his camera squarely at this fourth wall, Frahm seems to be letting the richness of the auditorium join with the stage into a single space. " (W.G. Beecher, р. 48)

 

Series 1, 2 were shot in theaters in Germany, while the "4TH WALL ABROAD" series captured stages from foreign theaters in England, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland.

You can view more of the artist's work on his website and on social media.

 

 

Alex Prager, "La Grande Sortie", 2015

Now let's delve into the inner experiences of the artist, which may be concealed behind makeup, costumes, and the stage space that physically separates the artist from the audience. In her film 'La Grande Sortie' ('The Grand Exit'), American artist and director Alex Prager portrays the dual perspective of the performer and the audience, inviting the viewer to reflect on the hidden tension inherent in this connection.

 

As an artist, Alex Prager explores political aspects of mostly American collective life through a combination of individuality and community, creating staged surrealistic photographs and videos. In these works, the artist emphasizes that the fears, hopes, everyday joys, and ambitions of each person deserve attention and can be presented as monumental and allegorical images. 

 

 

 

" In her film La Grande Sortie (2015; 10 minutes), commissioned by the Paris Opera Ballet and debuted in September 2015 on its digital platform 3ème Scène, Prager tells the story of a prima ballerina, played by French Étoile (star) dancer Émilie Cozette. The film’s score, sampled from Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” was composed by Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, with choreography created in collaboration with the Paris Opera Ballet, adapted from Creative Director Benjamin Millipied’s iconic piece, Amoveo. Shot in the renowned Ópera Bastille, the setting is opening night of Cozette’s return to the stage after an unexplained hiatus. The performance is fraught with the dancer’s stage fright and the indifferent and hostile reactions that escalate in the audience. Cozette’s fears manifest in a series of awkward dances, each accompanied by a boorish audience member—played by a mix of retired Paris Opera Ballet dancers and dance teachers—who are magically transported from their seat to the stage. Culminating in a fantastical vanishing act, La Grande Sortie embodies a universal anxiety around performance and success that many people struggle with on a daily basis." (Press release from the exhibition by Lehmann Maupin gallery)

 

Selected works can be seen  on the artist's website and on her social media.

 

 

Anna Kanfer, "The last dance before when someone you love becomes a memory", 2023

And what can we say about painting? The backstage life of ballerinas was depicted by the renowned painter Edgar Degas, but that was in Paris in the late 19th century. Our modern interest in what happens in rehearsal rooms is now much easier to satisfy with the help of social networks of ballerinas. But would you like to know how this behind-the-scenes life takes on new meaning in the works of artists?

Anna Kanfer, an artist from Moscow, has been visiting dressing rooms and the halls of the Bolshoi Theatre since a very young age, and during her student years, she created sketches of ballerinas for future paintings. In her canvases, she pays attention to the theater's interior, where ballerinas appear as ghosts reflecting the generational change, while the theater building remains an unchanged constant. We had the opportunity to interview Anna, and we talked about her works, her perception of ballet, and her personal connection to the theater.

Anna Kanfer, "The little prima", 2023 (oil on canvas, 100х80 cm) 

 

 

Interview with Anna Kanfer: 

 

1. Tell us about yourself, how would you like to introduce yourself to the readers?

My name is Anna Kanfer. I am an artist and a graduate student at the Surikov Institute. I actively exhibit in various galleries in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and even abroad. The main focus of my artistic practice is the exploration of time using culture and the role of individuals in these concepts. I use culture as a kind of time machine to travel through different eras. I also emphasize the preservation of cultural values. Therefore, the theme of ballet is especially important in this context as it represents a significant cultural heritage for me, for my country, and for the culture in which I grew up and developed as an artist. 

2. Anna, tell us about your introduction to the theater in childhood or adolescence?

Since childhood, my parents took me to theaters and museums. Although my parents appreciate art, they are not professionally connected to it. Art has always surrounded me—not in the way it does for the children of artists and performers from the Bolshoi Theatre, but it still left an imprint on what I love and do now.

After school, I studied at MAAH (Moscow Academic Art School), and it was during my time at this art school that I had a friend. Her mother was,  and still is, a soloist in the Bolshoi Theatre choir. So, I often visited there, not only for performances but also observed what was happening from the inside: the cafeteria, the dressing rooms. She would invite us to sketch or, for example, when there were extra tickets, we would come to watch performances. I watched a lot more ballets during that period than I do now because, besides buying tickets myself, there was such an opportunity. I moved around the areas designated for opera artists, so I didn't see the inner kitchen of the ballet. But I often passed by the ballet rehearsal halls. We drew the behind-the-scenes, took many photos. I saw Artem Ovcharenko (Artem Ovcharenko, a ballet artist at the Bolshoi Theatre) during a rehearsal, and that was almost ten years ago, in 2015-2016. He has  already grown a lot since, although, if I'm not mistaken, he was already a very prominent performer back then. I was very impressed with observing ballet dancers because it is genuinely exhausting work. It requires tremendous self-discipline, reflecting the real attitude towards art. For example, an artist is essentially not needed if they are not needed by themselves.

" Until you  prove that you are necessary to yourself, that your art at least represents value for yourself, you are not needed by anyone. To prove this and to do something truly good, such self-discipline is needed, like that of ballet dancers. "

For artists, a painting, for instance, can be generally good, but there may be something missed or not fully drawn, and overall, it won't spoil the impression. For dancers, everything is much tougher. It is still academic art, and any mistake on stage is more tragic than for us. I draw parallels between what I do in fine arts and their discipline. I also have an academic background, similar to ballet dancers. In this sense, we are kind of relatives.

 

3. Great! Both a ballerina and an artist, you both have academic education. Tell us about your journey.

It all started with MAAS (Moscow Academic Art School), which is a school affiliated with the Russian Academy of Arts. It served as a transitional stage between regular school and the Surikov Institute, where I am currently finishing my studies. I spent four years at the school, engaging in daily drawing, painting, composition, and studying art history. Essentially, the program was similar to what is offered at the Surikov Institute, where we study for 6 years. It's a bit of a different format, of course, with greater personal responsibility because in school, they still treated us more like children, and the teaching was stricter. There were more constraints: for example, there was a drawing of a person's head on the wall, and students had to create strokes and work on the form exactly like that, realistically. At the Surikov Institute, in the senior years, you could work with the form as you wanted. In school, I received a basic academic education, which I later developed.

Anna Kanfer in the lithography workshop of the Surikov Institute

 

 

4. You also went to sketch students at the ballet school; can you share your experience?

In September 2022, I was invited from the institute to sketch during classes at The Bolshoi Ballet Academy. It was an interesting experience because, at that point, I had moved away from academic drawing and was developing my own artistic language. Honestly, I hadn't created sketches from life for a long time, and after such a break, it was very interesting to return to it. We planned to create an exhibition project based on the results, but it never happened . I wasn't upset at all that the exhibition didn't take place. This theme captivated me so much that I planned to paint two canvases, but in the end, I painted around ten of different sizes. I submitted my ballet works to the group exhibition “Astatism” at Cube.Moscow which took place in October 2023. Almost all of them were sold, with only two remaining. And now I plan to continue developing this theme.

Photo from the “Astatism” exhibition at Cube.Moscow, September 2023

 

5. Tell us about your series of ballet paintings, what are they about?

In general, my works turned out to be unusual. In some of the canvases, I contemplated what movement in ballet represents. How it seems free and light, but at the same time, how mechanical and precise it is. It's like mathematics, a very precise art.

“Observing rehearsals, I saw that ballet is an exact science, although it may seem like the dancers are almost floating.”

In some works from this series, I incorporated my personal reflections on this topic. For example, the piece in the Beethoven Hall is done in a mixed technique: oil and silkscreen printing. It is based on a photograph that I modified, capturing the ballerinas in the space of "living architecture," manually written. With this, I wanted to express the idea that ballet is a kind of mechanics and mathematics, and that even space, in a sense, is more alive than their movements, calculated and precise. I chose the Beethoven Hall for a reason because there is such dynamic architecture there.

Anna Kanfer, "In the Air," 2023 (oil on canvas, 120x150 cm)

 

And the second canvas, the counterpart of this work, is about the perception of ballet for an inexperienced viewer. It's quite different, and we perceive the artists on stage as fluttering, and it seems effortless for them. But in reality, everything is not as it seems. These works are built on contrast. In one of them, the space is very free, fluid, and alive, while the ballerinas are depicted as if they are photographed — mechanical. In the other work, on the contrary, there is a more precise and balanced suprematist space, and the figures of the ballerinas, standing in a row, are painted freely, with a slight trembling.

 

Anna Kanfer, "Rehearsal", 2023 (oil on canvas, 120х150 cm)

 

I also had a series of small canvases where I specifically worked with the theme of light. I studied and reflected on the topic of light in the stage space. In both painting and stage art, it is a very powerful tool for impacting the audience. I observed how this light changes depending on the idea and theme of the performance. I attended ballets and took photographs of productions — although this is not allowed — capturing what I liked in terms of color and light to convey some of my own sensations.

Anna Kanfer, "Étude," 2023 (oil on canvas, 30x40 cm) and "Giselle," 2023 (oil on canvas, 30x40 cm)

 

 

6. In your works, significant attention is given to the space around the artists. Can you tell us why?

Space and interiors generally relate to my interest in art. I work with deep space and engage with architecture, primarily from the 18th and 19th centuries. Recently, I turned to medieval architecture. Currently, I am creating a series of works about Lebanon, focusing on medieval architecture. I am drawn to old architecture; it has fascinated me since childhood. It's something I cannot ignore and that always accompanies me. In the fall, I intentionally went to Mariinsky Theatre to study the interiors and buildings, taking photographs of them. In my view, the building itself is alive, not in the sense that there is some energy present – I don't believe in that. These buildings have so much effort invested in them. Brilliant people, architects, and artists worked there, and these structures carry tremendous significance. So, all these elements interact when you enter the space. It's not just the dancers  creating the performance. For example, if the Bolshoi Theatre troupe performs somewhere on a stage in Vladykino Park or Lianozovsky Park, it still evokes slightly different sensations. Therefore, performers  and architecture interact with each other.

 

7. What is the process of working on a painting? (From life/from photos, what techniques are used, what media, where is the studio).

As my specialization is in graphics, I work with  a variety of techniques, which makes  my process more diverse. In my creative process, I use mixed media techniques such as oil, acrylic, graphics, silk-screen printing, and lithography. I can integrate collage into painting; I have such works, but they are not about ballet. Why did I use oil for ballet works? Because it is a classic academic material that conceptually fits this theme very well. Approximately 60% of my works are done from a detailed sketch, including, for example, this large work using silk-screen printing. It cannot be simply drawn and printed. Initially, a very strict sketch is needed on cardboard. Then you transfer it to tracing paper to ensure all the details match because print graphics are used in the process. Some oil paintings I sit down and create on the spot. But usually, I sit down, look at photos and previous sketches, develop them, and based on that, I create works. Earlier, artists, for example, from the Renaissance period and even later, mostly did not work from life. Essentially, they worked in the studio. I like this approach because I don't understand why you should spend so many years learning to draw from life if, in the end, you still need models. I can invite someone over or take a photo, set up the lighting. I have enough skills to work from sketches and photos. My visual language allows that. Although it is realistic and has deep space, it is still quite nominal. That means I can choose what to emphasize, direct the space of the painting according to my liking. I currently have two studios: the diploma studio at the Surikov Institute, where I am working on my diploma, and the home studio, where I create works on the ballet theme. For me, this is the perfect option because I save time on commuting and can fully immerse myself in the creative process in my studio.

Anna in the workshop at the Surikov Institute

8. Why do some paintings appear as if they are not completely finished?

This relates to the question of when a work of art or a painting is considered complete. I still find it difficult to answer this question definitively. Specifically, in the case of finished works, such as the smudged ballerinas, the idea is to convey movement. If I were to meticulously define the details, the essence would be lost. Moreover, I intentionally create a blurred effect in the foreground, as I need the viewer's gaze to travel into the depth. In the same work where the ballerinas stand in a row, the front curtain is depicted in a blur. This is done to avoid fixing the gaze on it. Such techniques engage in a dialogue with old masters, for example, with Vermeer's painting "The Art of Painting." If you remove the curtain in his painting, the space becomes more flat. The curtain in Vermeer's work acts as a theatrical backdrop, opening a passage into the painting. It creates a dialogue with the old masters.

In my third year of studying, I chose a workshop on contemporary art and began creating more liberated works, searching for my own artistic language. My references during that period were primarily associated with 20th-century artists. I greatly admired Elkonin and Vasnetsov. Now, I orient myself toward classical painting. Naturally, I view it through the prism of the experience of contemporary art, which I gained, in part, working at the Garage Museum. The structure of art is undoubtedly very profound. And if you look at it from a certain perspective, it is also relevant.

Work process

 

9. What peculiarities did you notice when working in the theater backstage and with ballerinas? What was the most memorable?

Overall, I was already familiar with their lifestyle, so I took it calmly when they were scolded severely and trained seriously. But what truly surprised me once again is that when you closely examine them, dancers have an entirely different anatomy. It's as if the long years of ballet practice affect them, and they acquire inhuman proportions. Because of this, it's very challenging to draw them. You're always on the edge—if you get too carried away with detailing their bodies, whether it's a girl or a boy, it can turn overly sweet. I intentionally ignored their grace because if you emphasize it, you end up with a typical salon ballerina, and that carries a risk.

Because I am slender, I am often asked if I practice ballet myself. But I would never say that about myself because, being someone who closely observes ballerinas, I see that they have an entirely different body structure. Once in the metro at Teatralnaya, I even turned around when I saw two girls. I immediately understood that they were ballerinas. Yes, indeed! Their characteristic head carriage gave them away, even though they were wearing puffer jackets. I draw a parallel with Botticelli, for example, in the painting "The Birth of Venus." Ballerinas have the same rounded shoulders, a specific posture. They are very different from ordinary thin girls. It looks unusual, but beautiful.

Anna Kanfer, "Étude," 2023 (oil on canvas, 50x60 cm)

 

10. How often do you go to the ballet? How do you watch performances, and what do you pay attention to?

I try to go once every three months. Recently, I specifically traveled to the Mariinsky Theatre for a ballet. For me, ballet is a form of art where I still have a direct impression. I can enjoy the performance without analyzing, which happens when I look at a painting, for example. I already have professional deformation. I've never practiced ballet, and I don't really understand it. I just watch it as an ordinary person. For me, ballet is an opportunity to be someone who is not involved in art, a kind of professional compensation. When I watch performances, naturally, as an artist engaged in visual arts, I look at the stage design, the lighting, the visuals. I also observe the movements, but since I don't understand them, I just admire how they dance. However, I have started to notice that in some theaters  they dance better or worse. Still, it's not an authoritative opinion.

 

11. Will you continue to create works dedicated to ballet? In what direction would you like to further explore this theme?

Yes, I will continue to work on the theme of ballet. By spring, the paintings should be ready. There will be a fair, and possibly another group exhibition. I don't have detailed plans yet. In the future, I want to move towards studying light and shadow. There are already some sketches that I have planned to paint. But everything will develop in the process because last time I started with depicting movement and ended up studying light and shadow. Now I will begin with working on light, and it's still unclear what new ideas will open up to me in this process.

 

You can see Anna's works on her social networks.