Dance in Close-Up: Hans Van Manen Seen by Erwin Olaf - Hardcover

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Born in 1959 in Hilversum, The Netherlands. Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Erwin Olaf is an internationally exhibiting artist whose diverse practice centers around society's marginalized individuals, including women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community. A bold and sometimes controversial approach has earned the artist a number of prestigious collaborations, from Vogue and Louis Vuitton, to the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. He served as the official portrait artist for the Dutch royal family in 2017, and designed the national side of the euro coins for King Willem-Alexander in 2013. He has been awarded the Netherlands' prestigious Johannes Vermeer Award, as well as Photographer of the Year at the International Color Awards, and Kunstbeeld magazine's Dutch Artist of the Year. Erwin Olaf has exhibited worldwide, including Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Málaga, Spain; Museu da Imagem e do Som, São Paulo, Brazil; Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago, Chile.

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Exclusive art project by photographer Erwin Olaf and choreographer Hans van Manen offering a unique view on dance and photography

“Ballet inspires me. Human beings have the capacity to express themselves through many art forms, but when it comes to dance – and especially classical modern ballet – I am always amazed by that unbelievably elevated form of expression. It’s so precise and so incredibly skilled; I admire that enormously.”
― Photographer and filmmaker Erwin Olaf

“The fact that the photographer is looking through the camera lens means they have a different perspective from looking directly at the figure. That is voyeuristic. The camera can do something that the audience member can’t: zooming in for a close-up.”
― Choreographer Hans van Manen

The grand master of Dutch dance, Hans van Manen, celebrates his ninetieth birthday this year. That has given rise to international celebrations by leading ballet companies with the Hans van Manen festival from 8 to 29 June 2022, the exclusive publication Dance in Close-Up and the exhibition of the same name in Galerie Ron Mandos in Amsterdam from 19 June to 17 July 2022.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, Hans van Manen was not only one of the world’s leading choreographers, but also an internationally acclaimed photographer. It was during this period that the then very young photographer Erwin Olaf met the famed artist, who immediately took him under his wing and introduced him to the world of the visual arts and studio photography.

This book celebrates their forty years of friendship, with a photo series in which Van Manen directs moments from his choreographic career, recorded with the utmost precision by Erwin Olaf.

With text contributions from the authors Nina Siegal and Michael James Gardner.