Poet Bob Holman and artist Elizabeth Murray were a couple for twenty-seven years, years in which they produced numerous collaborations including Cupid’s Cashbox, a book of Holman’s poetry and Murray’s drawings. Molissa Fenley and Bob Holman have a long history of collaboration, their dance and poetry pieces having been presented since 2008. For their new collaboration, The Cut Outs (Matisse), Holman’s ekphrastic poetry is inspired by the famous cut outs, and Keith Patchel’s music  reflects the joy of that writing and adds its own take on the art.

The evening will also feature a preview screening of Talking Pictures, a 23-minute short film directed by Kristi Zea, who also directed Everybody Knows….Elizabeth Murray, the feature documentary which aired in September on PBS American Masters. Talking Pictures visits the paintings by Elizabeth Murray from the 80’s, most recent exhibited at the Pace Gallery, New York. Each of the 18 paintings is seen through Holman’s poetry, a poetry guided tour, with music by Pulitzer-Prize winning composer David Lang.

Founder of the Bowery Poetry Club and the author of 17 poetry collections, Bob Holman has played a central role in the spoken word, slam and digital poetry movements of the last several decades. Holman is also an activist working with endangered languages and is the host of the award-winning PBS documentary, Language Matters.

Molissa Fenley is a New York based choreographer and performer. She founded Molissa Fenley and Company in 1977 and has since created over 85 dance works during her continuing career. Her work has been commissioned by the American Dance Festival, the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, the Dia Art Foundation, and many others.