Walker

Bronstein has long been fascinated with the Renaissance and Baroque ages in Europe and the periodic reemergence of their decorative flourishes in art, dance, and architecture in the years since. In addition to his exquisitely rendered drawings, prints, and book projects, the artist also creates live performances and videos that capture contemporary dancers enacting centuries-old courtly dances. Bronstein is interested both in the beginnings of ballet as well as the mannerist practice of sprezzatura, originated by Baldassare Castiglione in his 1528 book Il libro del cortegiano (The Book of the Courtier). Castiglione’s book describes the ideal manners and bodily grace a nobleman should exemplify, based on his own experience in the court of the Dukes of Urbino earlier in the 16th century. The elaborate choreographies for everyday activities that Castiglione outlines may read now as something akin to the voguing of Harlem ballrooms in the 1980s—indeed, those later dances may somehow find their origins, in part, in 16th-century Italian noblemen’s pretensions. This courtly posing is taken up in Bronstein’s video by a woman dressed in a very short, ruched, strapless white dress complemented by high white pumps and oversized pearls. The viewer wonders, as she struts in front of the camera, if her outfit is a period one—is she marooned in démodé 1980s finery or does she think it is still stylish? Also, by extension, is she a professional dancer, an erstwhile runway model from decades past, or, as the title might seem to imply, a street walker? The ambiguity of Bronstein’s video speaks to its effect as we consider our own period eyes and whether we are able to understand the present as something layered onto the past.