Yvonne Rainer: Dances and Films is currently on view at The Getty until October 12, 2014. The survey includes photographic documentation of Rainer’s choreographic works, old notebooks and journals, films, posters, and other ephemera. It’s a beautiful little survey of Rainer’s work. I was delighted to see her notebooks, which included collections of quotes, diaries, dream diaries, and sketches for dances. Each notebook was accompanied with a headset and audio of Rainer reading. I thought this was a nice curatorial move, a way into each notebook and Rainer’s intimate thoughts, since such things are hard to display in their entirety when frozen behind glass. Rainer is truly an inspirational artist. Her work is personal, intimate, political, radical, and it explores the body, feminism, etc. This is a rare chance to see all of her experimental films, documentation, and personal objects in one place. Visit if you can, otherwise take a look at the website, which offers quite a bit of information, audio, and images of works included in the exhibition.

Yvonne Rainer and Bill Davis in “Love,” the final section of “Play” in Terrain (1963), Yvonne Rainer. Judson Memorial Church, New York, 1963. (Photo: Al Giese. The Getty Research Institute, 2006.M.24)

Yvonne Rainer in the “Bach” section of Terrain (1963), Yvonne Rainer.
Yvonne Rainer in the “Bach” section of Terrain (1963), Yvonne Rainer. Judson Memorial Church, New York, 1963. (Photo: Al Giese. The Getty Research Institute, 2006.M.24)