'La Grand Sortie': Alex Prager dances into Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side location

gallery in New York launches
Lehmann Maupin gallery in New York launches its autumn scheduling with a solo multimedia show from Los Angeles-based artist Alex Prager
(Image credit: Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong)

It’s the Paris Opera Ballet’s opening night and Émilie Cozette, the company's étoile – the French version of the prima ballerina – is set to make her big debut after an unexplained hiatus. The curtain rises, and a rendition of Stravinksy’s The Rite of Spring, composed by Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, begins to play. As Cozette begins to perform choreography adapted from Benjamin Millepied’s Amoveo, stage fright takes over as one by one, a string of random audience members somehow end up on stage with her, before her worst nightmare takes place.

The story is drawn from a ten-minute short film, La Grand Sortie, the focus of Los Angeles-based artist Alex Prager’s exhibition of the same name, on view at Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side location until 23 October. Coincidentally, the film was also Cozette’s official return to the stage. 'In my film I had written her character as an étoile ballerina who had been mysteriously absent for the past year and this was going to be her first performance since she had come back,' said Prager. 'When I started speaking with Émilie I discovered that she had in reality just been absent for a year and her performance in my film was going to be her first performance since she came back.' To mark the opening night, a ballet dancer performed in the space. The exhibition also includes a series of large-scale photographs that depict the audience members, some of whom are former Paris Opera Ballet dancers, from various vantage points. In them, we see faces of boredom, amusement and wonder. A few dummies are even scattered about, adding an element of amusement to the images. There is also a series of haunting photographs of Cozette as she performs.

Prager relates the protagonist’s experience to her own as an artist. 'I felt that through my own experiences with public speaking, it was a powerful subject that I was sure others would be able to relate to,' she explains. 'If not exactly through stage fright, through a more basic line of the mind turning against you to the point that it becomes so powerful that it can sabotage even your greatest love, and the question of who will win that battle.'

a ballet dancer

To mark the opening night, a ballet dancer performed in the space

(Image credit: Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong)

short film

The corresponding exhibition focuses on Prager's 10-minute short film, La Grand Sortie

(Image credit: Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong)

Paris Opera Ballet

In it, Paris Opera Ballet’s étoile, Émilie Cozette, experiences nightmarish stage fright in her first performance for a year. Prager relates the protagonist’s experience to her own as an artist

(Image credit: Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong)

Paris Opera Ballet dancers

The exhibition also includes a series of large-scale photographs that depict the audience members, some of whom are former Paris Opera Ballet dancers, from various vantage points; in them, we see faces of boredom, amusement, and wonder

(Image credit: Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong)

INFORMATION

’La Grand Sortie’ is on view until 23 October. For more information, visit the Lehmann Maupin website or the Alex Prager website

Photography: Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong

ADDRESS

Lehmann Maupin
201 Chrystie Street
New York, NY 10002

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Ann Binlot is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer who covers art, fashion, design, architecture, food, and travel for publications like Wallpaper*, the Wall Street Journal, and Monocle. She is also editor-at-large at Document Journal and Family Style magazines.

Read more
dance
Van Cleef & Arpels light up London with the Dance Reflections festival
artwork
Sylvie Fleury's work in dialogue with Matisse makes for a provocative exploration of the female form
Printemps New York
Printemps' New York outpost blooms with possibility – and enchanting design
dark oil paintings
‘You have to face death to feel alive’: Dark fairytales come to life in London exhibition
person in green dress
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: Tate Modern’s cultural shapeshifting takes the art prize
stills of people in a film
'I don’t want to see culture always falling for formulas': inside Doug Aitken's ambitious cinematic installation in LA
Latest in Exhibitions & Shows
frida kahlo
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next year
art works
Don’t miss these five artists at Art Basel Hong Kong
ai weiwei
Ai Weiwei's major retrospective in Seattle is a timely and provocative exploration of human rights
grayson perry
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlight
desert
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella Valley
cowboy
Cowboys and Queens: Jane Hilton's celebration of culture on the fringes
Latest in Feature
lean lui guide to hong kong
A local’s guide to Hong Kong, by photographer Lean Lui
people at watch show
What can we expect from Watches and Wonders 2025?
Perfume Genius Glory album artwork
Inside the visual universe of Perfume Genius
art works
Don’t miss these five artists at Art Basel Hong Kong
best hotels hong kong
Where to stay in Hong Kong
jewellery
Bold colours and tactile textures: inside Bottega Veneta's second fine jewellery drop