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Akeroyd Collection

Artists

Charles Atlas

b. 1949, St Louis, Missouri, U.S; lives and works in New York, U.S.

Charles Atlas is recognized as a pioneer of media dance, and performance for camera techniques of artist production. While Atlas’s primary artistic medium is video, where he has developed the discipline of dancing for camera, he has also experimented with live electronic performance. Atlas worked collaboratively with Merce Cunningham from 1975 to 1981 and he was Cunningham’s in-house videographer from the early 1970s until 1983. They continued a close working relationship until Cunningham’s death in 2009. Atlas has also collaborated with Michael Clark, Leigh Bowery, Douglas Dunn, Marina Abramovic, Yvonne Rainer, Mika Tajima/New Humans, Anohni and the Johnsons among others. The collaboration between Charles Atlas and Michael Clark began in 1984 when the young dancer, Clark, performed in two single-channel films by Atlas: Parafango and Ex-Romance. However, it was not until the ground-breaking Hail the New Puritan in 1986, that the relationship between the two artists was deeply cemented. This relationship continues to this day and is currently realized through the lighting design that Atlas produces for all of Clark’s live performances - an endeavour he has undertaken since the 1980s.

Charles Atlas's recent solo exhibitions include Charles Atlas: About Time, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Boston, MA (2025); Charles Atlas: Selected Videos 1987-2015, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk (2023/2024); Charles Atlas: A Prune Twin, Luhring Augustine, New York (2023); The Mathematics of Consciousness, Brooklyn, New York (2022); Charles Atlas: Ominous, Glamorous, Momentous, Ridiculous, Fondazione ICA Milano (2021); and Charles Atlas: The past is here, the futures are coming and The Kitchen Follies, The Kitchen, New York (2018). In 2017, the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles acquired Atlas’ five-channel video installation with sound entitled The Tyranny of Consciousness, which won a prize in Viva Arte Viva, the 57th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennial. In September 2019, Atlas unveiled The Geometry of Thought, a new commission for Art on theMART that spanned across the 2.5 acre river façade of theMART in Chicago.

For further information about this artist please click here.

For Charles Atlas's entry on Asia Art Archive's website please click here.


Exhibitions

2025

  • Charles Atlas: About Time, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Boston, MA, USA (solo)

  • Charles Atlas: Painting by Numbers, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA (solo)

  • Leigh Bowery, Tate Modern, London, England (group)

  • Storyboard, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (group)

2024

  • Charles Atlas: Selected Videos 1987-2015, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, U.S (solo)

  • Ridykes’ Cavern of Fine Inverted Wines and Deviant Videos, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, U.K (group)

  • The Art of Drag Frans, Hals Museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands (group)

2023

  • Charles Atlas: A Prune Twin, Luhring Augustine, NY, USA (solo)

  • The Geometry of Thought, Art on the MART, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL (temporary outdoor projection) (solo)

  • Baroque, Champ Lacombe, Biarritz, France (group)

  • HEATWAVE: A Screening, Galerie Neu, Berlin, Germany (group)

2022

  • Charles Atlas: The Mathematics of Consciousness, Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY, USA (solo)

  • Michael Clark , Victoria & Albert Museum Dundee, Dundee, Scotland (group)

2021

  • Downtown 2021, La MaMa Galleria, New York, NY, USA (group)

  • The Pleasure Pavilion: A Series of Installations, Luhring Augustine Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, USA (group)

  • Charles Atlas: Ominous, Glamorous, Momentous, Ridiculous, Fondazione ICA Milano, Milan, Italy (solo)

  • Ridykes Cavern of Fine Gay Wine and Videos: Hauser & Werk Bitch: Don’t Be Mad At Us!, Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY, USA (group)

2020

  • Michael Clark, Barbican Centre, London, England (group)

  • Charles Atlas: Here she is ... v1, University Art Museum, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA (solo)

  • Charles Atlas: The Tyranny of Consciousness, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, Wales (solo)

2019

  • The Geometry of Thought, Art on theMART, Chicago, IL, USA (solo)

  • Stance & Fall – A Wavering World, Marta Herford Museum for Art, Architecture, Design, Herford, Germany (group)

  • United by AIDS: An Exhibition About Loss, Remembrance, Activism and Art in Response to HIV/AIDS, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland (group)

  • Merce Cunningham: Clouds and Screens, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA (group)

2018

  • Charles Atlas: the past is here, the futures are coming, The Kitchen, New York, NY, USA (solo)

  • Charles Atlas: Scary, Scary, Community Fun, Death, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland (solo)

  • Bona Drag: An Incomplete History of Drag and Cross-Gender Performance in Film and Video, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA (group)

  • Fashion Drive: Extreme Clothing in the Visual Arts, Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland (group)

  • Punk+Dans+Kunst, SCHUNCK* Glaspaleis, Herleen, Netherlands (group)

  • The Illusion of Democracy, Luhring Augustine Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, USA (group)

  • Unspeakable: Atlas, Kruger, Walker, Hammer Contemporary Collection, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA (group)

2017

  • Charles Atlas: Here She Is...v.1, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA (solo)

  • Inbox: Charles Atlas, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA (solo)

  • Elements of Vogue: A Case Study in Radical Performance, , Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid, Spain; Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico (group)

  • Merce Cunningham: Common Time, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL (group)

  • Generation Loss: 10 Years of the Julia Stoschek Collection, Julia Stoschek Foundation, Dusseldorf, Germany (group)

  • Viva Arte Viva, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (group)

  • Marching to the Beat, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA (group)

2016

  • Human Interest: Portraits from the Whitney’s Collection, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA (group)

  • Artistic Differences, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, England (group)

  • Rheo Grande, Anonymous Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico (group)

  • Spooky Action, Hessel Museum, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA (group)

  • Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Strange and Charm, Art Sheffield 2016, Sheffield, United Kingdom (group)

  • Discount Body Parts, De Hallen Haarlem, Haarlem, The Netherlands (group)

2015

  • The Waning of Justice, Luhring Augustine, New York, NY, USA (solo)

  • Greater New York 2015, MoMA/PS1, Long Island City, NY, USA (group)

  • New Skin: Selections from the Tony and Elham Salamé Collection, Aïshti Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon (group)

  • America Is Hard to See, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (group)

  • Dancenoise: Don't Look Back, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA (group)

  • Displaced Bodies: Audiovisual Traces Between Dance and Performance, 1963-1986, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain (group)

  • In Part, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (group)

  • A New Rhythm, Park View, Los Angeles, CA, USA (group)

  • Strange Pilgrims, The Contemporary Austin, Austin, TX, USA (group)

2014

  • Hail the New Puritan, SALT Galata, Istanbul, Turkey (solo)

  • MC9, SALT Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey (solo)

  • Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, Martha, Vilma Gold, London, England (solo)

  • 1st International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Cartagena de Indias, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia (group)

  • Burning Down the House, 10th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea (group)

  • Never Enough: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, USA (group)

2013

  • Glacier, Bloomberg SPACE, London, England (solo)

  • BMW Tate Live: Charles Atlas and Collaborators, The Tanks at Tate Modern, London, England (solo)

  • Atlas, Kahrs, Mucha, Whiteread, Luhring Augustine, New York, NY; Luhring Augustine Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, USA (group)

2012

  • Discount Body Parts, De Hallen Haarlem, Haarlem, The Netherlands (solo)

  • The Illusion of Democracy, Luhring Augustine Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, USA (group)

  • Joints 4tet Ensemble, Institute for the Humanities, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA (solo)

  • John Cage and . . . Visual Artist—Influence, Impulses, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg (group)

  • Austria Xtravaganza: Staging Leigh Bowery, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (group)

  • Meeting Point, Mount Tremper Arts, Mount Tremper, NY, USA (group)

  • Meltdown, Southbank Centre, London, England (group)

  • The Piano Lesson, Vilma Gold, London, England (group)

  • Stage Presence: Theatricality in Art and Media, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA (group)

  • Summer Festival 2012, Mount Tremper Arts, Mount Tremper, NY, USA (group)

  • The Third Sculpture, Straat van Sculpturen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (group)

  • Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA (group)

2011

  • Danser sa vie (Dance Your Life), Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (group)

  • Cities of Gold and Mirrors, Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf, Germany (group)

  • ( / + \ ), Vilma Gold, London, England (solo)

  • Charles Atlas, Mika Tajima and New Humans: The Pedestrians, South London Gallery, London, England (solo)

  • Joints Array, New Museum, New York, NY, USA (solo)

  • Dance/Draw, Institute for Contemporary Art/Boston, Boston, MA, USA (solo)

  • Everyday Is a Good Day, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea, England (group)

  • He Disappeared into Complete Silence, De Hallen Haarlem, Haarlem, The Netherlands (group)

  • Transaction abstraite, New Galerie de France, Paris, France (group)

2010

  • 100 years (Version no. 2, Nov 2009): 45 Years of Performance Video from EAI, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia (group)

  • Atlas, Könnemann, Leisz, Parrino, Kunstverein Nürnberg Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft, Nuremberg, Germany (group)

  • Body/Space Mechanics, De Hallen Haarlem, Haarlem, The Netherlands (group)

  • Move: Choreographing You, Hayward Gallery, London, England (group)

  • Dead Flowers, Participant, Inc., New York, NY; Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA, USA (group)

  • Nobody Gets to See the Wizard. Not Nobody. Not Nohow, Anna Kustera Gallery, New York, NY, USA (group)

  • ShadowDance, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoot, The Netherlands (group)

  • Virtuoso Illusion: Cross Dressing and the New Media Avant-Garde, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA, USA (group)

2009

  • 100 years (Version no. 2, Nov 2009): 45 Years of Performance Video from EAI, MoMA P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY, USA (group)

  • Dance with Camera, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX, USA (group)

  • All That Is Solid Melts into Air, MMMechelen, Mechelen, Belgium (group)

  • Dan Graham: Beyond, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA (group)

2008

  • Tornado Warning, Vilma Gold, London, England (solo)

  • Leigh Bowery, Kunstverein Hannover, Hanover, Germany (group)

  • Looking at Music, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA (group)

  • The Skat Players, Vilma Gold, London, England (group)

2007

  • Charles Atlas: Live and in Color, Cinémathèque Française, Paris, France (solo)

  • Cinema Cavern, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY, USA (group)

  • ITSLIQUID, Lyon Biennale 2007, Lyon, France (group)

  • Playback, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France (group)

  • Tanzen, Sehen, Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, Siegen, Germany The 80’s: A Tipology, Fundação de Serralves, Porto, Portugal (group)

2006

  • International and National Projects: Charles Atlas, MoMA P.S. 1, Long Island City, NY (solo)

  • The Secret Public: The Last Days of the British Underground 1978–1988, Kunstverein München, Munich (group)

2005

  • The Intensity Police Are Working My Last Gay Nerve, Performa ’05, New York, NY, USA (solo)

  • Useless Man, Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York, NY, USA (group)

2004

  • One Channel Only, Contemporary Art Galleries, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA (group)

  • Eye-Con: The Work of Charles Atlas, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA (solo)

2003

  • Instant Fame!, Participant, Inc., New York, NY, USA (solo)

  • My People Were Fair and Had Cum in Their Hair . . ., , Team Gallery, New York, NY, USA (group)

  • Phantom of Desire, Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria (group)

  • Take a Bowery: The Art and (Larger Than) Life of Leigh Bowery, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (group)

2002

  • Charles Atlas, Kjubh Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany (solo)

  • Campy, Vampy, Tacky, La Criée Centre d'Art Contemporain, Rennes, France (group)

  • Cerebellum, Performance Space, Sydney, Australia (group)

  • Electric Dreams, The Curve, London, England (group)

2000

  • Charles Atlas: Selected Works, The Kitchen, New York, NY, USA (solo)

  • Charles Atlas, Magazin 4, Bregenz, Austria (solo)

  • Open Ends, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA (group)

  • Performing Bodies, Tate Modern, London, England (group)

  • Speed of Vision, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT, USA (group)

1999

  • Charles Atlas, XL Xavier La Boulbenne, New York, NY, USA (solo)

  • Regarding Beauty, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, USA (group)

1998

  • Charles Atlas, Cinémathèque Française, Paris, France (solo)

1997

  • The Hanged One, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA (solo)

1996

  • Charles Atlas, Forum for Contemporary Art, St. Louis, MO, USA (solo)

1995

  • Charles Atlas, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain (solo)

1994

  • De lach van nr. 12 (The Laugh of Number 12), KunstFort Asperen, Acquoy, The Netherlands (group)

1993

  • Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA (group)

1991

  • Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA (group)

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Awards

2018

  • Cage Cunningham Fellow, Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York, NY, U.S

2017

  • Special Mention Award, Viva Arte Viva, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

2016

  • United States Artists Fellowship, Chicago, IL, U.S.

2014

  • Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, residency, Troy, NY, U.S.

  • Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, residency, Captiva Island, FL, U.S.

2010

  • Peabody Award for Art: 21 ('William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible'), PBS TV documentary, Co-Director

2008

  • Peabody Award for Art:21 ('Power'), PBS TV documentary, Director (Consulting)

2006

  • Foundation for Contemporary Art, Biennial John Cage Award

2003

  • Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Best Documentary for The Legend of Leigh Bowery

2000

  • Dance Screen 2000, Best Documentary for Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance

1998

  • New York Dance and Performance Award ['Bessie'], for The 'Martha' Tapes John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship

1987

  • New York Dance and Performance Award ['Bessie'], for sustained achievement in video

  • New York Dance and Performance Award ['Bessie'], for costume design

1985

  • 1st prize for VideoDance, Ministry of Culture, France

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