Stage Fright

Celebrating the opening of the 2007–08 season
Guillermo Kuitca
September 19, 2007 – November 1, 2007

The first exhibition by an individual artist, Guillermo Kuitca’s Stage Fright featured small works on paper, large theater collages, and a series of drawings by the Argentine artist—all of which were new works inspired by opera. A collection of abstract works on paper, titled 32 Seating Plans, was created for the exhibition and inspired by the seating charts of famous opera houses and theaters around the world, including the Paris’s Opéra Bastille and Palais Garnier, Teatro Colón in Buenos Airea, Milan’s La Scala, London’s Royal Opera House, and the Met. A multiple-part suite of works on paper, titled The Flying Dutchman, were also featured. These drawings were created from Kuitca’s set design for Wagner’s opera, which premiered at the Teatro Colón in 2003. Stage Fright captured the vivid and dramatic experience of being in the theater—either in the audience or on the stage.

Bayreuth Festspielhaus
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Glyndebourne Opera House
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Teatro del Liceu
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Staatsoper unter den Linden
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Unidentified Theater
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

La Monnaie
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Teatro Colón
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Mussorgsky Theater
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Bayerische Staatsoper
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Deutche Oper Berlin
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

San Francisco Opera
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Metropolitan Opera
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Covent Garden
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Opéra Bastille
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Wiener Staatsoper
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Teatro alla Scala
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Palais Garnier
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

New York City Opera
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Covent Garden
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Sydney Opera House
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Mariinsky Theater
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Opernhaus Zurich
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Státní Opera Praha
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Toronto Opera House
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY

Brooklyn Academy of Music
32 Seating Plans, 2007
mixed media on paper, 32 parts
11 x 8 1/2 inches each sheet
Courtesy the artist and Sperone Westwater, NY