Bill Shannon
Encyclopedia
Bill Shannon is an American artist who resides in Brooklyn
. Shannon holds a BFA
from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Born with a degenerative hip condition, he developed a way to express himself through dance and skateboarding on crutches.
In 2002, he completed a project with Cirque du Soleil
choreographing parts of their production Varekai
.
His visual and multimedia art have been exhibited in contemporary museums, galleries and fairs include:
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Shannon holds a BFA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Born with a degenerative hip condition, he developed a way to express himself through dance and skateboarding on crutches.
Performances
Performances and video work include:- Kaaitheater, Brussels
- Performance Space 122Performance Space 122Performance Space 122, generally known as P.S. 122, is a not-for-profit arts organization and one of the longest standing venues dedicated to contemporary performance art in New York City. Founded in 1979 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East...
, NYC - The KitchenThe KitchenThe Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary art and performance space located at at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
, NYC - Sydney Opera HouseSydney Opera HouseThe Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
Studio Theater, Australia - Walker Art CenterWalker Art CenterThe Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, Minneapolis - Portland Institute for Contemporary ArtPortland Institute for Contemporary ArtThe Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon, United States was founded in 1996 by Kristy Edmunds, formerly the Director of the Portland Art Museum's "Art on the Edge" program...
, OR - Central Park SummerStage, NYC
- Dance City, Newcastle, England
- Contact Theater, Manchester, England
- Museum of Contemporary ArtMuseum of Contemporary Art, ChicagoThe Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
, Chicago - Arizona State UniversityArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, Tempe - The Exit Festival, Cretiel, France
- Amman International Festival of Independent Theater, Amman, Jordan
- Holland FestivalHolland FestivalThe Holland Festival is The Netherlands' oldest and largest performing arts festival, and takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theater, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and architecture were added to the festival roster...
, Amsterdam - Temple BarTemple Bar, DublinTemple Bar is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin, Ireland. Unlike the areas surrounding it, Temple Bar has preserved its medieval street pattern, with many narrow cobbled streets. It is promoted as "Dublin's cultural quarter" and has a lively nightlife that is popular...
, Dublin, Ireland - URB Festival, Helsinki
- Melbourne Fringe FestivalMelbourne Fringe FestivalThe Melbourne Fringe Festival is an annual independent arts festival held in Melbourne, Australia. The Festival runs for three weeks from late September to early October, usually overlapping with the beginning of the Melbourne International Arts Festival...
- Teatro de la CiudadTeatro de la CiudadThe Teatro de la Ciudad was built as the "Teatro Esperanza Iris" in 1918 and is now one of Mexico City’s public venues for cultural events...
in Monterrey, Mexico - "Work It Out" music video by RJD2RJD2RJD2 is an American music producer, singer and musician. RJD2 was born in Eugene, Oregon, and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was signed to the Definitive Jux label where he released two largely instrumental hip hop albums and has produced tracks...
(2007) - 'Life flows better' Visa advert, (2009)
In 2002, he completed a project with Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
choreographing parts of their production Varekai
Varekai
Varekai is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montréal in April 2002. Its title means "wherever" in the Romani language, and the show is an "acrobatic tribute to the nomadic soul"....
.
His visual and multimedia art have been exhibited in contemporary museums, galleries and fairs include:
- ArtDC in Washington, DC (2007)
- KiasmaKiasmaKiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name kiasma, Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. The museum exhibits the contemporary art collection of the Finnish National Gallery founded in 1990...
- Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art in Finland (2005)
- TateTate-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
in Liverpool, England (2003) - Headlands Center for the ArtsHeadlands Center for the ArtsSituated in a campus of artist-renovated military buildings in the Marin Headlands, Headlands Center for the Arts hosts an internationally recognized Artist in Residence Program, interdisciplinary public programs, and subsidized studio rentals for Bay Area artists of all disciplines.- Mission and...
in San Francisco (2005).
Awards
- Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" in 2001
- John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2003)
- Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art Award
- Colbert Award for Excellence: The Downtown Arts Projects Emerging Arts Award
- Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Interdisciplinary Arts Fellowship
Grants
- National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
- the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts
- Jerome Foundation
- New York Foundation for the ArtsNew York Foundation for the ArtsThe New York Foundation for the Arts was created in conjunction the in 1971. The organization gives grants to individual artists and writers and developing arts organizations with a mission to '.'-NYFA's Programs:...
- New York State Council for the Arts
- James E. Robison Foundation
- Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation
- The Harkness Foundation for Dance
- Arts International: The Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals.
Competitions
- 2000: Mantis Battle (Solo Category) in NYC; placed second in ProAms Florida (Abstract Category)
- 2002: Most Creative Street Dancer by the LA Urban Dance Festival.