Sculptor Alain Kirili, born in Paris in 1946, first visited the United States at 19, inspired to make the trip by the work of sculptor David Smith.  Kirili became profoundly influenced by the communion between music and artwork when he was young and heard Sidney Bechet give an impromptu performance in his parent's kitchen.
 
During his trips to the United States he bonded with jazz music, finding within it what he describes as the direct opposite to the puritanical culture otherwise pervasive throughout the U.S.  This aesthetic emerges in his work through the concept of incarnation, the pursuit of immediacy and eroticism.  His practice also puts particular emphasis on the role of improvisation in abstraction.
 
Kirili exhibited his first sculpture in 1972, and gained steady support for his work, landing major exhibitions in Paris and New York -- including at MoMA, and the inaugural show at PS1.

Kirili continuously experiments with materials and processes, developing such techniques as forging (in iron , aluminum, bronze  or welded-steel ), modeling (resin, clay, terra-cotta, different waxes),  coloring , and drawing.  

In 1980 he moved to New York City, to the loft on White Street which he regularly opens to musicians and dancers.  The first performance between a musician and his work featured soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and Kirili's Commandment sculptures at the Thread Waxing Space, in 1992.  
 
Kirili continues to host regular performances at his studio between free jazz musicians and his sculpture, and the work of other visual artists, including his wife, the photographer Ariane Lopez-Huici. Among the other musicians to perform with his work include Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray, Joseph Jarman, and many more.
 
Alain Kirili's work can be found in public collections throughout the United States and France, Germany, and Spain. His work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, Musée d'Orsay, Brooklyn Museum, Musée Rodin, Sonnabend Gallery, Jewish Museum, Musée National d'Art Moderne, and many more.
 
Kirili has taught at The School of Visual Arts, New York, published numerous critical essays, as well as curated exhibitions.
 
"Jazz and Sculpture are created urgently. Extreme risk is the minimum condition of this creation, the absolute measure of the musician and sculptor.  Revival of verticality in my sculpture is linked to statuary, music and dance." - Alain Kirili

COOPER-MOORE
Multi-Instrumentalist / Composer / Instrument Builder
Born in segregated Virginia, Cooper-Moore came of age as a musician and active member of the civil rights and peace movements. He became a pivotal member of the Free Jazz movement beginning with the collective Apogee with David S. Ware.  He lived and performed at the Jazz Loft at 501 Canal Street. Cooper-Moore's primary instrument is the piano, though the many instruments he has designed and built have become part of his trademark. He is an important educator, inspiring generations of young artists through Head Start and other music programs around the world. Over the years he has also sought to mentor young musicians to pass forward the music that he feels so strongly about.
His contributions to music come from the total commitment that he makes to every sound, tone, and rhythm that comes through him into the instrument at hand. The quality of his approach to music is unique and based in his roots in the South. Because of his talent, he was chosen by his community to develop and play the music that had come to him from his background and was informed by the ongoing struggle for Civil Rights as he came of age. His music encompasses all of this and more. As with every genius, his music is the expression of the magic of Sound passing through.
Cooper-Moore has written and performed for playwrights such as Rita Dove and Laurie Carlos, and choreographers Joan Miller, Rod Rogers, Marlies Yearby, and Judith Jackson. He has led his own bands such as Triptych Myth and Digital Primitives. He has been a central figure in William Parker’s In Order to Survive and Gerald Cleaver’s Black Host. 
At the Vision Festival in 2017, Arts for Art celebrated Cooper-Moore's lifetime of Achievement with performances by In Order to Survive, Digital Primitives, and Black Host.

Mark your calendars! Vision Festival returns to Roulette June 11-16, 2019.  Arts for Art is honored to announce that drummer Andrew Cyrille will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.  Opening night, June 11, will feature Mr. Cyrille in performance with artistic collaborators from across his career including Milford Graves, Peter Brötzmann, Wadada Leo Smith, Brandon Ross, and more to be announced.   

On Thursday November 15, 2018 we will also host special salon at the 75 Club at Bogardus Mansion, celebrating the announcement of Andrew Cyrille's award, and featuring solo performances by Cyrille and 2018 honoree Dave Burrell.  Details below.

William Hooker developed his idiosyncratic drumming style across a diverse array of experiences. Raised in Connecticut, he came up through the gospel tradition, going on to study political science, sociology, and history, all while feeding an insatiable appetite to hear and learn as many musical styles as he could.  According to William, at no one point did he become a musician, he had always been one.
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Hooker began refining his free jazz chops in the seventies as an important player in the New York loft scene. As a bandleader, he has fielded ensembles with artists like Billy Bang, David Ware, William Parker, Thurston Moore, Zeena Parkins and many more. His original productions seamlessly incorporate dance, video, text, and other multimedia. In his words, Hooker is not willing to accept the role of the drums as 'a rhythm section.' He challenges the established stigma around the drums, by presenting them upfront of the band, and exploring and presenting all the characteristics of his instrument.

"When I play, I always try to go outside of me being here as a human. I try to go someplace where a sound is inanimate and unseeable; to deal with those tools that it takes to create the unseen."

William Parker's In Order to Survive quartet perform at the Vision Festival on May 29.  The group of Parker, Cooper-Moore, Hamid Drake, and Rob Brown have been Free Jazz mainstays for over two decades, and they will perform once again, this time in honor of Cooper-Moore's lifetime achievement recognition. 

Longtime collaborators drummer Whit Dickey, violist Mat Maneri, and pianist Matthew Shipp bring their collective to Vision Free Jazz Festival 22 on May 31. Their new release, Vessel in Orbit, out now on Aum Fidelity, is the first new music from these three as a group. Whit Dickey and Matthew Shipp have long history together, dating back to their membership in the David S. Ware Quartet. Catch their set at the Vision Festival for a true meeting of the masters! 

The Vision Festival debuted in 1996 at the Learning Alliance on Lafayette Street in New York's Lower East Side.  The festival came out of the Sound Unity Festival of the late 80's founded by William and Patricia Parker and Peter Kowald. The festival initiated with the title Vision for the 21st Century. On this brochure you can see Free Jazz legends Milford Graves, Joseph Jarman, David S. Ware, Charles Gayle, and Peter Brotzmann among others.