4 ½.X+.MC, 2022, from the "Pointe" series, 2020–ongoing

© Rhona Bitner, ADAGP, Artists Rights Society, New York. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer W…

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Artist/Maker Rhona Bitner (American, born 1960)

Date2022

MediumArchival pigment print

DimensionsImage: 40 × 55 in. (101.6 × 139.7 cm) Frame: 41 × 56 × 1 3/4 in. (104.1 × 142.2 × 4.4 cm)

Credit LineRuth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY.

Object number2024.7.1

Not on view

DescriptionA chance encounter sparked the ongoing “Pointe” series (2020–present) when an artist who was cleaning out a storage space offered Bitner a box of over 200 worn toe shoes found on the street a decade earlier. Upon closer inspection, Bitner recognized the names scribbled on some of the soles as those of New York City Ballet company dancers, stamped with dates as far back as 1994. Bitner’s research-based process led her to learn more about the history of ballet, the dancers she identified, and the shoes’ maker, Freed of London. In her photographs, Bitner resolved to focus on the platform, that two-inch surface upon which the dancer balances the entirety of their weight. Bitner commented, “I realized how much strength and effort goes into that point. Each shoe possessed the essence of the ballerina who wore it.” This series examines the material aspect of performance, depicting the shoes in extreme closeup and presented at a grand scale to monumentalize them, making every fiber and tear visible. Whereas the ballet dancer often appears to float effortlessly, here the evidence of that hard work is revealed.

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