Body Doubles
dal 24/10/2014 al 18/4/2015
Segnalato da
Wu Tsang
Lorna Simpson
Jean Arp
Valerie Belin
Jeanne Dunning
Robert Gober
Rashid Johnson
Gulsun Karamustafa
Paul McCarthy
Bruce Nauman
Richard Prince
Christina Ramberg
Collier Shorr
Cindy Sherman
Xaviera Simmons
Gillian Wearing
Michelle Puetz
24/10/2014
Body Doubles
Museum of Contemporary Art MCA, Chicago
The exhibition raises complex questions about the relationship between the body and identity, and explores the myriad ways that artists have used the body to challenge boundaries-between the individual and society, male and female, normal and transgressive.
Body Doubles raises complex questions about the relationship between the body and identity, and explores the myriad ways that artists have used the body to challenge boundaries—between the individual and society, male and female, interior and exterior, normal and transgressive. As the plurality of the exhibition’s title suggests, Body Doubles recognizes that the body is not fixed but rather in a perpetual state of flux and transformation. The exhibition explores two parallel ideas: first, that multiple bodies can perform one identity (akin to the role of the “body double” in cinema); and second, that multiple identities can exist within one body.
Drawn largely from the MCA’s permanent collection, the exhibition features artists who highlight the body as an object (something that we have), the body as a subject (something that we are), and the body as an ongoing performance (something that we become). These contemporary artists use the body as a tool for radical transformation as reflected through the lenses of sexuality, gender, class, age, and race. They think about the body as a positive problem, or, to borrow Thomas Osborn’s words, as a “vehicle for thought and action.”
Two cornerstones of the exhibition are Wu Tsang’s video installation, Mishima in Mexico (2012), a recent acquisition into the MCA’s permanent collection; and Lorna Simpson’s three-channel video installation Chess (2012), which makes its North American premiere. Body Doubles also includes works by Jean Arp, Valérie Belin, Jeanne Dunning, Robert Gober, Rashid Johnson, Gülsün Karamustafa, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Richard Prince, Christina Ramberg, Collier Shorr, Cindy Sherman, Xaviera Simmons, and Gillian Wearing.
Body Doubles is organized by Michelle Puetz, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
Support for Body Doubles is generously provided by the Pritzker Traubert Collection Exhibition Fund.
Additional generous support is provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellowship program and Sara Szold.
Image: Wu Tsang. Video still, Mishima in Mexico, 2012. High definition video projection (color, sound) and programmed LED light installation Unique
© 2012 Wu Tsang. Photo courtesy Michael Benevento, Los Angeles
Press contact:
Elena Grotto 312.397.3828 egrotto@mcachicago.org
Karla Loring 312.397.3834 kloring@mcachicago.org
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
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