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23/9/2009

Luc Tuymans

Red October Chocolate Factory, Moscow

BAIBAKOV art projects is proud to announce the first major exhibition of Luc Tuymans in Russia, where the artist will also be a special guest of the Third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. ‘Against the Day’ will open at the Red October Chocolate Factory in Moscow on 25th September coinciding with the artist’s first US retrospective which opens at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio from 17th September.

Luc Tuymans is recognised as one of the most significant and influential contemporary painters working today. ‘Against the Day’ is the last of four exhibitions held between 2006 to 2009, which are described by Tuymans as “a triptych.” Each show constitutes a critique of, in the artist’s own words, “utopic ideals in society.” ‘Restoration’ (Wako Works of Art, Tokyo, 2006) and ‘Les Revenants’ (Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp, 2007) looked at the power structures of the Jesuit religious order; ‘Forever: The Magic of Management’ (David Zwirner, New York, 2008) addressed the impact of the fantasy world of Walt Disney.

‘Against the Day’, takes its title and inspiration from the American novelist, Thomas Pynchon’s recent work, to explore aspects of virtual reality and its effects on our perception of reality. Tuymans describes Pynchon as “the man who introduced paranoia in American literature,” and comments that, “the idea of tearing down utopia is present in all his work.” Of his own show, Tuymans has said that ‘Against the Day’ “presents the idea of an end, showing things as raw material, dispersed and disjointed, simultaneously offering more and more propositions, but basically going nowhere. It is the world as we know it.”

Included in this exhibition are the seminal paintings Against the Day I and Against the Day II (2008), paintings which capture the effect of pressing the pause button of a moving TV screen with a remote control. Against the Day I is a staged image which shows a man in the corner of a garden, aimlessly shovelling the ground. In his earlier works about the Jesuits, Tuymans created portraits of saints and images of churches where the views and perspectives are projected upwards. Here, the perspective is reversed, spiralling down. Against the Day II shows the same figure after an interval of time when he has stopped digging and looks ahead as if frozen.

In Big Brother (2008), which refers to the popular UK reality show, Tuymans renders a voyeuristic surveillance-type of still image of an empty barrack-like bedroom. In the diptych, Neck Hair (2009), he uses virtual imagery to focus on what appears to be a man's advancing baldness recorded by a surveillance camera. Neck Hair is, however, derived from a less reliable 3D animation.

Sniper (2009) is based on a video of an Iraqi sniper in the midst of violent combat in Baghdad. This type of image, widely available on the internet, is often reused in video games and distributed commercially as a form of mass entertainment. Sniper is the instant image of a real hit from a sharpshooter at the moment of striking his target in Figure 3 Luc Tuymans, Sniper, 2009.

Baghdad. Tuymans came across it while surfing the web and it was later deleted and replaced by a simulated computer game bearing the same title. The intention of Tuymans’ work is to “fully revert back to the idea of the impact, and the immediacy.” ‘Against the Day’ is organized by Dirk Snauwaert, Director at Wiels Center for contemporary art in Brussels, and Curator of the Belgian pavilion at the current Venice Biennale, and is presented in conjunction with BAIBAKOV art projects’ Maria Baibakova and Kate Sutton. The 20 new works were launched at the new Wiels Center for contemporary art in Brussels in February this year, where they marked the artist’s long overdue first solo exhibition in the capital of his home country. Following its run in Moscow, the exhibition will continue to the Rooseum-Moderna Museet, Malmo in Sweden.

Luc Tuymans boasts an extensive exhibition history. Since his first major solo show at David Zwirner in New York in 1994, he has enjoyed numerous international exhibitions. In 2008, the artist was the focus of a retrospective travelling from Mucsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary to Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany and Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland. Most recently, Tuymans was the subject of solo exhibitions at Kabinet für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremerhaven, Germany (2007); MuHKA Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium (2007); Museu Serralves, Porto, Portugal (2006); Musee d’Art Moderne et Contemporain (MAMCO), Geneva, Switzerland (2006); and Tate Modern, London, England (2004). Figure 4 Luc Tuymans, CCTV, 2009. ‘Against the Day’ will be the first solo exhibition to be held by BAIBAKOV art projects, which has previously held group shows of contemporary art from Russia, London and America. Luc Tuymans is represented by David Zwirner, New York, and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp.

About BAIBAKOV art projects:
Founded by curator Maria Baibakova in 2008, BAIBAKOV art projects provides a progressive platform for cultural production within Moscow. The program places a firm emphasis on dialogue, actively engaging both a local and international audience through a series of exhibitions, lectures, performances, and publications intended to both further the public’s interest and understanding of contemporary art as well as to challenge previous conceptions about how this art can function within contemporary society. To this end, BAIBAKOV art projects welcomes creative collaboration with international artists, curators, and cultural institutions. The program is a non-profit art venture and, in keeping with Baibakova’s vision,” committed to the support and sustained development of emerging art, pioneering a new model of patronage to promote experimental art practice in Moscow.” (Baibakova)

Director and chief curator, Maria Baibakova was born in Moscow and later studied art history at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, and at The Courtauld Institute, London, where she obtained a distinction in her MA. She has gained invaluable experience working within multiple facets of the contemporary art world, from museums and galleries, to auction houses and curating a private collection. This experience informs her own independent practice as a curator, bringing an international insight to her work in Moscow.

As of December 2008, BAIBAKOV art projects has operated out of the historic Red October Chocolate Factory, where it occupies more than 2,800 square meters on the third floor of the iconic red brick building. From this location, it is poised to become a central part of the nearby cultural hub, which includes the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the Moscow House of Photography, the New Tretyakov Gallery and Art Center ArtStrelka.

Editor’s notes:
The first US retrospective for Luc Tuymans will tour the following museums: Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (September 17, 2009 to January 3, 2010); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (February 6 to May 2, 2010); Dallas Museum of Art (June 6 to September 5, 2010); The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (October 2, 2010 to January 9, 2011); then travels to Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (February 11 to May 8, 2011). A major exhibition catalogue will accompany the show
In 2010, Phaidon Press will publish Luc Tuymans: Against the Day. This book will encompass the four exhibitions from 2006 to 2009: ‘Restoration’; ‘Les Revenants’; ‘Forever: The Management of Magic’ and ‘Against the Day.’

Paget Baker Associates, London
Will Paget, Sophie Money, and Alice Parsons +44 207 323 6963
Email: alice@pagetbaker.com

BAIBAKOV art projects
Red October Chocolate Factory
3rd Floor, Bersenevskaya Naberezhnaya, 6 Moscow
Opening times: 11-7 pm Tuesday - Sunday
Closed Monday

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