Zoe Leonard
dal 2/12/2009 al 20/2/2010
Segnalato da
2/12/2009
Zoe Leonard
Museum Moderner Kunst MUMOK, Wien
The first major survey of the work of american artist. In addition to early works from the 1980s and 1990s, the exhibition includes 'Analogue', a series of 412 photographs produced between 1998 and 2009 in which Leonard investigates the changes in the urban landscape and economy resulting from a rapidly advancing globalization. Leonard is concerned with the language of photography in it's various genres: aerial photography, scientific documentation, snapshots, fashion photography or documentation of exhibition display.
Curated by Matthias Michalka
“Photographs” is the first major survey of the work of American artist Zoe
Leonard. In addition to early works from the 1980s and 1990s, the
MUMOK exhibition will include “Analogue”, a series of 412 photographs
produced between 1998 and 2009 in which Leonard investigates the
changes in the urban landscape and economy resulting from a rapidly
advancing globalization.
.
Born in 1961 in Liberty, New York, Leonard is counted among the most
outstanding figures in the art world today; in recent years she has
consistently participated in international exhibitions such as the Whitney
Biennial and the documenta. The photographs Leonard has produced
over the past twenty years reveal subtle discrepancies in our everyday life
and draw out contradictions between nature and culture, the living and
the transient, the local and the global. Both her color and black and white
images feature a precise eye for details and for the overlooked.
Zoe Leonard is concerned with the language of photography in it’s
various genres: aerial photography, scientific documentation, snapshots,
fashion photography or documentation of exhibition display. She
alternates point of view, perspective and distance by turning and shifting
her gaze, and presents the photograph as a subjective document.
Leonard also subverts the conventions of traditional processing and
printing; she does not crop or retouch her photographs. Instead, her
photographs always bear traces of their genesis. By incorporating the
black border of the negative into the print, and leaving the spots and
marks from dust, scratches or flaws in the negative, her prints allow the
photographic process to remain visible.
Leonard directs her gaze at cities, railway infrastructures and Niagara
Falls, she brings trees, fences, wax anatomical models as well as fashion
shows and museum displays into focus. Her photographs confront us
with situations that are not staged; they attentively remind us of our
everyday life and occurrences in it that we take for granted, questioning
thereby our viewing habits and conventions of perception.
Zoe Leonard is usually familiar with the places where she takes her
pictures. She photographs in nature and on city streets and also in places
where objects are on display: in museums of natural sciences or museums
of art, in shop windows or at fashion shows.
It is therefore not surprising that for Zoe Leonard the way in which her
own work is displayed is also an essential part of her artistic practice.
When installing her photographs, the artist is always mindful of the
conditions of the respective space. “Photographs”, which was originally
initiated by the Fotomuseum Winterthur, has been adapted and
supplemented by the artist for this presentation in Vienna. Leonard
worked closely with Michalka to realize the exhibition within the spaces
and context of the MUMOK.
Biography
Zoe Leonard was born in 1961 and lives and works in New York City. She
has exhibited internationally since 1990, including recent solo
presentations at Dia: Beacon (2008, ongoing), Dia at the Hispanic
Society, New York (2008), the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus,
Ohio (2007); Villa Arson, Nice, France (2007); Philadelphia Museum of Art
(1998); Kunsthalle Basel (1997); the Vienna Secession (1997) and the
Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (1993). She has
participated in numerous group exhibitions including documenta IX
(1992), documenta XII (2007), and Whitney Biennials in 1993 and 1997.
In 2007, Leonard was the subject of a 20-year career retrospective at the
Fotomuseum Winterthur, in Winterthur, Switzerland, which traveled to
the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid
in 2008, the Neue Pinakothek, Munich (2009) and the Museum Moderner
Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (2009).
Guided tour
with the artist Zoe Leonard and curator Matthias Michalka
Saturday, December the 5th at 4 p.m.
Press Contact Eva Engelberger;
Telefon +43-1-52500-1400
eva.engelberger@mumok.at;
press@mumok.at
Press Conference December 3, 10:00 a.m.
Opening December 3, 19:00 p.m.
MUMOK
Museumsplatz 1, A - 1070 Wien
Ebene 4 und Factory
Daily: 10a.m-6p.m., Thu: 10a.m-9p.m.
Entrance Fee normal € 9,- reduced € 7,20 - € 6,50