Following the tradition of Duchamp, Steinbach transforms everyday, mass-produced objects into art. Taken out of their original context, and staged on hand-crafted, laminated wooden shelves, he investigates the relationship between the functional object and the 'art object.' Artist explores the common social ritual of collecting, arranging and presenting objects, in turn discovering the psychological and cultural context of the object. The Curated Shelf by Tracey Emin allows the customer to engage with the mind of the artist through understanding the background and thought process behind their work. The artist is invited to fill the shelf with books that have contributed to their work, their thinking or their persona.
Haim Steinbach
Leading American artist Haim Steinbach (b 1944) brings his sculptural works to London in a special
commission for the Louis Vuitton Maison, New Bond Street.
Following the tradition of Duchamp, along with the geometric simplicity of Minimalism, Haim Steinbach
transforms everyday, mass‐produced objects into art. Taken out of their original context, and staged on
hand‐crafted, laminated wooden shelves, Steinbach investigates the relationship between the functional
object and the “art object.”
In this installation, entitled Display #67 ‐ Forsythia ‐ PLS5/2SB, Steinbach places two bright yellow safety
boots next to a yellow laser level, on a yellow plastic laminated, wood shelf, which is attached to a free‐
standing wall. Laser beams project from the level in five different directions. Stripped of their
autonomous meanings, the objects lose their definition as commercial objects and take on new meaning
in this new, re‐imagined display. By subverting the social hierarchy of the items, the boundaries between
the items disappear and the sculpture reveals the energy between the pieces, and between the objects
and the shelf support.
Steinbach explores the common social ritual of collecting, arranging and presenting objects, in turn
discovering the psychological and cultural context of the object. Each group of objects alludes to a
relationship, and demonstrates that everyday objects have a complexity and sophisticated relation to
space that is often overlooked, but can actually enhance our experience and appreciation of that item.
Ordering, exalting and isolating objects, the artist challenges aspirations through design. Steinbach’s work
has radically redefined the status of the object in art, and has had a far reaching influence on
contemporary art thinking. In this new and exciting work, he fuses the legacy of the Maison and its recent
renewal in a playful and tangible oeuvre.
Haim Steinbach’s work is in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, as well as the Stedelijk Museum, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart and the Tate
Modern.
Louis Vuitton has a long established relationship with the arts both in this country and around the world
and, this dedicated first floor exhibition space at the Maison, New Bond Street, provides a wonderful
opportunity to present specially commissioned exhibitions by leading contemporary artists. These
exhibitions are part of Louis Vuitton’s wider activity within the art world in London and operate alongside
the Librarie, which specializes in limited edition prints and art publications.
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Tracey Emin
The Curated Shelf
Louis Vuitton is delighted to present ‘The Curated Shelf’ by celebrated British artist, Tracey
Emin. This is the second in a series of artist curated temporary exhibits inaugurated in May
2010 at the opening of the new Louis Vuitton Bond Street Maison, with Marc Quinn’s
selection of 15 books. The Curated Shelf allows the customer to engage with the mind of
the artist through understanding the background and thought process behind their work.
The artist is invited to fill the shelf with books that have contributed to their work, their
thinking or their persona. These may be books by the artist, but could also be books they
loved in childhood, eccentric choices that have influenced them or works that have
provided inspiration; they can be anything that has informed the artist’s practice.
Tracey Emin’s selection includes Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte; Breakfast at Tiffany’s,
Truman Capote; Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky; My Cousin Rachel, Daphne
de Maurier; Rebecca, Daphne de Maurier; Strangeland, Tracey Emin; Madame Bovary,
Gustave Flaubert; Laughter in the Dark, Vladimir Nabokov; The Moon’s Balloon, David
Niven; and Ethics, Spinoza.
Other books about Tracey Emin available to buy in the Librairie include One Thousand
Drawings by Tracey Emin, Rizzoli (2009); Tracey Emin: Monoprint Diaries, White Cube
(2009); Those Who Suffer Love, Tracey Emin, White Cube (2009); Tracey Emin: 20 Years,
National Galleries of Scotland (2008); and Tracey Emin: You Left Me Breathing, Gagosian
Gallery (2007).
The Louis Vuitton, New Bond Street Maison is the most luxurious store to date, a store that
reflects both the art-de-vivre and savoir-faire of the brand. Conceived as the home of a
collector, the Maison gives its visitors the opportunity to discover new and exciting
experiences. One of the most important elements of the Louis Vuitton New Bond Street
Maison is the ‘Librairie’ situated on the first floor. The ‘Librairie’ is a unique cultural
concept within a retail store: A specialist area on the first floor, the core of the Librairie is
a selection of books about the best of contemporary art, especially celebrating
twentieth and twenty-first century British art. Also to be found are unique sets of specially
commissioned collectable art prints, by notable British artists, in specially leather bound
books and solander boxes, alongside the renowned city guides and Louis Vuitton’s own
publications.
Tracey Emin was born in London in 1963 and was raised in the seaside town of Margate
on the English coast. She studied printmaking at Maidstone College of Art in Kent and
painting at the Royal College of Art. In 2008 the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
held her first major retrospective, ‘Tracey Emin: 20 Years,’ which subsequently toured to
the Centro de Arte Contempoáneo de Málaga in Spain and the Kunstmuseum Bern in
Switzerland 2009. In 2007 Emin represented Britain at the 52nd Venice Biennale.
Tracey Emin lives and works in London.
Image: Haim Steinbach six feet under, 2004, plastic laminated wood shelf; plasitc frog; plastic feet; ceramic pig; wooden clogs
For press information:
Calum Sutton PR
Catherine Mason or Meredith Nichols +44 (0) 207 183 3577
catherine@suttonpr.com / meredith@suttonpr.com
Opening Tuesday 12 October 2010
Louis Vuitton Maison
17/20 New Bond Street, London
Opening hours: Mon‐Sat 10am - 7pm
Sunday 12pm - 6pm
Free admission