Decadence Now!
dal 29/9/2010 al 1/1/2011
Segnalato da
29/9/2010
Decadence Now!
Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague
Visions of Excess
curator Otto M. Urban
Some pieces in this exhibition could be shocking. Galerie Rudolfinum recommends that highly sensitive persons and guidance of the children of up to 15 years of age think seriously about visiting this exhibition!
The Decadence Now! Visions of Excess is the international exhibition project which works with the concept of decadence in current art. The exhibition is not divided chronologically, but thematically into sequential sections which fluently and logically relate to each other, and which also create a sort-of imaginary closing circle.
During the past several yeas, the concepts of decadence have begun to appear more and more in art theory, often in relation to current art. The commonness of the concept of decadence, or its parallel existence outside of the sphere of art, also enables new methodological processes and combinations, and discovers new territories and relationships. Decadent art is excessive, it exceeds the level of what is generally acceptable, and it provocatively demolishes the most sensitive taboos. Decadence is also firmly connected to the clear stance of outsider individualism.
Decadence is a theme which is topical in current culture, or better yet, it is once again topical. The apocalyptic feeling of ruin and crisis of our civilization incites the increased interest in the dark side of humans and of the world itself.
Starting on the 1970's, we can monitor the continual effort of the artists like Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Nobuyoshi Araki, Jake a Dinos Chapman, Robert Mapplethorpe, Damien Hirst, Zhang Peng, Keith Haring, Andres Serrano, Gottfried Helnwein etc. to work with typical decadent themes.
In relation to this, the increased interest in decadence from the view of the expert and lay public is also relevant. Exhibitions which present works of decadent art evoke enthusiastic reactions in the same manner as public scandals do. However, they always open discussions on an entire line of key themes like alienation, ugliness, beauty, hallucination, death, pornography, drugs, sickness and madness, that form basic questions of current culture and society.
It is also apparent that a theme which is seemingly obsolete and out-of-date, such as censorship (internal and external), once again makes an appearance on the scene in the context of the new political correctness. Decadent art is subversive, impulsive, it does not evoke indifference, but it requires the formulization of a clear stance. In this sense, decadence is excessive, extreme and also provocative. Alienation, seeming impartialness or depersonalized voyeurism is also a clearly profiled attitude of decadence.
This exhibition presents contemporary artists and their works in the fields of painting, sculpture, photography, and videos in five main areas, including Pop, extended by an independent installation, “Room No. 13,” in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, which indicates current trends in fashion or design.
The exhibition shall be completed by an entire line of accompanying programs (music, film, literature etc.). The Arbor Vitae publishing house, in cooperation with Galerie Rudolfinum will release an extensive publication, whose author is Otto M. Urban, curator of the exhibition, that mapping the entire exhibition project from not only the graphic arts viewpoint, but also from the philosophical, historical and social viewpoints. Of course, a rich picture part documenting the exhibited works will be the centre point of the whole book.
Parts of the exhibition:
Excess of the Self: Pain
Matthew Barney, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Gilbert & George, Gottfried Helnwein, Damien Hirst, Jürgen Klauke, Robert Mapplethorpe, Yasumasa Morimura, Catherine Opie, Pierre et Gilles, Cindy Sherman, Andreas Sterzing, Joel-Peter Witkin, David Wojnarowicz
Excess of the Body: Sex
Nobuyoshi Araki, Marc Bijl, Wim Delvoye, Martin Gerboc, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Jeff Koons, Niba, ORLAN, Jan van Oost, Pierre et Gilles, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, Géza Szöllősi, Tsang Kin-Wah, Joel-Peter Witkin
Excess of the Beauty: Pop
Boaz Arad, Ondřej Brody, Jiří Černický, David Černý, Gilbert & George, Martin Gerboc, Gottfried Helnwein, Zsófia Keresztes, Nick Knight, Alexander Kosolapov, David LaChapelle, Zbigniew Libera, Alexander McQueen, Robert Miller, Yasumasa Morimura, NIBA, Shimon Okshteyn, Erwin Olaf, ORLAN, Pierre et Gilles, Jamie Reid, Terry Rodgers, Comenius Roethlisberger, Paolo Schmidlin, Richard Stipl, Géza Szöllősi, Mark Ther, Maciej Toporowicz, Joel-Peter Witkin
Excess of the Mind: Madness
David Bailey & Damien Hirst, Matthew Barney, Josef Bolf, Gottfried Helnwein, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Jürgen Klauke, Joachim Luetke, Ikuko Miyazaki, Yasumasa Morimura, Catherine Opie, Zhang Peng, Joel-Peter Witkin
Excess of the Life: Death
Steven Gregory, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Václav Jirásek, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jan van Oost, Ivan Pinkava, Joel-Peter Witkin
Decadence Now! is the international exhibition project for Galerie Rudolfinum, the House of Art in Brno, the West-Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen and DOX Centre for Contemporary Art.
Image: Zhang Peng, Desiring Happiness No.1, 2007. C-print, 170 x 150 cm.
12. 10. 2010 from 8.30 P.M.
Kino Aero
The cook, the thief, hs wife & her lover
A film by Peter Greenaway as part of the Decadence Now!: The Single Shots film festival.
http://www.kinoaero.cz
Promotion
Klára Derzsiová Tel.: +420 227 059205 E-mail: derzsiova@rudolfinum.org
Galerie Rudolfinum
Alsovo Nabrezi, 12 Prague
Opening time:
Tuesday-Wednesday, Friday-Sunday: from 10 am to 6 pm
Thursday: from 10 am to 8 pm