Christopher James - Associate Director, Public Relations
The Walker presents the latest phase and first US exhibition of Baby Marx, an ongoing project by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes that looks at the potential for mass entertainment to operate as a radical educational tool. An architect by training, Reyes works across platforms and disciplines - including design, installation, and video - to explore sites and scenarios of collective interaction.
Curated by Bartholomew Ryan and Camille Washington
The Walker presents the latest phase and first US exhibition of Baby Marx, an ongoing project by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes that looks at the potential for mass entertainment to operate as a radical educational tool. An architect by training, Reyes works across platforms and disciplines—including design, installation, and video—to explore sites and scenarios of collective interaction. Originally conceived for television, Baby Marx is set in a small town library where a group of precocious children have brought Karl Marx and Adam Smith back to life by zapping their influential books in a glitch-prone “Smart-O-Wave” microwave oven. The founders of communism and the free market confront each other and their legacies, haunted by the twin specters of Joseph Stalin and Bernie Madoff, as well as the latest global economic crisis.
Featuring the intricate set pieces and handmade puppets used for a trailer shot in Japan and a pilot episode filmed in Mexico City, the exhibition is an investigation of the entire Baby Marx project to date. Unlike earlier phases, this version uses the tools and procedures of documentary filmmaking to reflect on the question “What is Baby Marx?” More specifically, what does this work have to say about the contemporary moment and our complicated relationships with philosophies filtered through years of contradictory interpretations? The exhibition includes an in-gallery production studio and a series of public events offering a lively meditation on the intersections of entertainment, ideology, and contemporary art.
Related Events
Mack Lecture
Opening-Day Talk: Pedro Reyes, Michael Hardt, and Lauren Berlant
Thursday, August 11, 2011 7:00 pm
Gallery Talk
Baby Marx Town Hall
Saturday, August 13, 2011 2:00 pm
Music
Songs for Communism and Capitalism at Acoustic Campfire
Thursday, September 1, 2011 6:00 pm
Organized by the Walker Art Center.
Press contact:
Christopher James Associate Director, Public Relations 612.375.7651
christopher.james@walkerart.org
Performing arts, film/video, education & community programs
Rachel Joyce Assistant Director, Public Relations 612.375.7635
rachel.joyce@walkerart.org
Opening August 11, 2011
Walker Art Center
1750 Hennepin Avenue - Minneapolis USA
Galleries: Tuesday–Sunday, 11 am–5 pm
Open late Thursday, 11 am–9 pm
Closed Mondays and major holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., President's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day
Gallery Admission
$10 adults; $8 seniors (65+); $6 students (with ID)