Marina Abramovic
Berlinde de Bruyckere
Jake & Dinos Chapman
Wim Delvoye
Damien Hirst
Zilvinas Kempinas
Iannis Kounellis
Juul Kraijer
Sidney Nolan
Claude Rutault
Markus Schinwald
Jason Shulman
Felice Varini
Sandra Vasquez de la Horra
Erwin Wurm
Ah Xian
Nicole Durling
Olivier Varenne
Tijs Visser
Jean-Hubert Martin
For its 10th showing of a private collection is invited David Walsh, founder of the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania to show together apparently "heterogeneous" objects and question museal conventions. The exhibition shows non-Western works cabinet of curiosities pieces, antiquities, ancient art and works by contemporary artists.
curator: Jean-Hubert Martin
assistants curators: Nicole Durling, Olivier Varenne and Tijs Visser
For its tenth showing of a private collection, la maison rouge invites David Walsh, founder of the
Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
(TMAG). Curator Jean-Hubert Martin has delved into David Walsh's own collection, as well as that
of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), to show together apparently "heterogeneous"
objects and question museal conventions.
Titled Theatre of the World in reference to Giulio Camillo's Theatre of Memory for François I, the
exhibition sets out to suggest alternatives to the prevailing historical discourse. It transforms the
viewer into an instrument for actively investigating and understanding the world.
Theatre of the World shows non-Western works (with a gallery reserved for an outstanding
collection of Pacific barkcloths) cabinet of curiosities pieces, antiquities, ancient art and works by
contemporary artists including Marina Abramovic, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Jake & Dinos Chapman,
Wim Delvoye, Emily, Damien Hirst, Zilvinas Kempinas, Iannis Kounellis, Juul Kraijer, Sidney Nolan,
Claude Rutault, Markus Schinwald, Jason Shulman, Felice Varini, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra,
Erwin Wurm and Ah Xian.
The exhibition strikes relations, whether corresponding or contrasting, between the form or
meaning of these works of different origins. Unexpected resemblances are brought to light
through themes such as eyes, body, double or war. An entire gallery is given over to an
outstanding collection of Polynesian and Melanesian tapa cloths from the Tasmanian Museum
and Art Gallery collection.
David Walsh
David Walsh is an Australian art collector. In 1999 he opened the Moorilla Museum of Antiquities
on a peninsula near Hobart in Tasmania. The museum closed for renovation in 2006, reopening in
2011 as the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).
Australia's largest privately funded museum with 6,000 square metres of exhibition space, MONA
extends over three subterranean levels, built into the cliff. It shows David Walsh's heteroclite
collection, including Greek coins, archaeological artefacts, primitivism and contemporary art.
Works from different cultures, eras and origins come together in an anachronistic hanging. The
collection forms a modern cabinet of curiosities that defies any habitual methodology.
Jean-Hubert Martin
An internationally respected curator and former director of the MNAM in Paris and of the Kunst
Palace in Düsseldorf, Jean-Hubert Martin is the curator of Theatre of the World which shows part
of the David Walsh collection.
An expert on European and American artistic circles and a connoisseur of contemporary art on all
five continents, Jean-Hubert Martin has repeatedly demonstrated his role in spearheading new
international art, and his interest for as yet little-known artists. He was, for example, an early
proponent of the work of artists such as Boltanski, Buren, Delvoye, Messager, Sarkis and Schutte.
Jean-Hubert Martin was one of the first curators to show art from around the world in Magiciens
de la Terre in 1989. In doing so he sparked a passionate - and ongoing - debate on the meaning
and value afforded to non-Western art. As the curator of the Lyons Biennale in 2000, he
introduced anthropological elements which extended the term "exoticism" to the Western world:
no longer the sole reference, the Western point of view is balanced by the vision which the rest of
the world has of the West. For Hubert, globalisation is not synonymous with uniformisation but
an acknowledgement of cultural diversity.
With Artempo at the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice, in 2007, Jean-Hubert Martin sidestepped technical
constraints and chronological conventions to create associations and interplay between the
works on view.
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG)
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery is one of the most diverse and unusual museums in
Australia, showcasing treasures of art, history and science. TMAG has its origins in Australia’s
oldest scientific society, the Royal Society of Tasmania which was established in 1843.
Located on Hobart’s historic waterfront, close to the city’s centre, TMAG’s site includes the most
significant collection of heritage buildings anywhere in Australia. Following a spectacular
redevelopment in 2012, TMAG’s new permanent collection galleries provoke wonder, curiosity and
inspiration. Exhibitions explore Tasmania’s rich and complex history, its proud Indigenous culture,
rich artistic heritage, unique wilderness, unusual animals, and centuries of Antarctic and Pacific
exploration.
Scenography by Tijs Visser, Adrian Spinks (MONA)
Lighting Design, MEGS Lighting, Adam Meredith
Exhibition catalogue:
In French and English with colour illustrations, this is the tenth catalogue in the Privées collection,
jointly published by la maison rouge and Fage Éditions.
With contributions from Jean-Hubert Martin, Thierry Dufrene, Tijs Visser and Kirsten Brett. p., 24 €
Image: left: Oleg Kulik, Family of the Future, 9, 1997, centre: Berlinde De Bruyckere, P XIII, 2008, right: Sidney Nolan, Centaur and Angel,
1952 © MONA/Rémi Chauvin Image Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Press contact:
Claudine Colin Communication 28 rue de Sévigné – 75004 Paris t: +33 (0)1 42726001, f: +33 (0)1 42725023
Laure Jardry, Pénélope Ponchelet laure@claudinecolin.com, penelope@claudinecolin.com
Press preview Friday October 18th 2013 9.30am – 11am
Preview Friday October 18th 2013 6pm – 9pm
La Maison Rouge
Fondation Antoine De Galbert
10 bd De la Bastille – 75012 Paris
Open Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm
late nights Thursday until 9pm
closed December 25th, January 1st and May 1st
Admission
full price: 8,00 €
students, concessions : 5,50 € (13-18, students full-time artists, over 65s)
free for under 13s, job-seekers, companions to disabled visitors members of ICOM and Amis de la visitors, maison rouge