Whatever Happened to Sex in Scandinavia?
dal 4/11/2008 al 31/1/2009
Segnalato da
Thomas Bayrle
Stan Brakhage
Marie-Louise Ekman
Carl Johan De Geer
Oyvind Fahlstrom
Leif Gabrielsen
Marianne Heske
Sanja Ivekovic
Erkki Kurenniemi
Lee Lozano
Babette Mangolte
Gunvor Nelson
Claes Oldenburg
Carolee Schneemann
Erro'
Yvonne Rainer
Barbara T. Smith
Willibald Storn
Marta Kuzma
4/11/2008
Whatever Happened to Sex in Scandinavia?
Office for Contemporary Art Norway - OCA, Oslo
A Research and Exhibition Project by the Office for Contemporary Art 2007/2008 that consists of three platforms - an exhibition, a programme of public events and a publication - examining the juncture of the political and the erotic through the work of artists produced predominantly in the context of the countercultural movements of the 1960s and 70s. On display works by nearly forty international artists and filmakers, as well as publications, journals and documentary material, all reflecting upon experimental moments in which artistic and cultural practice embraced or reflected a movement towards sexual and political liberation. Curator: Marta Kuzma.
Curator: Marta Kuzma
'Whatever Happened to Sex in Scandinavia?' is a research project that consists of
three platforms - an exhibition, a programme of public events and a publication - examining the juncture of the political and the erotic through the work of
artists produced predominantly in the context of the countercultural movements of
the 1960s and 70s. Part of OCA's Verksted series, the exhibition and public
programme are the result of an extensive research project about the international
perception of Scandinavia during the 1950s, 60s and 70s as a utopic region of
socialism and sexual freedom. This project will introduce OCA's new premises at
Nedre gate 7 in Oslo.
The exhibition 'Whatever Happened to Sex in Scandinavia?' includes works by nearly
forty international artists and filmmakers, as well as publications, journals and
documentary material, all reflecting upon experimental moments in which artistic and
cultural practice embraced or reflected a movement towards sexual and political
liberation. The exhibition includes works by Thomas Bayrle, Stan Brakhage,
Marie-Louise Ekman, Carl Johan De Geer, Öyvind Fahlström, Leif Gabrielsen, Marianne
Heske, Sanja Iveković, Erkki Kurenniemi, Lee Lozano, Babette Mangolte, Gunvor
Nelson, Claes Oldenburg, Carolee Schneemann and Erró, Yvonne Rainer, Barbara T.
Smith and Willibald Storn among others. The exhibition pays special attention to
resonant moments within the Scandinavian art context, such as Poul Gernes's social
and artistic practice in the Eks-Skolen in Copenhagen, the relational activities of
Gruppe 66 and Konkret Analyse in Bergen, and the interventions of Kanonklubben in
Denmark a nd Norway. These are complemented with historical material, such as works
by Erich Heckel, Kai Fjell and Edvard Munch, and documentation of the activist
agendas of Katti Anker Moller, Elise Ottesen-Jensen and Kathe Kollwitz and of the
revolutionary sexual-scientific investigations of Wilhelm Reich in Oslo. Archival
material includes censored and underground publications in Scandinavia and
internationally - the magazines Evergreen Review from the US, Puss from Sweden,
Ta' and Ta' Box from Denmark and Gateavisa from Norway - in an effort to
illustrate the correlations between the distribution networks for underground
publications and radical art communities.
This project examines the historical roots of sex reform as a political initiative
as analyzed by Herbert Marcuse in Eros and Civilization, and intends to purposefully
open up and provoke questions about this history and related artistic and cultural
production. The exhibition will be complemented by a series of screenings, lectures
and seminars with participants such as filmmakers Jonas Mekas, co-founder of
Film-Makers' Cooperative and Anthology Film Archives in New York City, MM Serra,
director of the Film-Makers' Cooperative, and Nicky Hamlyn; artists Sanja Iveković,
Carolee Schneemann and Barbara T. Smith; and historians HÃ¥vard Nilsen and Troels
Andersen. They will be accompanied by special screening evenings featuring films by
Stan Brakhage, Oyvind Fahlstrom, Jean Genet, Willard Maas, Anthony McCall, Yvonne
Rainer, Barbara Rubin, Carolee Schneemann, Jack Smith, Mai Zetterling and others. A
two-day seminar dedicated to discussing political radicalism, the socia l and
identity construction and gender in the Scandinavian context will take place on the
21st and the 22nd of January at OCA. The schedule of speakers will be announced in
early November.
'Whatever Happened to Sex in Scandinavia?' is organized by OCA and curated by its
director, Marta Kuzma, with the assistance of Tonja Boos, OCA's project coordinator.
An accompanying publication will appear in 2009, co-edited by Pablo Lafuente, OCA's
associate curator and managing editor of Afterall, a journal of contemporary art
based in London. The exhibition is supported with a generous grant from Fritt Ord in
Oslo, with additional assistance provided by the Goethe Institut in Oslo. The
exhibition includes important loans from the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Museum
of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki, the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig
(MUMOK) and Kontakt - Die Kunstsammlung der Erste Bank-Gruppe in Vienna, the
Estate of Lee Lozano, the Film-Makers' Cooperative in New York and important private
collections.
Image: Scene from the film I Am Curious - Yellow, Directed by Vilgot Sjoman,
1967. Courtesy Sandrew Metronome
For press information, please contact:
Jorn Mortensen tel: +47 23 23 31 50 jorn.mortensen@oca.no
Press Preview: Wednesday, 5 November, 14:00 - 16:00
Public Opening: Saturday, 8 November, 12:00 - 16:00
Screening of the film Obscene (dir. Neil Ortenberg and Daniel O'Connor, 2007):
Saturday, 8 November, 19:30 - 21:30, with dialogue between Barney Rosset, founder of
Evergreen Review/Grove Press and Marta Kuzma, director of OCA
Office for Contemporary Art Norway
Nedre gate 7 - 0551 Oslo Norway