29/5/2009
Images et (re)presentations
Magasin, Grenoble
At the end of 2008, Le Magasin presented the first instalment of a two-part exhibition devoted to the art of the 1980s. Accompanied by a book, this first project was organised around groups of works that shed light on the notions of private space, public space and community. Now, the second part focuses on the central question of the image. Whether in the ''pattern painting'' of the artists grouped under that title in the early years of the decade, or in its different iconographic and stylistic registers, the art of this period drew on the culture industry and media as well as the history of art, both ancient and modern.
At the end of 2008, Le Magasin presented the first instalment of a two-part exhibition devoted to the art
of the 1980s. Accompanied by a book, this first project was organised around groups of works that shed
light on the notions of private space, public space and community.
Now, the second part focuses on the central question of the image. Whether in the "pattern painting" of
the artists grouped under that title in the early years of the decade, or in its different iconographic and
stylistic registers, the art of this period drew on the culture industry and media as well as the history of
art, both ancient and modern.
This thoroughgoing appropriation of existing images also entered the Neoclassical field, via the pittura
colta of Carlo Maria Mariani, the left-field second manner of Salvo and the work of German artists like
Ulrich Horndasch. It could also be observed in the neo-Futurism (nuovo futurismo) of Plumcake and the Neo-Geo work of Peter Halley.
Images from the culture industry and media were used abundantly by the artists represented at Metro
Pictures: Cindy Sherman, Walter Robinson, Thomas Lawson, Jack Goldstein and others took their
material from television, advertising, cinema and cartoons. Here they found their icons as well as ways
of making or reproducing them.
This flood of images and signs can also be observed in the output of the French "media painters" (Les
Ripoulin, Les musulmans fumants, Nina Childress) and in that of the American artists who came from
the graffiti scene, many of whom were taken up by the Fun and Gracie Mansion galleries. The same
prodigality is found among German artists, notably Martin Kippenberger and Jiri Georg Dokoupil and
their circle.
Publication
This second part of the exhibition will be accompanied by a second volume about the 1980s, containing
texts (again in both French and English) by Thomas Lawson, Gregory L. Ulmer, Julia Kristeva, Peter
Fuller, Germano Celant, Rudi Fuchs, Peter Halley, Helena Kontova, etc.
Format 22 x 28 cm, 240 p. colour, hardcover. Publication Magasin, Grenoble, 2009.
ISBN: 978-2-906732-85-8 Distribution: Les Presses du Réel
Communication - Press
Laure Chataigner +33 (0)4 76 21 65 26, l.chataigner@magasin-cnac.org
Opening Saturday 30 May 2009 at 18:00
MAGASIN - Centre National d'Art Contemporain
Site Bouchayer-Viallet 155 cours Berriat 38000 Grenoble - France
Opening times
Tuesday to Sundat, from 2 pm to 7 pm.
Tours on demand for groups in the mornings, from Tuesday to Saturday - Contact: 04 76 21 65 25
Entrance fees
Normal 3,50€
Reduced 2€ (unemployed, disabled, senior, art teachers, ...).
Free for children under 10, Laissez-Passer Magasin holders.