Rirkrit Tiravanija
untitled 2012 (a study for Karl’s perfect day) or (the incomparable Karl Holmqvist)
August 28–October 5, 2012
Preview: August 27, 7pm
Screening times: Monday–Sunday, 10–6pm
Zuecca Project Space
Giudecca 33
30133 Venice, Italy
info [at] zueccagallery.com
T 0039 (0)41 2406908
Curated by Maurizio Bortolotti
Coordinated by Alessandro Possati
and in collaboration with Pilar Corrias Gallery
Zuecca Project Space (an exhibition center for contemporary art by The BAUERs group), during the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennial, continues its cultural programme with a world premiere of a project by Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija.
Rirkrit Tiravanija is one of the most well known and charismatic figures of his generation of artists and has received international acclaim. In recent times, he has developed a parallel interest in film and filmmaking as a means to capture the essential reality of the world around us.
Tiravanija participated in the Venice Film Festival 2011 in the section “Horizons” with the feature film Lung Neaw Visits his Neighbour and returns to the lagoon city to present this new project dedicated to Karl Holmqvist.
“As often happens in the work of the ‘Rirkrit Tiravanija,’ what interests him is not the art in itself, but the life that unfolds around and out of it. Choosing as the main character of his latest film the artist Karl Holmqvist, whose work spans across performance, poetry and fine art, helps shows how Tiravanija blurs the boundaries between life and art. Karl Holmqvist is filmed as an example of a single life: he is the image of an artist that is regenerated through the use of speech and that makes his performance the perfect synthesis of life and art.” –Maurizio Bortolotti
An eccentric figure in the contemporary art scene, Holmquist (1964, lives in Berlin), has attracted the attention of Rirkrit Tiravanija for his artistic work that focuses on reacting to a place, situation or specific area through the creation of books, wallpaper, lamps, video and objects. The modalities of development of the work of Holmqvist often suggest the creation of improvised communities formed around the reading of his poems or the making of his performances.
The premier of Tiravanija’s work will be held in Zuecca Project Space. The Zuecca Room is an integral part of the former Palladian convent of the Zitelle which was renovated to the highest standards and attention to detail. Francesca Bortolotto Possati (Group President and CEO) transformed the building into the ‘Bauer Palladio Hotel & Spa.’
The exhibition (curated by Maurizio Bortolotti and coordinated by the Zuecca Project Space director Alessandro Possati) takes its title from the film of the same name. Tiravanija’s new work will premier in conjunction with the opening of the Venice Film Festival. The exhibition will run until October 5, 2012.
Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija (Buenos Aires, 1961) is one of the main protagonists the international artistic debate in recent years and has become known especially for his performances, in which public participation is essential. Tiravanija was co-curator of Utopia Station at the Venice Biennial in 2003. In 2004 Tiravanija produced the project No Vitrines, No Artists, No Museums. Just a lot of people. 2005 saw retrospectives of the artists work at both Serpentine Gallery, London and ARC, Musee dʼArt Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris. The solo presentation A Long March, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Malaga, Spain was held in 2009.
Works included in the collections of: Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway; Carnegie Museum of Arts, Pittsburgh, USA; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy; Fundacîon Tantica, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Le Consortium, Dijon, France; Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, Humlebæk, Denmark; Migros Museum, Zurich, Switzerland; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon, Leon, Spain; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA; Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, USA; Sammlung der BRD, Berlin, Germany; The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA
With special thanks to Pilar Corrias Gallery, Hector Madera-Gonzalez, Glori Martalinares, Shwetal Patel and to the Atemporary Studio, media partner of the project.
Press office: Fiorella Girardo, press@bauervenezia.it
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