Irene Kopelman
The Molyneux Problem
21 August–25 September 2011
Opening:
20 August 2011, 17.00 hrsBAK, basis voor actuele kunst
Lange Nieuwstraat 4, Utrecht
www.bak-utrecht.nl
The Molyneux Problem focuses on the role of drawing as a tool and method for artistic thinking and research and conceives itself as an invitation to consider the ideas of observation, representation, visualization, perception, discovery, and re-discovery. Exhibited works include 50 Metres Distance or More (2010), a series of drawings, paintings, and watercolors stemming from an expedition to the Antarctic; a new version of Scale 1:1,25, a site-specific work involving a system the artist developed of making frottages of the walls of the exhibition space and reworking them as photographs; Observaciones (2011), a book containing a collection of images, sources, and references from the artist’s archive collected over the past six years of inquiry; and other materials.
On this occasion, Kopelman’s research—which includes the exhibition, as well as the defense of her theoretical research—is presented in the context of a public art space and not behind the closed doors of the academy. As an art institution dedicated to the notion of “artistic research” and an inquiry into art practices and their link to knowledge production, BAK is nevertheless cautious about how its formalization into academic disciplinary structures might prescribe limitations and impose rigid definitions on what “counts” as artistic practice in the future. Exploring the question of the complex relationship between artistic practices, education, theory, collective learning, and activism is thus essential, and as such the opportunity to engage with Kopelman’s project and joining MaHKU in a discussion about the doctoral research program in Fine Arts provide a space to further reflect and debate.
Originally from Argentina, Irene Kopelman (1974) moved to the Netherlands in 2002 to participate in a residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam. Recent exhibitions include: 50 Metres Distance or More, Labor Gallery, Mexico City, 2011; El Vuelo de Levy, Motive Gallery, Amsterdam, 2010 and Montehermoso Art Centre, Vitoria-Gasteiz, 2009; The Malady of Writing, MACBA, Barcelona, 2009; Planet of Signs, Le Plateau, Paris, 2009; and Levity, The Drawing Center, New York, 2007.
Public Defense: On 2 September 2011 the defense of Irene Kopelman’s dissertation takes place.
Examiners: Anke Bangma, Curator, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam and Magnus Bärtås, Professor Konstfack, Stockholm. Moderator: Jan Kaila, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki.
Supervisors: Mika Hannula, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg; Jan Kaila, Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki; and Henk Slager, MaHKU, Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Art and Design, Utrecht.
Reservations are required. For more information, please contact: info@mahku.nl.
Expert meeting: On 3 September 2011 an expert meeting takes place on the occasion of the awarding of the first doctorate in Fine Arts in the Netherlands to discuss the situation and position of doctoral research in the arts, organized by the professorship Artistic Research at Utrecht School of the Arts, Utrecht in collaboration with Fonds BKVB, Amsterdam. With contributions by: Jeremiah Day, Jan Kaila, Yvonne Dröge Wendel, and Mick Wilson, among others. Reservations are required. For more information, please contact: info@mahku.nl.
Irene Kopelman’s research project has been made possible with financial support from: Fonds BKVB, Amsterdam; Labor Gallery, Mexico City; MaHKU, Utrecht Graduate School of Visual Art and Design, Utrecht; and SIA-Raak, The Hague.
BAK Opening hours
Wednesday−Saturday 12.00−17.00 hrs
Sunday 13.00−17.00 hrs
For further information please contact:
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst
Lange Nieuwstraat 4
3512 PH Utrecht
t: +31 (0)30 2316125
f: +31 (0)30 2304866
e: info@bak-utrecht.nl
