Tino Sehgal
March 19–April 28, 2013
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
185, Rue Sainte-Catherine Street West
(Corner Jeanne-Mance)
Montréal (Québec) H2X 3X5
From March 19 to April 28, 2013, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal invites visitors to an exhibition of two works by Berlin-based artist Tino Sehgal. The works consist of choreographed gestures and spoken instructions acted out within the museum by “players” and “interpreters.”
Sehgal considers the art world a microcosm of our Western economic reality, which he views as overly focused on the production of material objects. His works therefore use the human body and social interaction as their only materials, in a total interpenetration of life and art.
The MAC is exhibiting two works by Sehgal, one more choreographic and the other grounded in discourse and exchange. Kiss, 2002, is enacted by a couple and contains allusions to various iconic moments from the history of visual art. Presented for the first time in Canada, This situation, 2007, a piece newly acquired by the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in its bilingual (French/English) edition is evocative of a contemporary salon. Drawing from quotations selected by Sehgal from 500 years of thought, the players discuss among themselves and with visitors such issues as the aesthetics of existence and the implications of moving from a society of lack to one of abundance.
Consistent with Sehgal’s immaterial artistic practice, the conditions of presentation of his works do not allow any video or photographic documentation, nor any printed promotional material. Sehgal’s works are presented continuously during museum opening hours; and visitors, if they choose, become an integral part of the piece. Existing solely in the moment of their enaction, Tino Sehgal’s pieces live on in the memory of those who witness them.
Tino Sehgal was born in Britain in 1976 and is currently based in Berlin. His most recent pieces are This variation, presented at dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel, Germany, in summer 2012; and These associations, the 2012 Unilever Series commission for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London. He has also had solo exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and represented Germany at the 2005 Venice Biennale.
Gallery talks
On Wednesday, March 27 at 6 p.m., the Musée will present a public conversation between Asad Raza, producer of the MAC exhibition and also of Tino Sehgal’s exhibitions at Tate Modern in London and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, among others, and Lesley Johnstone, curator at the MAC. This gallery talk, conducted in English in Beverley Webster Rolph Hall, will focus on Sehgal’s artistic process.
On the last day of the exhibition, Sunday, April 28, visitors are invited to attend a special conversation with the dancers that enacted Kiss. Curator Lesley Johnstone and Asad Raza will lead the discussion. The conversation will commence at 2pm and will be in English and French. This activity is held in connection with the event Québec Danse, which runs from April 22 to 29.
Organization
The Tino Sehgal exhibition is organized by Lesley Johnstone, curator at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
Acknowledgments
The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal thanks the Goethe-Institut Montréal for its financial contribution to this exhibition.
The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is a provincially owned corporation funded by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. It receives additional funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts. The museum gratefully acknowledges their support and that of Collection Loto-Québec, the MAC’s principal partner.
Source and information:
Wanda Palma, MACM, Head of Public Relations, wanda.palma [at] macm.org / T 514 847 6232
Visual material available:
www.macm.org – Newsroom – Link: visual material – User name: presse – Password: gtrcmedias
