19 February – 12 June 2011
The Whitworth Art Gallery
Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6ER
[email protected]
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth
Four decades of projects by American artist Mary Kelly are brought together in the most comprehensive exhibition of her work ever presented.Mary Kelly: ProjectsPost-Partum DocumentCorpusLove SongsMulti-Story HouseThemes of conflict and war also permeate the exhibition. In projects like Gloria Patri (1992), the polished shields and trophies, quoting soldiers in Iraq, parody heraldic display. The Ballad of Kastriot Rexhepi (2001), about a child lost and found during the NATO occupation of Kosovo, forms a continuous frieze around the gallery walls. For this work, as well as Circa 1968 (2004) and Vox Manet, (2006-8), Kelly uses the ephemeral and evocative medium of compressed lint to filter traumatic sentiments. Her most recent work, Habitus (2010), commissioned by Moderna Museet, resembles a domestic bomb shelter; but it is ‘corrugated’ with the memories of people born during, or soon after, the Second World War, and legible only by looking into its mirrored floor. In Mary Kelly’s work, the way we remember and talk about our experiences is reflected back to us. Grounded in everyday experiences, yet framed by a wider view of historical events, Kelly’s art continues to make the personal political.
The Ballad of Kastriot Rexhepi performed
Saturday 19 February
12noon & 2pm, free
No need to book
The Ballad of Kastriot Rexhepi is a collaboration between Mary Kelly and composer Michael Nyman. Nyman’s haunting score will be performed live in the installation by the Michael Nyman Quartet and soprano Marie Angel.
Tours
Saturday 5 March, 2pm, free
Tuesday 15 March, 2pm, free
Tours with exhibition curator Dominique Heyse-Moore.
Centenary of International Women’s Day
Tuesday 8 March
3.30 – 5pm, free
Look around Love Songs, Mary Kelly’s celebration of the Women’s Movement and help us mark the 100th International Women’s Day.
Symposium
Dialogic Space: Mary Kelly at the Whitworth Art Gallery
Saturday 26 March, 10am – 5pm
Lunch and refreshments provided
Mary Kelly, Juli Carson, Carol Mavor, Laura Mulvey and Griselda
Pollock talk about the artist’s work, concluding with a roundtable discussion chaired by Janet Wolff. Organised in collaboration with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts (CIDRA), with the support of Art History & Visual Studies and Cultural Theory Institute, The University of Manchester.
Book tickets and take advantage of delegate offers at, http://estore.manchester.ac.uk
Book
Mary Kelly: Projects, 1973–2010
available to buy from the Gallery shop and from booksellers worldwide.
Published to accompany the exhibition, Mary Kelly: Projects, 1973–2010 looks at forty years of art practice. From Post-Partum Document (1973-9) to the newly commissioned Habitus (2010). As well as providing a beautiful visual survey of Kelly’s project-based work, this essential new reference includes writing by Maria Balshaw, Janet Wolff, Juli Carson, Carol Mavor, Laura Mulvey and Amelia Jones.
ADMISSION FREE
CAFÉ, SHOP
Whitworth Art Gallery
The University of Manchester
Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6ER
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