Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything embarks on international tour

The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) is pleased to announce the international tour of its Leonard Cohen Exhibition: A Crack in Everything, with three confirmed destinations. With this tour, the MAC joins forces with renowned museums in cultural capitals around the world, continuing its work on the international art scene. The Museum also achieves its objectives of presenting and promoting Québec, Canadian and international artists, as well as promoting Montréal, Leonard Cohen’s hometown.

Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything was inaugurated on November 9, 2017, at the MAC, one year after the passing of Leonard Cohen. A record number of 315,000 visitors attended the exhibit, making it one of the most viewed in the Museum’s history.

The tour schedule

The Jewish Museum
New York City, United States
April 12, 2019–September 8, 2019

Kunstforeningen GL STRAND and Nikolaj Kunsthal
Copenhagen, Danemark
October 23, 2019–February 16, 2020

Contemporary Jewish Museum
San Francisco, United States
September 17, 2020–January 3, 2021

Plans are underway to extend this first phase of the tour and add other destinations.

“I find it extremely moving to tour this exhibition, which was one of MAC’s greatest successes and also one of the most beautiful exhibitions I had the pleasure to organize in my life. The great interest it piques on the international scene confirms the colossal impact of the work of Leonard Cohen, an international star, but also an icon of Montreal culture, whose legacy remains alive and current despite his passing. I am extremely pleased that Cohen fans around the world will have the opportunity to discover this exhibition that has reached such a wide audience in Montréal, from all backgrounds and ages,” said John Zeppetelli, Director and Chief Curator at the MAC, and Co-Curator of the exhibition.

An exhibition developed with the approval of Leonard Cohen himself
A truly multidisciplinary exhibition combining visual art, virtual reality, installations, music and writing, Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything offers the public a collection of new works created by a remarkable group of local and international artists who have been inspired by Leonard Cohen’s life, work and legacy. The audience is invited to experience an in-depth, immersive, participatory and visually captivating journey.

The MAC was honoured to have received Leonard Cohen’s personal approval and endorsement for the project. “When we came up with the idea for this exhibition, we went to seek the agreement of Leonard Cohen, who accepted because of the angle we were proposing. It was important for him that this exhibit would not be of a biographical nature. From the start, the project was conceived as a contemporary artistic exploration of a life’s work, and in that sense, he was thrilled to be able to inspire other artists through his art. Given his recent death, our exhibition has taken on a new meaning. It has also become a tribute to a local icon and a global star,” explained John Zeppetelli.

Works on Tour
The works of the following artists are confirmed for the tour: Kara Blake, Candice Breitz, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Christophe Chassol, Daily tous les jours, Tacita Dean, Kota Ezawa, George Fok, Ari Folman, Jon Rafman, Zach Richter, The Sanchez Brothers and Taryn Simon.

Leonard Cohen's self-portraits are also presented as part of the exhibition, as well as the audio installation Listening to Leonard, where visitors can listen to cover versions of Cohen's songs performed by guest artists, including Feist, Lou Doillon, Moby, and The National with Sufjan Stevens, Richard Reed Parry and Ragnar Kjartansson.

For more information:
Roxane Dumas-Noël
Head of Public Relations, MAC
T +1 514 847-6232 / roxane.dumas-noel@macm.org