Course in art and contemporary culture
Though the history of art has been largely built on an analysis of individual works, another way of writing that history could involve an analysis of exhibitions. Discourse on contemporary art is mainly furthered through exhibitions, which operate not only as spaces of presentation and display, but also as instruments, means to formulate ideas about artistic production and to transform its reception. The exhibition makes it possible for works to establish relationships not only with the viewer, but also with other works and other notions of what art is or might be. The exhibition is neither pure discourse nor mere context; it is perception and knowledge in action. The exhibition is a perceptive device in and of itself, a machine for seeing and an act of learning.
From this perspective, it is possible and necessary to reread the history of contemporary art on the basis of its devices for presentation; the MACBA joins in recent attempts to consolidate an understanding of the exhibition as a cultural object and to trace its genealogy – an undertaking that involves the history of art and art criticism, as well as architecture (exhibitions are, after all, public spaces), the psychology of perception and, of course, the voices of curators and artists.
The course offers an overview of some of the most emblematic exhibitions of the second half of the twentieth century, from the triumph of Pop art to the emergence of Conceptual art. This overview is conceptually organised by the artists and curators who conceived those exhibitions or, when that is not possible, by the critics who have analysed them. The close study of these exhibition models demonstrates that the ideology of the white cube – a supposedly neutral exhibition space, the seat of pure visuality as theorised by Brian O'Doherty – is largely an incomplete project, and that the history of paradigms for the exhibition of modern art could also be seen as the history of the transgression of the white cube.
Course in art and contemporary culture
Though the history of art has been largely built on an analysis of individual works, another way of writing that history could involve an analysis of exhibitions. Discourse on contemporary art is mainly furthered through exhibitions, which operate not only as spaces of presentation and display, but also as instruments, means to formulate ideas about artistic production and to transform its reception. The exhibition makes it possible for works to establish relationships not only with the viewer, but also with other works and other notions of what art is or might be. The exhibition is neither pure discourse nor mere context; it is perception and knowledge in action. The exhibition is a perceptive device in and of itself, a machine for seeing and an act of learning.
From this perspective, it is possible and necessary to reread the history of contemporary art on the basis of its devices for presentation; the MACBA joins in recent attempts to consolidate an understanding of the exhibition as a cultural object and to trace its genealogy – an undertaking that involves the history of art and art criticism, as well as architecture (exhibitions are, after all, public spaces), the psychology of perception and, of course, the voices of curators and artists.
The course offers an overview of some of the most emblematic exhibitions of the second half of the twentieth century, from the triumph of Pop art to the emergence of Conceptual art. This overview is conceptually organised by the artists and curators who conceived those exhibitions or, when that is not possible, by the critics who have analysed them. The close study of these exhibition models demonstrates that the ideology of the white cube – a supposedly neutral exhibition space, the seat of pure visuality as theorised by Brian O’Doherty – is largely an incomplete project, and that the history of paradigms for the exhibition of modern art could also be seen as the history of the transgression of the white cube.
highlights
Història de les exposicions: Més enllà de la ideologia del cub blanc (primera part) [Full de mà]
Encuentros de Pamplona (1972) — Història de les exposicions: Més enllà de la ideologia del cub blanc (primera part) [Enregistrament audiovisual activitat]
Història de les exposicions: Més enllà de la ideologia del cub blanc (primera part) [Dossier de premsa]
Experiencias ’68 (Instituto Di Tella, Buenos Aires, 1968 i Primera bienal de arte de vanguardia – Tucumán arde (Rosario, 1968) — Història de les exposicions: Més enllà de la ideologia del cub blanc (primera part) [Enregistrament audiovisual activitat]
Brian O’Doherty en conversa amb Bartomeu Marí — Història de les exposicions: Més enllà de la ideologia del cub blanc (primera part) [Enregistrament audiovisual activitat]
When Attitudes Become Form (Kunsthalle, Berna i Londres, 1969) — Història de les exposicions: Més enllà de la ideologia del cub blanc (primera part) [Enregistrament audiovisual activitat]
Les exposicions de Pontus Hultén, amb atenció especial a l’exposició-escultura SHE – A Cathedral (Moderna Museet, Estocolm, 1966) i la retrospectiva Andy Warhol (Moderna Museet, Estocolm, 1968) — Història de les exposicions: Més enllà de la ideologia del cub blanc (primera part) [Enregistrament audiovisual activitat]
This Is Tomorrow (Whitechapel Art Gallery, Londres, 1956) — Història de les exposicions: Més enllà de la ideologia del cub blanc (primera part) [Enregistrament audiovisual activitat]
Arte Povera e IM Spazio (Galleria La Bertesca, Gènova, 1967) i Ambiente Arte (Biennal de Venècia, 1976) — Història de les exposicions: Més enllà de la ideologia del cub blanc (primera part) [Enregistrament audiovisual activitat]
