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The work of Tacita Dean (Canterbury, 1965) consists mainly of 16 mm films and sound works in which the working process, the passing of time, chance and coincidences take on fundamental importance. Dean initially began her artistic career as a painter, but in the early nineties she discovered the poetic and narrative potential of film. In a period when most of her fellow artists were turning to video, she decided to use 16 mm film because it allowed her to work in a more physical way, in direct contact with celluloid, its textures and its particular narrative tempos.

Dean rescues forgotten moments from history, objects that have become obsolete, and spaces that have been stripped of their original symbolism, and returns them to us charged with new meanings. Her works still have a narrative structure, given that they play out around events that the artist follows from beginning to end. This means that viewers who wish to capture their full meaning must remain before the screen for the duration of the story.

This exhibition at MACBA presented a selection of works produced between 1995 and 2000, including films, two sound pieces – one of which, Jukebox, was conceived specially for the occasion – as well as drawings and photographs.

This exhibition presented a selection of nine filmic works shot in 16 mm., two sound pieces (one of which, Jukebox 2, is a new production), as well as drawings and photographs of several projects carried out by one of the most relevant artists of her generation, nominated for the prestigious British award, the Turner Prize. The work of Tacita Dean (Canterbury, 1965) mainly consists of 16 mm films and soundworks in which process, transformation, coincidences, fact and fiction play an important role. Her work involves forgotten stories and constructions that were built in a visionary way but which never successfully functioned in society, which abandoned them to their fate.

Artist

Tacita Dean