Kontakt: Conceptual Art from Ex-Yugoslavia (2011)
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Kontakt: Conceptual Art from Ex-Yugoslavia. Works from the collection of Erste Group, Vienna
12 May–13 August 2011
Audain Gallery, Vancouver
This exhibition brought together works by some of the most important representatives of former Yugoslavian conceptual art, which began its initial development on the levels of performance, printed matter, and photography during the late 1950s. In the 1970s, video was added as a means by which to document performative gestures, as well as in order to question the metastructures of video itself as a means of technical image (re)production. Video’s intrinsic quality, and the recognition of Vancouver as an important early site for conceptual art practices, led Croatian artist Sanja Iveković to realize the video performance “Meeting Points” at Vancouver’s Western Front in 1978, a performance which has also found entry into the Kontakt Collection. This work highlights the international connections within conceptualism at a time when political borders hindered mutual artistic exchange. The presentation at the Audain Gallery showcased conceptual art from former Yugoslavia that took up the performative and conceptual strategies that developed alongside geopolitical restraints. Locating the art of the former socialist countries within an international art context draws attention not only to its broad range of practices, but also to the dynamic and reciprocal connections and dialogues from which these practices sprung forth. One major aim of the Kontakt Collection is to reflect on the changing parameters of time and space, which made the artists of the 1970s, in particular, precursors of the political changes yet to come. Without pointing exclusively to phenomena in Eastern Europe, the exhibition reflected the transformed political geographies and the international emergence of conceptual and actionist tendencies that have been developing simultaneously since the late 1960s.
One of the most striking works of art from former Yugoslavia that takes up the transnational notion of art is Raša Todosijević’s “Was ist Kunst?” [What is Art?] from 1976/78. The choice by a Serbian artist to use the German language clearly confronts viewers with ques¬tions about Western artistic values while critiquing narrow notions of the international artistic canon. At 2011’s Venice Biennale, where Todosijević (as the representative of Serbia) had his work installed, the Pavilion still bore the name “Yugoslavia” in large letters.
Audain Gallery
SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1H4
Canada
12 May–13 August 2011
Audain Gallery, Vancouver
This exhibition brought together works by some of the most important representatives of former Yugoslavian conceptual art, which began its initial development on the levels of performance, printed matter, and photography during the late 1950s. In the 1970s, video was added as a means by which to document performative gestures, as well as in order to question the metastructures of video itself as a means of technical image (re)production. Video’s intrinsic quality, and the recognition of Vancouver as an important early site for conceptual art practices, led Croatian artist Sanja Iveković to realize the video performance “Meeting Points” at Vancouver’s Western Front in 1978, a performance which has also found entry into the Kontakt Collection. This work highlights the international connections within conceptualism at a time when political borders hindered mutual artistic exchange. The presentation at the Audain Gallery showcased conceptual art from former Yugoslavia that took up the performative and conceptual strategies that developed alongside geopolitical restraints. Locating the art of the former socialist countries within an international art context draws attention not only to its broad range of practices, but also to the dynamic and reciprocal connections and dialogues from which these practices sprung forth. One major aim of the Kontakt Collection is to reflect on the changing parameters of time and space, which made the artists of the 1970s, in particular, precursors of the political changes yet to come. Without pointing exclusively to phenomena in Eastern Europe, the exhibition reflected the transformed political geographies and the international emergence of conceptual and actionist tendencies that have been developing simultaneously since the late 1960s.
One of the most striking works of art from former Yugoslavia that takes up the transnational notion of art is Raša Todosijević’s “Was ist Kunst?” [What is Art?] from 1976/78. The choice by a Serbian artist to use the German language clearly confronts viewers with ques¬tions about Western artistic values while critiquing narrow notions of the international artistic canon. At 2011’s Venice Biennale, where Todosijević (as the representative of Serbia) had his work installed, the Pavilion still bore the name “Yugoslavia” in large letters.
Audain Gallery
SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1H4
Canada