SPRING THESIS EXHIBITIONS CONTINUE AT BARD'S CENTER FOR CURATORIAL STUDIES MUSEUM.

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.-The third series of graduate student thesis exhibitions for 1999 opens on Sunday, May 9, at the Center for Curatorial Studies Museum at Bard College. The exhibitions are curated by Xandra Eden, Eun-Kyung Kwon, Denise Markonish, and Tatjana von Prittwitz, second-year students in the Center's graduate program in curatorial studies and contemporary art. They have organized these exhibitions as part of their final master's degree projects. The opening reception is on Sunday, May 9 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. The exhibition will be on view through Sunday, May 23. The museum is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., without admission charge.

"Rewriting the City," curated by Xandra Eden, is an exhibition of photographic, video, audio, and documentary works by three artists, Francis Alys, Nina Katchadourian, and Gabriel Orozco, who use the space of various cities as a studio and source of materials. The artists' work is composed of objects they recovered and records their actions while they walked through the city streets. Ice, an old futon, puddles, and chewed up cassette tape are just some of the materials employed by the artists to create their work.

"Uniform," curated by Eun-Kyung Kwon, consists of five projects that incorporate images of uniforms: Fred Wilson's "The Guarded View," Do-Ho Suh's "High School Uni-form," Daniel Oates' "Postman," Nir Hod's "I swear," and Ernesto Pujol's "Hagiography." The meaning of uniforms as symbols of power, unity or masculinity is explored, as is their symbolic shift into expressions of oppression, desire, and self-empowerment. The works address ideas of gender and cultural identity, as well as a variety of social, racial, and political issues.

"Shelf Life," curated by Denise Markonish, examines the display of collected objects, as well as the museum's role in display practices. The exhibition features works of artists Haim Steinbach, Moyra Davey, Mark Winetrout, Louise Lawler, and Sowon Kwon. Steinbach's work consists of shelves on which everyday objects such as mirrors, baskets, and mugs are placed, commenting on the display of objects in the museum. Davey's photo collages combine images of the artist's book, record, and video collections with ticket stubs and home movie stills, illustrating how we live with objects in the home. Winetrout creates collections out of often-discarded materials such as soap slivers and lint. Lawler photographs art objects showing how differing sites of display, from museum to home, can change the meaning of objects. Kwon's installation reflects James McNeil Whistler's Peacock Room, a complete room designed by Whistler for the home of Frederick R. Leyland and now on display at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. In doing so, Kwon's installation refers to both the display of the objects in the home and the collector.

"WHERE ARE YOU?", curated by Tatjana von Prittwitz, is an exhibition of works by artists Marina Abramovic, Joseph Beuys, Thomas Joshua Cooper, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Thomas Locher, Lee Mingwei, and Albert Weis. Their works, as well as other projects in literature, music, and dance, invite participants to reflect on their spiritual, environmental, and socio-political position, formulating the idea of a social sculpture. The exhibition seeks to render the idea that through the creation of a situation of sensual communication between attentive people and the world, a social sculpture-a project of the imagination envisioned by the German artist Joseph Beuys- will emerge.

For further information about the exhibitions, call the Center for Curatorial Studies at 914-758-7598 or e-mail [email protected].

This event was last updated on 03-02-2001

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