PAST EXHIBITIONS / UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

September 10 - December 30, 2010

Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism



Yona Friedman, Ville spatiale, 1959-1960. Photography: François Lauginie. Collection Frac Centre.

Spatial City, the first exhibition in the United States of artwork drawn from the French Regional Contemporary Art Funds (Frac), brings together an international, multi-generational array of contemporary artists whose work contends with utopian thinking and the idealism and cynicism it inspires.

The exhibition Spatial City originated with the theoretical architecture of the same name by Yona Friedman (b.1923). In his first manifesto, Mobile Architecture (1958), Friedman defined the structures in this ideal city as being transformable, transportable and occupying as little ground area as possible, pushing structures to hover over the earth rather than occupy its surface directly. Friedman’s ideas, disseminated in the aftermath of World War II, have influenced subsequent generations both indirectly and directly. While Friedman’s concepts informed the framework of the show, the selection of artwork reflects the cycling and recycling of optimism and cynicism in postwar and contemporary culture. Artists in the exhibition are responding to society’s complex problems: the failed utopian social experiments that resulted in the dehumanizing conditions of Brutalist architecture, the rise and fall of totalitarian states, the tensions resulting from post-colonial immigration, and the destruction of the environment in the name of progress.

Artists in the exhibition include: Lida Abdul, Élisabeth Ballet, Yves Bélorgey, Berdaguer & Péjus, Katinka Bock, Monica Bonvicini, Jeff Carter, Maurizio Cattelan/Philippe Parreno, Jordi Colomer, François Dallegret, Peter Downsbrough, Philippe Durand, Jimmie Durham, Simon Faithfull, Didier Fuiza Faustino, Cao Fei, Robert Filliou, Elise Florenty, Yona Friedman, Dora Garcia, Séverine Hubard, Stefan Kern, Bertrand Lamarche, Vincent Lamouroux, Mark Leckey, Didier Marcel, François Morellet, Sarah Morris, Juan Muñoz, Stéphanie Nava, Philippe Ramette, Sara Schnadt, Kristina Solomoukha, Tatiana Trouvé, Marie Voignier, herman de vries, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Stephen Wetzel, Raphaël Zarka and others.  The presentation in Detroit includes the work of Detroit-based artist Ben Hall in his first museum exhibition and Paris-based artist Katinka Bock (b. 1976), who will be in residence at MOCAD during the summer to produce site-specific artworks for the exhibition. MOCAD is thrilled to announce a special installation by architect Yona Friedman (b. 1923) that encapsulates the progressive ideas that informed the exhibition.

Curator Nicholas Frank (Inova, Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) originated the concept and exhibition.  Participating curators are Allison Peters Quinn (Hyde Park Art Center), Luis Croquer (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit - MOCAD), Eva González-Sancho (Frac Bourgogne), Yannick Miloux (Frac Limousin) and Marie-Cécile Burnichon (Platform-Regroupement des Fonds régionaux d'art contemporain – the association of the Frac).  The project and tour were developed in partnership with Platform and Polly Morris (formerly of Inova) and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.  Spatial City has visited two other architecturally rich Midwestern cities, originating at the Institute of Visual Arts (Inova) (http://www3.uwm.edu/arts/about/inova.html) at the Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (February 5-April 18, 2010) and Chicago’s Hyde Park Art Center (http://www.hydeparkart.org/) (May 23-August 8, 2010), and will be at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit from September 10-December 30, 2010.

There will be a catalog to accompany the exhibition, edited by Polly Morris with Marie-Cécile Burnichon.  The catalog will feature photos from each institution’s installation, along with critical essays, artist biographies and checklists of the work in the exhibition.

The project Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism was supported in part by Culturesfrance-French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication (Délégation Générale de la Création Artistique-service des arts plastiques), the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.  Katinka Bock’s residency is made possible with the support of Étant donnés, the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE).  Additional support is generously provided by Jane and Edward Schulak.

Martha Friedman: Rub



Courtesy of Wallspace, New York and the artist

Artist Martha Friedman’s (b. 1975) sculptures are inspired by common things including food, office supplies and body parts. By enlarging the scale and focusing on details of their shape and surface, her work engages the viewer with the sculptural aspects of these everyday forms. Friedman explores the textural qualities of the materials that she uses and sets them up to create unexpected dialogs between viewer and object. The exhibition Rub will consist of two major new works commissioned by MOCAD. Tongue Flap is a giant rubber tongue that reveals the negative space underneath a large black rubber flap, while Rubbers is a matrix of 108 oversized, hand cast rubber bands stretching to bridge the twenty-foot span between the Museum’s floor and ceiling.  Whereas Tongue Flap is a contained—albeit monumental—sculptural work, Rubbers occupies nearly the entire space of the gallery where it is installed, creating a unique environment where these re-imagined and enlarged objects confront and interact with the viewer.

Martha Friedman: Rub is organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and curated by Luis Croquer, Director and Chief Curator.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit is supported through generous contributions from individuals and invaluable support from members. Additional support is provided by The Kresge Foundation, Erb Family Foundation, McGregor Fund, The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Masco Corporation Foundation and Shirley K Schlafer Foundation.