AbstractsWomens Studies

Exhibitions have become the medium through which most art becomes known. Constantly reshaped by artists and curators, the exhibition has become a prominent and diverse part of contemporary culture. The exhibitionary complex; an inquiry into the role of the modern art exhibition presents reflections around which I might begin to conceptualize an early history of the public exhibition of modern art. I am interested in the role of displaying objects, artifacts and works of art both within and outside the museum context, their public presentation: in other words the making of an exhibition. This inquiry is highly selective, partially because I chose examples according to my own interests, emerging from my work and can therefore not be read as an argument of what exhibitions should be. I will highlight some issues and stretch questions across the time span of more than a century to find interesting relationships. These reflections mark out the emergence of new discourses surrounding the exhibition and illustrate the urgency of the debates centered and fostered by exhibitions today. As for example, with art criticism -that comes along the public exhibition of art. There is a tension over the appropriate role, over the proper function and audiences in the exhibition, and over the desirability of shows being taken to signify something more than an occasion for looking at art.The text is grouped within sections which focus on the history of the exhibition, forms of staging and spectacle, and questions of spectatorship, curatorship and impact on the artistic production. Most of the examples begin in the time period of the 1960's and involve temporary art exhibitions rather than museum collections. I will discuss exhibitions in settings inside and outside of the traditional gallery, as well as innovative work in extending cultural debates within the museum. The conclusion consists of a formulation of my own work and ideas. I think what I am advocating is a way of working that results in spaces with a certain heterogeneity, where you are not tied to one set of rules and one set of experience. For me the experience of art needs to part from the static framework of the exhibition, and open to space and time beyond the exhibition site. I think the paradox here, is that it shifts the emphasis to the 'here and now' of the exhibition.