Matthew
Barney
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Matthew
Barney
The Cremaster Cycle
Museum Ludwig is presenting the first
comprehensive exhibition in Germany on Matthew
Barney‚s cycle of Cremaster films. The last
of the Cremaster films will have its European
premiere on June 4th, 2002 at the Philharmonic in
Cologne. The Museum Ludwig will show the entire
cycle in its Cinemathek and also exhibit numerous
sculptures, installations, photographs and
drawings by Matthew Barney in his role as a
visual artist.
In 1994 the American avant-garde artist (*1967)
began his 5-part series of Cremaster films. Alone
the numbering of the parts - 4 (1994), 1 (1995),
5 (1997), 2 (1999), 3 (2002) - is already a
contradiction of the serial principle. Cremaster
is the name of the muscle that raises or lowers
the testicles in tune with outside temperatures,
so as to keep the gonads at a constant
temperature. The title stands for the
artist‚s intention to introduce certain
rules into a self-evolving system.
Each of the 5 films takes place at a certain
geographic or architectural site. Barney uses
landscape and architecture as facets of the plot
and the characters. The central themes in Matthew
Barney‚s works are the human body, sagas and
myths, and in his films Barney creates
fantastical images of enormous appeal. Mythical
beings have a fictive sexuality beyond gender,
while the different plots take place
simultaneously, as in a dream.
The exhibition "Matthew Barney: The
Cremaster Cycle" shows the close association
between Barney's work as a filmmaker and as a
sculptor. This is made optically evident by the
AstroTurf flooring in both the movie theater and
the exhibition rooms, a material often used in
sports stadiums. Sculptures and environments from
the films are composed of unusual, sensual and
symbolically-charged substances like Vaseline,
salt and diverse plastics. One of these is a
famous bar in the Chrysler Building molded in
Vaseline that requires constant cooling. The
countless sculptures, installations, story boards
and photographs in combination with film extracts
all demonstrate the complexity of Barney‚s
work.
Curated by Nancy Spector, this exhibition is
organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
New York, in cooperation with the Museum Ludwig,
Cologne, and the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville
de Paris. It will be presented at the Museum
Ludwig, Cologne from June 1 to September 1, 2002.
After ist opening in Cologne, the exhibition will
travel to the Musée d‚Art Moderne de la
Ville de Paris (October 10, 2002 ˆ January
5th, 2003) and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York (February 13, 2003 ˆ May 11, 2003).
Matthew Barney, born 1967 in San Francisco.
Graduation from Yale University, New Haven,
Connecticut, in 1989. Solo exhibitions
(selection) at Kunsthalle Bern (1996), Kunsthalle
Wien (1997), Museum f½r Gegenwartskunst, Basel
(1998), and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
(1999). Participation at documenta IX, 1992, and
at the Venice Biennale in 1993. Lives and works
in New York City.
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A German and English edition catalogue (523
pages) is being published by the Hatje Cantz
Verlag.
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6
June 2002 to 1 September 2002
Press contact: Annegret Buchholtz
Presse-
und Offentlichkeitsarbeit
Bischofsgartenstraße 1, 50667 Köln
Telefon 0221 - 221 - 23491
Telefax 0221 - 221 - 24114
buchholtz@ml.museenkoeln.de
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