Fred Wilson. “To Die Upon a Kiss,” (2011). © Fred Wilson, courtesy Pace Gallery. Photo: G.R. Christmas, courtesy Pace Gallery, New York.
In this week’s roundup Fred Wilson questions museum practices, Gabriel Orozco is inspired by throwing boomerangs, and more.
- Fred Wilson has work on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, OH) in Fred Wilson: Works 2004 – 2011. The exhibition explores how the artist has addressed critical questions, about museum practices in particular, through his site-specific interventions done in collaboration with cultural institutions. Presented here are four different works, including The Mete of the Muse (2006) that juxtaposes contradictions that reveal the blind spots in a hegemonic understanding of culture and history; and To Die Upon a Kiss (2011), which speaks to the realization that culture is almost never homogenous and that cultural history seldom takes a linear course. This exhibition closes May 5.
- Gabriel Orozco discusses how throwing boomerangs inspired his current exhibition at the Guggenheim (NYC). Titled Asterisms, the show is a unique assemblage of photos and sculpture drawn from collecting detritus at two sites. Sandstars responds to the unique environment encountered in Isla Arena, Mexico, a wildlife reserve. Astroturf Constellation explores taxonomic classification of debris left on the playing field’s at New York City’s Pier 40. The show is on view through January 13. A new video has been posted on the Complex magazine website. Watch it here.
- Jeff Koons has been commissioned to design a new wine label for Chateau Mouton Rothschild vintage. He is the latest in a lineage of artists annually commissioned by Baroness Philippine de Rothschild. For his label, Koons has used Botticelli’s Birth of Venus as his base and added an illustration in silver ink. The design will bee seen on bottles for sale in the near future.
- Alfredo Jaar will speak at the Denver Art Museum (Denver, CO) as part of the Logan Lecture series. Jaar will discuss how his seminal projects on the working conditions of Brazilian gold miners, the detainment of Vietnamese boat people by the Hong Kong government, and the slaughter of Tutsi by Hutu death squads in Rwanda have simultaneously asserted and questioned art’s ability to raise awareness, change social norms, and advance social justice. The lecture will take place on March 20 at 7 pm in the Sharp Auditorium at the Museum’s Frederic C. Hamilton Building. Doors open at 6:15 pm.