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ALFREDO JAAR - THE MARX
LOUNGE
17 April - 5 June
2011
Opening: Saturday 16 April, 17.30 in SMBA
By Carolien Gehrels, alderman for Art & Culture, Amsterdam.
With a lecture by Jaar followed by a Q&A conducted by Gerardo Mosquera.
Important: admission by reservation only. Notify at mail@smba.nl.
For The Marx Lounge by
Alfredo Jaar, the Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam has been transformed into a
reading room with comfortable sofas, reading lamps and a large reading table.
The reading table offers a myriad of publications with topics spanning Marxist
theory, capitalism, neo-liberalism, post-colonialism, globalization, cultural
theory, politics and philosophy. The exhibition is an invitation to the viewer
to sit back and become immersed in this wealth of
knowledge.
With The Marx Lounge,
artist, architect and filmmaker Alfredo Jaar closes in on the role played by
ubiquitous market forces in defining the current globalization process,
including the legacy of abuses that it engenders. Not only is Marx’
influential political thinking and critique of capitalism represented in the
exhibition; ample space is also given to a substantial amount of more recent
political-philosophical publications. With a view to audiences in Amsterdam, the
reading matter includes a significant number of relevant publications by Dutch
writers. Visitors to the lounge designed by Jaar will succumb to the temptation
of this sweeping intellectual display.
SMBA Newsletter nr. 121 is appearing to accompany the exhibition, with an
introduction by curator Jelle Bouwhuis and a Project ‘1975’
contribution by art historian T.J. Demos. This Newsletter is available at the
exhibition and also published on www.smba.nl. Read more...
Integral to The Marx Lounge is an intensive programme of reading groups,
lectures, debates and artists’ presentations. The programme is organised
in collaboration with Amsterdam partners such as research group Liberticide, the
Internationale Socialisten, the University of Amsterdam and others. Those who
have an interest in participating can send an e-mail to marxlounge@smba.nl.
Alfredo Jaar (Chile 1956) has
participated in the biennales of Venice in 1986 and 2007, São Paulo
(1987, 1989 and 2010) and in Documenta in 1987 and 2002, among others. In
addition to the installation in SMBA, work by the artist is currently included
in the following exhibitions: ‘Ars 11’ in KIASMA, Helsinki (15 April
- 27 November) and at the Sharjah Biennale (16 March - 16 May). In 2012, a major
retrospective of his work will be exhibited in diverse venues throughout Berlin.
During The Marx
Lounge
in SMBA, Paul Andriesse Gallery in Amsterdam will present a small selection of
works by Jaar. Alfredo Jaar lives and works in New
York.
The Marx Lounge takes place
in the framework of Project ‘1975’ of Bureau Amsterdam, is
supported by the Mondriaan Foundation and the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.
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