KALEIDOSCOPE Celebrating 50 Inspirational Years
In 2016, Modern Art Oxford celebrates 50 years as an internationally acclaimed powerhouse of contemporary visual culture. KALEIDOSCOPE is a year long series of interlinking exhibitions, performances and events, presenting an unmissable opportunity to reflect on some of the great moments in Modern Art Oxford’s history.
Artists include Marina Abramović, Kevin Beasley, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Douglas Gordon, Dan Graham, Hans Haacke, Pierre Huyghe, Iman Issa, John Latham, Louise Lawler, Sol LeWitt, Maria Loboda, Richard Long, Gustav Metzger, Gareth Nyandoro, Yoko Ono, Hardeep Pandhal, Elizabeth Price, Guan Xiao and many others.
Iconic works from the past return to the gallery from across the globe, shown as part of a dynamic programme of new commissions, performances and events by acclaimed artists of the current generation. In an unconventional approach, KALEIDOSCOPE will stay open throughout the year, giving audiences insight into the processes of exhibition-making. The Indivisible Present begins to transform into the next exhibition, A Moment of Grace, from 22 March until it is fully realised on 16 April.
Time has been the key preoccupation for many artists commissioned over the last 50 years at Modern Art Oxford, and this will be a recurring theme in KALEIDOSCOPE, from long-term thinking, to slower and multiple perceptions of time.
KALEIDOSCOPE Live is a programme of commissions, celebrating the history of performance at Modern Art Oxford, working with artists across art forms. During The Indivisible Present, writer-in-residence Sally O’Reilly, responds to the exhibitions with texts and performances, while Dog Kennel Hill Project present Études in Tension and Crisis, a body of new live work for Modern Art Oxford.
The Indivisible Present
Preview: Friday 5 February
What we see and the things we miss are explored in works such as Douglas Gordon’s seminal 24 Hour Psycho and Yoko Ono’s captivating Eyeblink. The other artists in this opening show are Pierre Huyghe, John Latham, Elizabeth Price, Dog Kennel Hill Project and Viola Yeşiltaç. They invite us to examine each moment that we encounter and to consider how time affects our perception.
A Moment of Grace
Preview: Friday 15 April
A consideration of the innovative ways in which artists have re-used and transformed materials to redefine value, and as a response to local and global conditions. Featuring Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Kevin Beasley, John Latham, Jac Leirner, David Maljkovic, Gustav Metzger, Gareth Nyandoro, Yoko Ono, Open Music Archive and Guan Xiao.
Mystics and Rationalists
Preview: Friday 10 June
A meditation on the new forms of expression and knowledge that artists can offer society, this draws on Sol LeWitt’s assertion that ‘conceptual artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to conclusions which logic cannot reach’. Artists include Karla Black, Daniel Buren, Dorothy Cross, Dan Graham, Sol LeWitt, Open Music Archive, Ibrahim El Salahi and Amy Sillman.
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It’s Me to the World
Preview: Friday 19 August
Presenting works which adopt forms from nature and employ the body to explore ideas around memory, intimacy and endurance, this features works by Marina Abramović, Mohammed Qasim Ashfaq, Dorothy Cross, Richard Long, Hannah Rickards and Helen Chadwick.
The Vanished Reality
Preview: Friday 11 November
A look at recent histories of display and the systems through which images are mediated and received. Featuring Marcel Broodthaers, Hans Haacke, Iman Issa, Darcy Lange, Louise Lawler, Maria Loboda, Katja Novitskova and Hardeep Pandhal.