A new work by the Turner Prize nominated artist Tino Sehgal, in and around the Roman Agora in Athens will take place from 25 September to 28 October 2014. The exhibition, produced by Asad Raza, marks the first time a major work of Sehgal’s will be presented outdoors.
This exhibition arises from the initiative to mount Sehgal’s works in the ancient sites of Athens and NEON’s ongoing commitment to activating public spaces and enhancing public life throughout the city of Athens. It will take place
in the Roman Agora and in an adjacent indoor location and will operate every day for the Agora’s full opening hours and, indoors, into the night. The installations to be shown are constructed of choreography, song, and peripatetic philosophical conversation.
“When I visited the ancient sites of Athens, where commercial, cultural, social and philosophical exchange took place, where knowledge passed through and was transferred between bodies, I had the distinct feeling that the embodied and dialogical elements in Sehgal’s work would have a special resonance here,” says Raza.
Tino Sehgal (b. 1976) Perhaps the most radical and influential artist of his generation, Tino Sehgal constructs situations that utilize the human voice, bodily movement and social interaction. All the same, Sehgal’s works operate in accordance with the normative rules of the visual art exhibition and do not rely on the presence of the artist to endure. Exhibitions of his work include: CCBB Rio de Janeiro (2014); Ullens Center, Beijing (2013); IMMA, Dublin (2013); Musée d’art
Contemporain, Montréal (2013); Tate Modern, London (2012); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010); Kunsthaus Zürich and Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2009); CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (2007-11); Nicola Trussardi Foundation (2011), Villa Reale, Milan (2008); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2007–08); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2006); and the ICA, London (2007, 2006, and 2005). Sehgal represented Germany for the 2005 Venice Biennale. Group exhibitions include: documenta 13, Kassel (2012); Mayfield Depot, Manchester International Festival (2013); ‘After Nature’, New Museum, New York (2008); Yokohama Triennale (2008); 9th Biennale de Lyon (2007); ‘Von , Mäusen und Menschen/Of Mice and Men’, 4th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art (2006); Yokohama Triennale (2005); Ailleurs, ici, Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris/ARC at the Couvent de Cordeliers, Paris (2004); ‘Utopia Station’, 50th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale (2003); Manifesta 4, Städel Museum, Frankfurt (2002); ‘I Promise, It’s Political’, Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2002); I’ll Never Let You Go, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2001).
Asad Raza is a writer and a producer of art exhibitions and projects. Among his recent projects are ‘Solaris Chronicles’ for LUMA Arles (2014); ‘A stroll through a fun palace’, Venice Biennale of Architecture (2014); and Mayfield Depot, Manchester International Festival (2013). A longtime collaborator of Tino Sehgal, he produced Sehgal’s exhibitions at CCBB, Rio de Janeiro (2014); Tate Modern, London (2012); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2010) and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010). His writings have appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Tennis Magazine and Jan Mot Newspaper, amongst other publications. He studied literature at John Hopkins University and film production at NYU.
NEON works to bring contemporary culture closer to everyone. As a non-profit organization it aims to create new conversations and a larger, informed society around the arts. It aspires to change perceptions and introduce a culturally relevant and cosmopolitan activity in Greece. Founded by art collector and entrepreneur Dimitris Daskalopoulos, and under the Directorship of Elina Kountouri, NEON breaks with the convention of a permanent space as the home of activities for a collector and instead acts on a multi-locality of initiatives, spaces, civic and social contexts, where activities are developed and public accessibility is encouraged. This constitutes a diverse and open space within society, where information is disseminated and the relationship between the city, the arts and its inhabitants is reflected. NEON is founded by art collector D.Daskalopoulos.
TINO SEHGAL THE ROMAN AGORA ATHENS, GREECE 25 SEPTEMBER – 28 OCTOBER 2014