Nan Goldin, Käthe in the tub, West Berlin, 1984, Photo Remi Villaggi | Mudam Luxembourg
As part of the ongoing series of presentations dedicated to the Mudam Collection, Subjects of Life highlights a selection of emblematic artworks from the museum’s collection of photography. This selection encourages a reflection on the medium through questions of representation and the effects of the image on our perception of reality, notions of territory, and the represented subject. Including works by twelve artists from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America, the presentation also underscores the varying approaches to photography within the broader scope of contemporary art practice.
Kyoichi Tsuzuki, Happy Victims: Paul and Joe. 2001/2002, Photo Kyoichi Tsuzuki
Mitra Tabrizian, Tehran 2006, 2006, Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Acquisition 2008, Mudam Luxembourg
This new display includes important early acquisitions for the Mudam Collection such as 18 Hauts Fourneaux by Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Vitrines, Luxembourg by Valérie Belin, whose black and white images, respectively, draw on the systematic procedures of Conceptual Art and the history of photography in the work of Eugène Atget. The color photographs by British photographer Martin Parr, move between the world of photojournalism and visual art to capture with acerbity aspects of contemporary social life.
Roland Fischer, O.T. (Los Angeles portraits), 1991
Pasha Rafiym, NYC GHOST IX, 2008, Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Production 2008 / Martin Parr, Luxembourg, 2006 / Magnum Photos
Operating somewhere between investigation and fiction, Sophie Calle and Pasha Rafiy exploit, through their respective tours around Venice and New York, the narrative potential of images, while the fanciful staging of anonymous fashion aficionados by Kyoichi Tsuzuki recreates a new reality. His images, which reveal as much their personalities in a sensitive manner, find resonance in the intimist atmosphere of the portraits of Nan Goldin, while the recently acquired 22 portraits by Wolfgang Tillmans evoke the painterly traditions of portraiture in which the public figure and the anonymity of the personal wistfully collide.
Shirin Neshat, Guardians of Revolution, 1994, Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Apport FOCUNA © Shirin Neshat, Photo Christof Weber
Bernd & Hilla Becher, 18 Hauts Fourneaux, 1969-1986, Photo Rémi Villaggi | Mudam Luxembourg
rie Belin, Vitrines, Luxembourg, 2003, Collection Mudam Luxembourg. Commission 2004
Artists:
Bernd & Hilla Becher, Valérie Belin, Sophie Calle, Roland Fischer, Nan Goldin, Shirin Neshat, Martin Parr, Pasha Rafiy, Mitra Tabrizian, Wolfgang Tillmans, Kyoichi Tsuzuki
Subjects of Life / Photography in the Mudam Collection
Curators: Lisa Baldelli, Marie-Noëlle Farcy
January 31 – September 22, 2019 / Mudam Luxembourg
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