OCA ANNOUNCES
the participation of Elmgreen & Dragset at the
12th Istanbul Biennial: Untitled
Exhibition Dates: 17 September-13 November, 2011
Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
The artist duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset are participating at the 12th Istanbul Biennial: Untitled, with their work The Incidental Self (2006). Curators Adriano Pedrosa, founding director of Programa Independente da Escola São Paulo (PIESP), Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Jens Hoffmann, director, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, USA, describe the work as a 'large shelving system that occupies a wide wall space with 500 smaller framed photographs of various gay cultural and everyday life situations on display. The display references the standard family photo set-up found in almost any home around the world, but is exaggerated both in terms of quantity and in its definition of "family"'. The Incidental Self is represented within the ‘Ross’ group show, one of the five group exhibitions composing the biennial. Each of the group exhibitions occupies its own space, distinguished from another 50 solo presentations via gray walls, and features a large number of artists' works brought together under a particular theme. Focusing on artworks that are both formally innovative and politically outspoken, the 12th Istanbul Biennial 'explores the rich relationship between art and politics', taking as its point of departure the work of the Cuban American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957–1996). The 12th Istanbul Biennial is accompanied by three publications; Remembering Istanbul, Biennial Companion and Biennial Catalogue.
About the artists
Michael Elmgreen (b.1961, Copenhagen, Denmark) and
Ingar Dragset (b.1969, Trondheim, Norway) live and
work in Berlin and have been collaborating since 1995. Their work
explores the relationship between art, architecture and design
through a wide range of installations, performances and
environmental works. Through the last decade, they have been
showing their works in numerous institutions including Tate Modern,
Serpentine Gallery, MCA Chicago, New Museum, Musée d'Art moderne de
la Ville de Paris, Hamburger Bahnhof, MMK Frankfurt, Louisiana
Museum, Moderna Museet, Bergen Kunsthall and Kunsthalle Zürich. In
2009 they were officially representing Norway at the 53rd
International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia.
OCA Support
Elmgreen & Dragset's participation at at the 12th
Istanbul Biennial has been supported by OCA’s International Support
Programme.