Born in San Francisco in 1967, Matthew Barney is among the most striking
American artists on the contemporary art scene. He made his name by
spectacular performances combining sport with art, suspended from his
gallery’s ceiling or climbing the walls and creating drawings in such a
position. He achieved international recognition with his ‘Cremaster’
film cycle (1994-2002) where he appears transformed into different
shapes, both animal and human, and journeys through a baroque, dreamlike
world emanating a powerful hypnotic pull. The Bibliothèque nationale de
France, in partnership with the New York Morgan Library and Museum,
organizes the first retrospective of his drawings in France, so
disclosing a more intimate and secret aspect of this exceptional artist.
The exhibition presents about 80 drawings made by Matthew Barney between
1988 and 2011, housed in public and private collections. Contrasting
with the baroque features of his videos, performances and sculptures,
Matthew Barney’s drawings are intimist, meditative works in a small
format. For these drawings, the artist uses both traditional techniques
(graphite pencil and ink) and unusual materials (minerals, petroleum
jelly…). They stand at the end of a long creative process and follow his
films, focusing on the same major themes. Crossed by delicate lines in
the tradition of Dürer, Cranach or Hans Bellmer, these drawings are
related to the first ‘Drawing Restraint’, the ‘Cremaster’ cycle and his
new film, ‘River of Fundament’, based on the novel by Norman Mailer,
‘Ancient Evenings’. Invited to the BnF, Matthew Barney wished to meet
the ‘carte blanche’ challenge. Along with his drawings, he presents in
showcases created by himself some of his storyboards (personal documents
including sketches, postcards, press clippings, books and various
documents found on the internet) which he assembles to map the narrative
structure and imagery of his projects. For the exhibition, he has
selected outstanding works held by the BnF such as medieval illuminated
manuscripts, papyrus, Egyptian antiquities and engravings by the great
masters of print making, as well as rare and precious books on
alchemy. His innovative artistic approach subverts the traditional
presentation of documents and transforms each show-case into an original
work of art. In conjunction with the exhibition, Matthew Barney will
create a new Drawing Restraint performance in the BnF’s premises.
Exhibition organized by the Morgan Library & Museum de New York in collaboration with the BnF.
From
October 8, 2013
to
January 5, 2014
In partnership with the new MK2 art et essais housed in
François-Mitterrand Library and with the Cinémathèque française. A
series a films by Matthew Barney will be presented during the exhibition
period.
