CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
Tino Sehgal
A continuous exhibition
CCA Wattis Institute
for Contemporary Arts
California College of the Arts
1111 Eighth Street
San Francisco CA 94107
T: 415.551.9210
http://www.wattis.org
The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts continues its permanent exhibition Tino Sehgal, now entering its second year.
Since September 2007 the Wattis Institute has been presenting, concurrently with its other exhibitions, Sehgal’s first solo show in the United States. Over the course of each exhibition, the Wattis has presented a single work by Sehgal.
In the first year the works were: This is new (2003, presented at the Wattis September 5–November 29, 2007, in tandem with Pioneers), in which a newspaper headline from that day was decontextualized by the gallery monitor; This exhibition (2004, presented at the Wattis November 30, 2007–January 26, 2008, in tandem with Apocalypse Now, and February 7–April 12, 2008, in tandem with Paul McCarthy’s Low Life Slow Life), in which the press release of the concurrent Wattis exhibition was literally embodied by the gallery monitor; and This is propaganda (2002, presented at the Wattis April 23–August 9, 2008, in tandem with Passengers), a piece that was sung by the gallery monitor.
In the second year of this program, the Wattis will present two further pieces that continue the focus on works that involve single interpreters who enact Sehgal’s situation-based pieces for the duration of an exhibition.
Extending the framework of a typical solo show to run indefinitely, the Wattis’s presentation of Sehgal’s work allows audiences to follow and engage with his practice over a number of years. Rather than taking a chronological approach, each piece is selected and adapted according to the parameters of the particular Wattis show running concurrently, the gallery architecture, and visitor behavior. The project aims to investigate new ways in which an art institution can commit to the development and understanding of a single artist’s career. It looks at how audiences respond to the continual presence of an artist’s work within its galleries, and it also examines Sehgal’s work in the context of an art college such as CCA, with a select number of students acting as interpreters across multiple pieces by the artist.
With a background in dance and economics, both of which continue to influence his work, Sehgal creates meaning through the transformation of actions rather than materials, using the human voice, language, movement, and social interaction to create ephemeral works of art that are designed to challenge, as much as to enchant, viewers. Sehgal was born in London in 1976 and currently lives in Berlin. His has had recent solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2007), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2007), the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2007, 2006, 2005); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2006); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2006); Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2006); and Kunstverein in Hamburg (2006). Sehgal represented Germany at the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005.
About the CCA Wattis Institute
The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts was established in 1998 in San Francisco at California College of the Arts. It serves as a forum for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary art and curatorial practice. Through groundbreaking exhibitions, the Capp Street Project residency program, lectures, symposia, and publications, the Wattis Institute has become one of the leading art institutions in the United States and an active site for contemporary culture in the Bay Area.
Founding support for CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts programs has been provided by Phyllis C. Wattis and Judy and Bill Timken. Generous support provided by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, Ann Hatch and Paul Discoe, and the CCA Curator’s Forum.
CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
Kent and Vicki Logan Galleries
California College of the Arts
1111 Eighth Street
San Francisco CA 94107
T: 415.551.9210
http://www.wattis.org
