CCA Wattis Institute Presents Tino Sehgal
San Francisco, August 12, 2008
The CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts announces the continuation of the exhibition Tino Sehgal in the Logan Galleries on the San Francisco campus of California College of the Arts. The exhibition, now entering its second year, is organized by Jens Hoffmann, director of the Wattis Institute, and Claire Fitzsimmons, deputy director of the Wattis Institute. It is free and open to the public.
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 (other) exhibition, the Wattis has presented a single work by Sehgal.
In the first year the Sehgal 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 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 in new ways. 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 expand our current conception of how 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.
About the Artist
Tino Sehgal was born in London in 1976 and currently lives in Berlin. With a background in dance and economics, both of which continue to influence his work, he 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 has had other solo exhibitions recently 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.
About California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts is noted for the interdisciplinarity and breadth of its programs. It offers studies in 20 undergraduate and seven graduate majors in the areas of fine arts, architecture, design, and writing. The college offers bachelor of architecture, bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of architecture, master of arts, master of fine arts, and master of business administration degrees. With campuses in Oakland and San Francisco, CCA currently enrolls more than 1,650 full-time students. Noted alumni include the painters Nathan Oliveira and Raymond Saunders; the ceramicists Robert Arneson, Viola Frey, and Peter Voulkos; the filmmaker Wayne Wang; the conceptual artists David Ireland and Dennis Oppenheim; and the designers Lucille Tenazas and Michael Vanderbyl.
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.