While museums around the globe are closed to the public, we are spotlighting each day an inspiring exhibition that was previously on view. Even if you can’t see it in person, allow us to give you a virtual look.
“Desire: A Revision from the 20th Century to the Digital Age”
Irish Museum of Modern Art
What the Museum Says: “From the beginning of the 20th century to now, ‘Desire: A Revision’ develops through the lens of the Eurocentric male gaze of the Surrealist artists and their influence in shaping artistic depictions of desire in contemporary culture. The exhibition examines how today’s crises of identity, anxieties over humanity’s impact on the earth, and an urgent sense of survival, have complicated our relationship to contemporary desire.
New commissions of contemporary works alongside a succinct selection of master works of the 20th-century offer a unique examination of the relationship between desire, technological advancements, and its impact on social structures.”
Why It’s Worth a Look: This large-scale group show is the third in a trio of exhibitions put on by the museum to address universal themes as they have evolved from the 20th and 21st centuries. The show—co-curated by Yuko Hasegawa of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and Rachel Thomas, head curator at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin—delves into works by artists across generations and nationalities.
By juxtaposing Surrealist works by Duchamp and Max Ernst with contemporary artist Genieve Figgis’s neo-Mannerist portraits we see the differences, and of course, the similarities in how artist’s express physical and material desire. Awol Erizku’s rotating sculpture of Nefertiti decked out in mirrored tiles hangs like a disco ball, echoing the mirrors installed at the show’s entrance as part of Yayoi Kusama’s Where the Light’s In My Heart Go (2016). The show also includes video works like Cao Fei’s RMB City, in which the artist’s desire to live inside a video game became a reality; and David O’Reilly’s interactive video game allows visitors to control the universe on screen.
What It Looks Like:
Matthew Barney, Ballad of the Bullfighter (2014). Courtesy of the artist.
Still from Cao Fei, Live in RMB City (2009). Courtesy the artist and Vitamin Creative Space.
Installation view of “Desire: A Revision from 20th Century to the Digital Age.” Photo: Ros Kavanagh, courtesy of IMMA Dublin.
Installation view of Seiha Kurosawa, Desiring Unspeakable Entropy (2019). Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Installation view of Seiha Kurosawa, Desiring Unspeakable Entropy (2019). Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Installation view of Seiha Kurosawa, Desiring Unspeakable Entropy (2019). Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Installation view of “Desire: A Revision from 20th Century to the Digital Age.” Photo: Ros Kavanagh, courtesy of IMMA Dublin.
Installation view of “Desire: A Revision from 20th Century to the Digital Age.” Photo: Ros Kavanagh, courtesy of IMMA Dublin.
Installation view of David O’Reilly, Everything (2017). Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama, Where the Lights in My Heart Go (2016). Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Bharti Kher, And all the while the benevolent slept (2008). Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Work by Genieve Figgis on display in “Desire” at IMMA Dublin. Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Works by Genieve Figgis and Koji Nakazono. Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Installation of works by Bharti Kher, Dorothy Cross, and David Douard. Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Juliana Huxtable’s works on view in “Desire” at IMMA Dublin. Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Installation view of “Desire: A Revision from 20th Century to the Digital Age.” Photo: Ros Kavanagh, courtesy of IMMA Dublin.
Installation view of “Desire: A Revision from 20th Century to the Digital Age.” Photo: Ros Kavanagh, courtesy of IMMA Dublin.
Lee Bul’s Excavation (2007); Untitled Yet (2018). Photo: Ros Kavanagh.
Installation view of “Desire: A Revision from 20th Century to the Digital Age.” Photo: Ros Kavanagh, courtesy of IMMA Dublin.
Installation view of “Desire: A Revision from 20th Century to the Digital Age.” Photo: Ros Kavanagh, courtesy of IMMA Dublin.
Installation view of “Desire: A Revision from 20th Century to the Digital Age.” Photo: Ros Kavanagh, courtesy of IMMA Dublin.