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| Tracking Happiness. Courtesy of the artist; Yvon Lambert, Paris and Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv |
March 3–May 6, 2012
March 3: Mircea Cantor in person for opening event
March 5: Cantor in conversation with Steven Henry Madoff
Museum of the Moving Image
36-01 35 Avenue
Astoria, NY 11106
Co-Presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York
The Museum of the Moving Image and the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York present an exhibition of video installations, short films, and other works by Mircea Cantor. Although Cantor is widely acclaimed throughout Europe, and has had works shown at The Museum of Modern Art, this will be his first solo museum exhibition in New York City.
The exhibition includes installations of three video works: Tracking Happiness (2009), Vertical Attempt (2009), and I Decided Not to Save the World (2011). Selected programs of his short films will be shown continuously in the Bartos Screening Room.
Mircea Cantor (born 1977, in Romania, lives and works in Paris, France) is a visual artist who has received wide acclaim for his subtle commentary on issues of contemporary society.
The Marcel Duchamp Prize was awarded to Mircea Cantor in 2011 in Paris and he is preparing now the subsequent solo exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. This is fitting because his wry, conceptual work has been compared to that of Duchamp in his use of the readymade to attract attention to the polysemantic nature of everyday objects. While his thematic concerns may reflect his identity as a Romanian-born artist, his work is also accessible and universal. As he has said, refusing to be pigeonholed by identification with one nation, “art is my country.”
Cantor’s choice of media is diverse. The subjects that he tackles in his videos, installations, photographs and drawings or his textual works express a sharp awareness of the most brutal realities in today’s changing worlds. Cantor’s 2005 video work Deeparture, which was on view in the contemporary galleries at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, features a deer and a wolf together in a pristine white box environment which works to heighten the palpable tension.
Cantor showed his work in numerous private galleries and public institutions around the world. Among them, Le Cedrac d’Ivry sur Seine in France in 2011 and Kunsthalle Nuremberg in Germany in 2010 organized solo shows of his work. Cantor’s work is included in prominent public collections such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France as well as in many other collections worldwide. Mircea Cantor is represented in Paris by Yvon Lambert Gallery, in Tel Aviv by Dvir Gallery, and in Rome by Magazzino. www.mirceacantor.ro
PUBLIC PROGRAMS WITH THE ARTIST:
Saturday, March 3, 3:00 pm
Opening Event with Mircea Cantor
Museum of the Moving Image, Bartos Screening Room
Mircea Cantor will introduce a selection of his short films, which are often created from his own documentary recordings. In Cantor’s hands, these captured moments become complex and suggestive. The selection includes The Landscape Is Changing (2003, 22 mins.), Dead Time (2003, 2 mins.), Tribute (2004, 3 mins.), The snow and the man (2005, 10 mins.), Nulle part Ailleurs (2000, 12 mins.), and Double Heads Matches (2003, 17 mins.) The program will be followed by a moderated discussion and reception. Free with Museum admission.
Monday, March 5, 6:30 pm
Mircea Cantor in conversation with Steven Henry Madoff
At the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, 972 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10075
Join Mircea Cantor for a conversation with writer, editor and art critic Steven Henry Madoff about his work and the exhibition presently on view in New York. Co-Presented with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. Free Admission. Seating is limited. To register please visit: www.frenchculture.org/spip.php?rubrique21
CONTINUOUS SCREENINGS OF CANTOR’S WORK IN THE BARTOS SCREENING ROOM
Weekdays starting at 1:30 p.m. Weekends starting at 10:30 a.m.
New selection starts each Saturday.
More information here: www.movingimage.us/exhibitions/2012/03/03/detail/restless-films-and-other-works-by-mircea-cantor
