Events

Sturtevant Estate All Reality Is Now Virtual Reality

26 March 2018

Ely House, London

Julia Peyton-Jones in conversation with Mario Kramer

Mon 26 March 2018

18:30 – 20:00

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Ely House, 37 Dover Street

London, W1S 4NJ

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac London invites you to ‘All reality is now virtual reality’ at 6.30pm on Monday 26th March 2018: A talk to celebrate and cast new light on the work of Sturtevant, an artist widely acknowledged for her important contribution to the art of our time, who presaged the endlessly repeating, unattributed imagery that characterises today's digital world.

To mark the occasion of Sturtevant's first posthumous show on view at Ely House in London, Julia Peyton-Jones, Senior Global Director: Special Projects and curator of Sturtevant's current exhibition Vice Versa, will be in conversation with Mario Kramer, Head of Collection at MMK, Frankfurt and curator of Sturtevant's largest exhibition to date.

Discussing the importance of Sturtevant's work, her enduring relevance and artistic rigour, and sharing little-seen installation views, Peyton-Jones and Kramer will tap into the unique blend of urgency and timelessness that characterises her work and has increasingly impacted upon younger generations of artists. The talk will lay bare Sturtevant's investigation into notions of authorship and aesthetics and the relationship between original and origins, demonstrating that ‘she was not a copyist, plagiarist, parodist, forger, or imitator, but was rather a kind of actionist, who adopted style as her medium in order to investigate aspects of art’s making, circulation, consumption, and canonisation’ as Peter Eleey articulated when curating Sturtevant: Double Trouble at MoMA in 2014.

The talk will be held in the ‘Hall of Fame' room at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac London, which brings together Sturtevant’s repetitions of emblematic works from American Pop, set against the artist's ‘Kill’ wallpaper (based on the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill, 2003). Sturtevant's solo show of paintings, photographs, installation, videos and wallpaper which engage with iconic works of her artistic predecessors including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Beuys will remain open after the talk until 8.30pm.

To book your complimentary place for the drinks reception, talk and after-hours gallery viewing please register at rsvp.london@ropac.net

BIO MARIO KRAMER

Since 1990 Mario Kramer (*1956) is Head of the permanent Collection and Curator of the MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main. He studied Art History, Archaeology and Cultural Sciences at the Albert Ludwigs Universität in Freiburg i. Br. and at the University of Hamburg.

From 1985 – 1987 he worked as a Collaborator at the Kunstverein in Hamburg; 1987 – 1989 Graduate's scholarship, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Scholarship for travel and research at the archives of the Guggenheim Museum, New York. His Master’s thesis where published 1991 entitled, Joseph Beuys “DAS KAPITAL RAUM 1970-1977”. His Doctorate's thesis where published in 1995 entitled‚ Sound and Sculpture. The Musical Aspect in the Work of Joseph Beuys’. Dr. Mario Kramer was several times invited as a visiting professor, e.g. at Bennington College, Vermont and at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main.

At the MMK he curated amongst others the following exhibitions: On Kawara 1952-56 Tokyo; Paare/Couples – Gilbert & George und Felix Gonzalez-Torres; Andy Warhol’s Time Capsules; Sturtevant - The Brutal Truth; Andreas Slominski – Roter Sand und ein gefundenes Glück; Double – Gregor Schneider; On Kawara – Pure Consciosness (Saligao, Goa, India); Dayanita Singh – Go Away Closer; Sturtevant Drawing Double Reversal; William Forsythe. The Fact of Matter; PRIMARY STRUCTURES – Meisterwerke der Minimal Art von Carl Andre bis Santiago Sierra aus der Sammlung des MMK.

Lectures at home and abroad among others: Hallen für Neue Kunst, Schaffhausen; The New School for Social Research, New York; Joseph Beuys – Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg-Hau; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Fondation Auschwitz, Bruxelles; Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Fine Art Museum, Taipei; Akademie der bildenden Künste, Nürnberg; Bauhaus Dessau; Centre George Pompidou, Paris; Goethe House New York; Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Mücsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest; Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg.

BIO DAME JULIA PEYTON-JONES, DBE

Dame Julia Peyton-Jones is Senior Global Director: Special Projects, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, for which she recently co-curated, with Dr Sharon Hecker, Medardo Rosso: Sight Unseen and His Encounters with London, and is Visiting Professor, School of Arts and Humanities, Royal College of Art, London. She began her working life as an artist after graduating with a master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in London. In 1988, she became a curator at the Hayward Gallery and three years later was appointed director of the Serpentine Gallery, which she transformed into an internationally acclaimed visual arts institution. Among her innovations was the Serpentine’s acclaimed annual architecture programme and the prestigious Summer Party. Having won many awards and honours for her achievements at the Serpentine, she now serves on several boards, such as the Michael Clark Company and The Old Vic theatre. As well as speaking on the arts and creative leadership at important global events including the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, she participates in numerous international advisory committees, panels and juries.