Death is Your Body
May 1–July 6, 2014
Opening: April 30, 7pm
Frankfurter Kunstverein
Markt 44
60311 Frankfurt
Germany
The end is certain: the human body is mortal. Although the span of an average human life has increased over the course of evolution, eternal life was not intended or imaginable for the human organism. At the beginning of the 21st century, the body as we know it is poised at a threshold of radical transformation. Through biomedical developments, its vulnerability is steadily diminishing. For example, cells and DNA can be replicated artificially, and organs can be replaced. The vision of an endless lifespan has come within reach.
Death is Your Body examines death through the lifeless body. The exhibition presents sculptures, installations, drawings, collages, photographs, and videos of 14 international artists, who refer to the dying or dead body. The approaches vary from basing works on the imagery of the dead body to metaphorical compositions that interrogate the relationship between the living and the dead, and works using the corpse as material. Addressing the human or animal corpse, the works shown in the exhibition raise a number of highly relevant questions, for example, about what defines life and how people treat a corpse.
Participating artists: AUJIK (SE/JP), Berlinde De Bruyckere (BE), Tudi Deligne (FR), Omer Fast (IL), Gosbert Gottmann (DE), Kaia Hugin (NO), Hannah Hurtzig (DE), Teresa Margolles (MX), Alexandra Meyer (CH), Jana Müller (DE), Wangechi Mutu (US/KE), Thomas Rentmeister (DE), Taryn Simon (US), Raman Zaya (IR/DE)
Curated by: Lilian Engelmann
Opening hours: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 11am–7pm; Wednesday, 11am–9pm; Saturday and Sunday, 10am–7pm
Accompanying events: A comprehensive program of events, including lectures, panel discussions, and performances, accompanies the exhibition.
Kindly supported by The Flemish authorities, the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, IASPIS—the Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s International Program for Visual Artists, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Berlin, the REWE Group and the interdisciplinary Research Project “Death and Dead Bodies. Transmortality” (Aachen, Berlin, Marburg, Zurich).
Press contact
Julia Wittwer: T +49 69 219314 30 / F +49 69 219314 11 / presse [at] fkv.de / Press
