MAKE DEATH LISTEN
Solo Exhibition by MARKUS MUNTEAN & ADI ROSENBLUM
14-Jul-07 to 07-Oct-07
Opening on 13-Jul-07, 7pm
Curated by Ilina Koralova and Barbara Steiner
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART LEIPZIG
Karl-Tauchnitz-Stra ße 9 + 11
D-04107 Leipzig
Telephone: +49.341.140 81 0
Fax: +49.341.140 81 11
Tuesday through Sunday:
12 noon – 7pm
office [at] gfzk.de
The Museum for Contemporary Art in Leipzig presents the first major solo exhibition in Germany by Markus Muntean & Adi Rosenblum.
An (almost empty) disco, a garage, a heap of rubbish and a car park provide the backdrops to the search for the true meaning of one’s own existence, indeed, for affirmation that one exists at all. Here we see the ruins of an affluent society built on the cornerstones of shopping, cars, consumerism, fun and leisure that absorbs and regards every attempt at expressing genuine feelings, authenticity and sincerity, solely in terms of its economic potential.
The compositions adopted by Muntean & Rosenblum in their large-scale, figurative paintings, drawings and films are familiar from art history. Gestures, poses and colours are used dramatically to heighten emotions. Such formulaic pathos is employed today by the advertising industry to market products and services (even) more effectively. These works manage to establish a connection between the artistic traditions of past centuries and the present day, dominated by the mass media. They explore the different cultural codes, social conventions and ideals of beauty that conflict with our longing to be individual but simultaneously influence how we construct our identities. The artists make conscious use of this contradiction and reject the claim for a clear border between authenticity and artifice, between true emotions and the deliberate use of contrived, emotive language.
The exhibition has been organised in cooperation with MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León in Spain and in collaboration with the Forum zeitgenössischer Musik/Thomas Heyde, Leipzig and Lena Seik/Alexandra Kühnert (GfZK for You)
The accompanying catalogue was published by JRP/Ringier, Zurich in cooperation with MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y Léon.
Markus Muntean, born 1962 in Graz (Austria) / Adi Rosenblum, born 1962 in Haifa (Israel). Collaboration since 1992. Live and work in Vienna and London
Solo exhibitions (selected): Team Gallery, New York, 2007 — MUSAC, León; MAK, Vienna; Kunsthalle Budapest, Budapest, 2006 — Maureen Paley, London; Arndt & Partner, Berlin, 2005 — Tate Birtain, London; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourn, 2004 — De Appel, Amsterdam; Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, 2002 — SECESSION, Vienna; Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarus, 2000 — Georg Kargl, Vienna; Chicago Project Room, Chicago, 1999
Group exhibitions (selected): The Triumph of Painting V, Saachi Gallery London, 2007 — ARS 06, Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Helsinki; Zurück zur Figur. Malereie der Gegenwart, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich, 2006 — Körper Sprachen, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg; Postmediale Kondition, Neue Galerie, Graz, 2005 — 26. Bienal São Paulo, São Paulo; New Blood, Saatchi Gallery London; Seven Sins, MUSEION – Museum of modern and contemporary art, Bozen, 2004 — New Space! Group Show!, Gallerie Franco Noero, Turin; Permanent 04, Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg; Ausser Atem – Fokus österreichische Malerei, Kunstverein Wiesbaden, 2003 — The Gallery Show, Royal Academy, London, 2002
Supported by Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen, Bundeskanzleramt:Kunst, Wien, and Hotel Marriott Leipzig.
