Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism

Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism is the first exhibition in the United States of work drawn from France's network of Regional Contemporary Art Funds (Frac) and it will tour the Midwest throughout 2010. The exhibition brings together an international, multi-generational array of artists - with an emphasis on artists living in France - whose work contends with idealism, utopian thinking and, in counterpoint, the cynicism that follows failed revolution and the retreat of optimism in the face of pragmatic reality.

Artists Lida Abdul, Élisabeth Ballet, Yves Bélorgey, Berdaguer & Péjus, Katinka Bock, Monica Bonvicini, Jeff Carter, Maurizio Cattelan / Philippe Parreno, Jordi Colomer, François Dallegret, herman de vries, Peter Downsbrough, Philippe Durand, Jimmie Durham, Simon Faithfull, Cao Fei, Robert Filliou, Didier Fiuza Faustino, Élise Florenty, Yona Friedman, Dora García, Ben Hall, Séverine Hubard, Stefan Kern, Bertrand Lamarche, Vincent Lamouroux, Didier Marcel, François Morellet, Sarah Morris, Juan Muñoz, Stéphanie Nava, Philippe Ramette, Kristina Solomoukha, Tatiana Trouvé, Marie Voignier, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Stephen Wetzel, Raphaël Zarka.

About the Exhibition Spatial City is an art exhibition inspired by the theoretical architecture of Yona Friedman. Friedman's ideas, disseminated in the aftermath of World War II, have influenced subsequent generations. French thinkers and conceptual artists have responded to his designs as philosophical constructs worthy of exploration, explication and confrontation. While Yona Friedman's "utopia réalisable" informed the framework of the show, the selection of artwork reflects the cycling and recycling of optimism and cynicism in postwar culture. Artists in the exhibition are responding to society's complex problems: the failed utopian social experiments that resulted in the dehumanizing conditions of Brutalist architecture, the rise and fall of totalitarian states, the tensions resulting from post-colonial immigration, and the destruction of the environment in the name of progress.

An international co-production Curator Nicholas Frank (Institute of Visual Arts, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, http://www.arts.uwm.edu/inova) originated the concept and exhibition. Participating curators are Allison Peters Quinn (Hyde Park Art Center, http://www.hydeparkart.org), Luis Croquer (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit – MOCAD, http://www.mocadetroit.org), Eva González-Sancho (Frac Bourgogne) and Yannick Miloux (Frac Limousin). The exhibition Spatial City and its tour were developed and coordinated by Marie-Cécile Burnichon of Platform and Polly Morris of Inova.

About the Frac and Platform Since 1983, the Frac have been charged with establishing a collection of contemporary French and international art in each region and disseminating it locally, nationally and internationally through the projects they implement. Today the Frac own a collection of more than 22,000 works of outstanding quality and great diversity by artists representative of the French and the international contemporary art scene. Platform is an association based in Paris and created in 2005 by the Frac to pool their resources and their collections, and to work together on collaborative projects both in France and abroad.

Participating Frac collections: Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Bretagne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Corse, Franche-Comté, Haute-Normandie, Île-de-France/Le Plateau, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Lorraine, Nord-Pas de Calais, Pays de la Loire, Poitou-Charentes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Réunion and Institut d'Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes.

The Frac are supported by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication as well as by regional governments.

Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism, is supported by Culturesfrance - French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and French Ministry of Culture and Communication (Direction Générale de la Création Artistique - Service des arts plastiques) and the Cultural Service of the French Embassy in the United States.

www.frac-platform.com

Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism
First Exhibition of the Frac Collections in the United States - 2010
Kuratoren: Nicholas Frank and Allison Peters Quinn, Luis Croquer, Eva Gonzalez-Sancho, Yannick Miloux, Marie-Cecile Burnichon, Polly Morris

Künstler: Lida Abdul, Elisabeth Ballet, Yves Belorgey, Christophe Berdaguer & Marie Pejus, Katinka Bock, Monica Bonvicini, Jeff Carter, Maurizio Cattelan / Philippe Parreno, Jordi Colomer, Francois Dallegret, Herman de Vries, Peter Downsbrough, Philippe Durand, Jimmie Durham, Simon Faithfull, Cao Fei, Robert Filliou, Didier Fiuza Faustino, Elise Florenty, Yona Friedman, Dora Garcia, Ben Hall, Severine Hubard, Stefan Kern, Bertrand Lamarche, Vincent Lamouroux, Didier Marcel, François Morellet, Sarah Morris, Juan Muñoz, Stephanie Nava, Philippe Ramette, Kristina Solomoukha, Tatiana Trouve, Marie Voignier, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Stephen Wetzel, Raphael Zarka.

Stationen:
05.02.10 - 08.04.10 Institute of Visual Arts (Inova), Milwaukee
23.05.10 - 08.08.10 Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
10.09.10 - 26.12.10 Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit