Curating the image of the artist: Monographic exhibitions under the critical lens of feminism
This project aims to understand and critically investigate contemporary monographic exhibitions and the role they play in formulating the image of the artist, particularly through the lens of feminism.
Monographic exhibitions focusing on individual artists, both in the forms of retrospective shows of “old masters” and solo spotlights on living artists, convey a mainstream idea of the artist to the public. They also construct the idea of the artist within the discipline of art history. This century-old exhibition format, developed in the Western tradition, remains prominent today despite the diversity of the contemporary global art world, both in museums and commercial galleries.
Monographic exhibitions proliferate. However, they tend to be overlooked as an antiquated format in the rising research field of critical exhibition history. The project will shed light on this blind spot and seeks to answer the questions: Why is this exhibition format still so widespread? How do monographic exhibitions negotiate and impact concepts of the artist and of art? Is it possible for monographic exhibitions not to conform to hegemonic art history?
Monographic exhibitions proliferate; however, they tend to be overlooked as an antiquated form in the rising research field of critical exhibition history. The project seeks to shed on this blind spot and poses and seeks to answer the questions: Why is this exhibition format still so widespread? What can we learn from analyzing monographic exhibitions in line with critical exhibition history to understand how they establish and administer the cultural meanings of art? What sort of monographic exhibitions are presented? How do monographic exhibitions negotiate and impact concepts of the artist and of art? What categories and value systems do they form, challenge, or redefine?
The project will analyze specific exhibitions, mainly of women artists, from the past thirty years in Western areas, with particular focus on Denmark, as well as in non-Western areas, cultures where the modern concept of the artist-individual is a more recent phenomenon and the existence of a modern art scene even more so. The project will engage museum curators in a re-evaluation of the curating of monographic exhibitions.
Researchers
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hansen, Malene Vest | Associate Professor | +4535329291 |
