Overview
Among the works on view will be Tacita Dean's film "Human Treasure", 2006, which she made while a guest at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Kitakyushu, Japan. The motivation for the film came from the notion of a human treasure, a national lifetime honour bestowed upon those who have reached the very top of their chosen field in the traditional Japanese arts. Dean was attracted to the idea of a human being as treasured object and wondered equally about its privileges and restrictions. Human treasures are difficult to get near, as they are literally treasured by the society that nominates them and cossetted by those close to them.
Tacita Dean: Human Treasure
8 September - 13 October 2007
Opening reception: Saturday, 8 September 2007, 6-8 PM
Marian Goodman Gallery is very pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Tacita Dean, which will be held from September 8 through October 13 2007. Among the works on view will be Tacita Dean's film "Human Treasure", 2006, which she made while a guest at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Kitakyushu, Japan. The motivation for the film came from the notion of a human treasure, a national lifetime honour bestowed upon those who have reached the very top of their chosen field in the traditional Japanese arts. Dean was attracted to the idea of a human being as treasured object and wondered equally about its privileges and restrictions. Human treasures are difficult to get near, as they are literally treasured by the society that nominates them and cossetted by those close to them.
Her human treasure is the octogenarian performer, Sensaku Shigeyama, who is a master of Kyogen, traditional Japanese comedy. Every morning, Sensaku and his wife travel across Kyoto to have a Western breakfast in the famous Takaragaike Prince Hotel, before returning to their home, which is now a centre for Kyogen. Dean admits to never having addressed her subject personally because of the formality and deference surrounding him. Despite this distance, Dean's film touches on something of the man behind this great national burden.
Tacita Dean was born in Canterbury, England; she currently lives and works in Berlin. Her one-person shows this year have been held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA as the winner of 2006 Hugo Boss Prize, The Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, Ireland, and Miami Art Central, Miami, Florida. A large retrospective of Tacita Dean's work was shown at Schaulager, Basel, Switzerland in 2006.
Her last major exhibition in Paris was held at ARC Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 2003.
Among numerous group shows, Tacita Dean has just participated in Il Tempo del Postino, at this year's Manchester International Festival, which will be traveling to the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in February 2008.
