Moderna Museet in Stockholm presents Mary Kelly Four Works in Dialogue 1973-2010, open through 23 January 2011.
Four Works in Dialogue comprises Post-Partum Document (1973-79), The Ballad of Kastriot Rexhepi (2001), Multi-Story House (2007) and the new piece Habitus (2010). Part V of Mary Kelly’s groundbreaking work Post-Partum Document was acquired for the Moderna Museet collection in the course of the project “The Second Museum of Our Wishes” and in this exhibition, the complete work is being presented in Sweden for the first time.
Mary Kelly and Ray Barrie, “Habitus” 2010. © Mary Kelly/Ray Barrie
By showing Mary Kelly’s major projects from the 1970s together with works from the past decade, the exhibition seeks to engage us in a visual dialogue across generations that have been shaped by different cultural circumstances, but subject to the same historical events. The works in the exhibition capture the diverse voices that form our archive of collective memories, reflecting on the way past hopes and disappointments reappear in the present, and alluding to the formative role of the mother-child relationship in that process.
The new work, Habitus, was created by Mary Kelly in collaboration with Ray Barrie for the exhibition at Moderna Museet. The structure’s shape and size are based on the Anderson Shelter, which was mass produced for home use in Britain during the Second World War. In Habitus the corrugated iron is replaced with panels of laser-cut text that become legible when they are reflected in the mirrored floor. Mary Kelly’s short, quirky narratives recount the memories of a generation born during or after the war.
In addition to the four major projects Moderna Museet will also be showing the photo series Primapara (1974) and the influential film Nightcleaners (1972–75) by The Berwick Street Film Collective.
Moderna Museet
Skeppsholmen
Stockholm, Sweden
www.modernamuseet.se