Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt presents Secret Societies. To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silence on view 23 June–25 September 2011.
Man has always been fascinated with secret societies and their clandestine rites, their covert knowledge, and exclusive circle of members. The character of secret societies ranges from harmless brotherhoods to powerful associations with anything but altruistic financial and political objectives. Particularly in times of crises, secret societies provide surrogate values for the prevailing political, social and technological systems of order. The exhibition “Secret Societies. To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silence” which will be on display at the Schirn from June 23 until September 25, 2011 is dealing with the question how to present the invisible, in how far secret societies mirror certain facets of contemporary art, and how artists reflect the overall theme in different ways. Within its own world of mysterious signs, the exhibition pursues the nature of secrecy along a labyrinthine course and discloses a range of bizarre and wondrous discoveries. It comprises more than one hundred works, including paintings, photographs, sculptures, films, and installations. The show’s presumed circle of members encompasses fifty-two artists:
Art & Language, Dan Attoe, Abel Auer, Armin Boehm, Cris Brodahl, Steven Claydon, Aaron Curry, Enrico David, Brice Dellsperger, Kaye Donachie, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Tim Ellis, Matias Faldbakken, Gretchen Faust, Simone Gilges, Goldin+Senneby, Julian Göthe, Eva Grubinger, Uwe Henneken, Benedikt Hipp, Jenny Holzer, Karl Holmqvist, Jonathan Horowitz, Rashid Johnson, Edward Kay, Joachim Koester, Terence Koh, Donghee Koo, Bernd Krauss, Skafte Kuhn, Elad Lassry, Gabriel Lester, Goshka Macuga, Jill Magid, Duncan Marquiss, Fabian Marti, Alex Müller, David Noonan, Rupert Norfolk, Markus Schinwald, Sean Snyder, Jim Shaw, Jennifer Tee, Suzanne Treister, Luca Vitone, Ulla von Brandenburg, Michael Esposito & Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Cerith Wyn Evans, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Lisa Yuskavage and Tobias Zielony.
“Secret Societies. To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silence” is a co-production between the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt and the CAPC de Bordeaux. The show will be presented in the CAPC – musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux from November 10, 2011 until February 26, 2012.
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