Simon Fujiwara
08 April - 21 May 2011
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| © Simon Fujiwara
installationview: Manifesta 8, Murcia, 2010 - 2011 |
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SIMON FUJIWARA
Phallusies (An Arabian Mystery)
8 April - 21 May, 2011
Erotic art is not exactly a major topic within Islamic history, so when
an ancient, giant stone phallus sculpture was discovered under the
foundations of a new museum under construction in the 'Arabian desert',
naturally there was panic. No photographs were taken, and no record of
it's discovery or disappearance exist. Some say it was destroyed, others
saw an unlabeled crate departing for 'destination unknown'.
The truth comes down to a handful of British men, working on the
construction site in 1999, who bore witness to the discovery of the
phallus, but even they don't agree. Some say it had testicles, others
say it was just a stone column, some say it was 3 meters long, others
six. But size is not the question here, it's the shape that counts.
Cock or not?
No-one can ever know the truth, but like any good erotic story, the truth is a slippery thing.
Simon Fujiwara was born in London, in 1982. Lives and works between Berlin and London.
In 2011 he won the South Bank Arts Awards, as emerging visual artist. In
2010 he won the Baloise Art Prize, for Art Basel 41 and the Cartier
Award for Frieze Art Fair.
Between his solo shows: Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City (current), Julia
Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf; MAK Center for Contemporary Art, Los
Angeles; Neue Alte Brücke, Frankfurt; Architecture Foundation, London.
His upcoming exhibitions will be hosted at: Baltimore Contemporary
Museum, Baltimore (2011); Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg (2011); Tate St.
Ives, St. Ives (2012); CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco (2012)
Between his group shows: Singapore Biennale, Singapore; 29th Sao Paulo
Biennale, Sao Paulo; Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Kunsthalle Göteborg,
Göteborg; MUSAC, Leon; GAM, Turin; Temporärer Kunsthalle, Berlin; 53rd
Venice Biennale ("The Collectors", Nordic Pavilion, with Elmgreen &
Dragset), Venice; Galleria Massimo de Carlo, Milan; "This is Not
Vauxhall", curated by Elmgreen & Dragset, 51 Devon Street, London;
Neue Alte Brücke, Frankfurt.
Fujiwara will be present at Performa 2011, New York.
Works by Simon Fujiwara are in the collections of: Prada, Milan;
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg; Parasol Unit Foundation, London; David
Roberts Art Foundation, London.
www.giomarconi.com
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