Gerard Byrne A State of Neutral Pleasure 17 January 8 March Large print labels and interpretation Gallery 1

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1 Gerard Byrne A State of Neutral Pleasure 17 January 8 March 2012 Large print labels and interpretation Gallery 1

2 Gerard Byrne: A state of neutral pleasure Byrne is interested in how information, in the form of the written word, can have a resonance beyond its original context and meaning. Drawing from a diverse range of sources including plays, magazine interviews and art journals, Byrne s first comprehensive UK survey brings together film installations and photographs that engage with the idea of the object throughout the twentieth century. His investigations encompass how the historical document can be re-considered in the present moment. As well as the idea of objecthood as applied to the human body through the changing politics around sex and sexuality, and to the art object through the evolving discourse around its production and display.

3 Gallery 1 presents three works in a rolling film programme. The first, A man and a woman make love (2012), is a multiscreen installation reinterpreting Surrealist group discussions initiated by André Breton in 1928 on the subject of eroticism and sexuality. The transcripts of conversations between such figures as writer Jacques Prévert and artist Yves Tanguy were first published in the magazine La Révolution surréaliste. A thing is a hole in a thing it is not (2010) borrows its title from a statement by Carl Andre, and re-stages seminal debates from the 60s around the significance of Minimalism as a newly emerging art form. It re-enacts a key interview between Frank Stella, Donald Judd and Dan Flavin from The piece also references Michael Fried s essay Art and Objecthood (1967), a now infamous critique of Minimalism for its theatricality that is tested throughout Byrne s work.

4 Homme à femmes (Michel Debrane) (2004), is a restaging of a wide-ranging interview with philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre by journalist Catherine Chaine that takes his relationships with women as its starting point. Gerard Byrne: A state of neutral pleasure is organised by Whitechapel Gallery in collaboration with Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm A fully illustrated catalogue is available from the bookshop at a special exhibition price of A series of events will take place throughout the exhibition. Please see the season guide for details. The exhibition is supported by Culture Ireland as part of Ireland s EU Presidency Culture Programme 2013 With special thanks to Joseph & Marie Donnelly and Adrian & Jennifer O Carroll for supporting the exhibition catalogue.

5 Gerard Byrne is represented by Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm; Green On Red Gallery, Dublin and Lisson Gallery, London.

2010 Five HD video projections Duration:

6 Screened in rotation, please see timetable for further details: A man and a woman make love 2012 Multi-channel projection Duration: variable loop of approx. 19 min. Screening times: 11:03, 12:11, 13:59, 15:07, 16:44, 17:49, (20:06 Thursday) A thing is a hole in a thing it is not 2010 Five HD video projections Duration: variable loop of approx. 65 min. Screening times : 12:46, 15:32, (18:15 Thursday)

Homme à femmes (Michel Debrane) 2004 Single Channel video

Screening times: 11:27, 14:23, 17:08, (19:25, 20:32 Thursday) Plus

intermission (please ask gallery assistant for list).

7 Homme à femmes (Michel Debrane) 2004 Single Channel video projection with Dolby 5.1 audio Duration: 38 min. Screening times: 11:27, 14:23, 17:08, (19:25, 20:32 Thursday) Plus additional footage provided by various contributors during each intermission (please ask gallery assistant for list). Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm; Green on Red Gallery, Dublin and Lisson Gallery, London

8 A continuous project, altered daily at the Whitechapel Gallery, London. A structure for organizing time in gallery 1. Three projects by Gerard Byrne, arranged with randomized intervals of video footage borrowed for the duration of the exhibition from Alen Aligrudic, John Beattie, Damien Elliott, Lassi Ernlund Lorentzin, Martin Healy, Ulrik Helftoft, Anders Hergum, Karl Isakson, Vincent Lestienne, Ann Lislegaard, Fiona Marron, Peter Maybury, Paul McCarthy, Ronan McCrea, Michael McDonough, Dennis McNulty, Liz Mermin, Ciara Moore, Garrett Phelan, Linda Quinlan, Anu Ramdas, Emile Sandria, Sandra Vaka, Lee Welch. Time is divided according to four permutations, repeated without pattern, on consecutive days of Gerard Byrne: A state of neutral pleasure. Ask gallery assistant for daily schedule

9 From right hand side of the door, clockwise: A country road. A tree. Evening. Somewhere between Tonygarrow and Cloon Wood, below Prince William s Seat, Glencree, Co. Wicklow 2007 A country road. A tree. Evening. Glencullen, between Boranaraltry Bridge and Jonny Fox s, Dublin Mountains 2006 Route à la campagne, avec arbre. Soir. À une centaine de mètres au nord du vignoble du hameau de Clavaillon, pas très loin de la ferme des Aude 2008

10 Route à la campagne, avec arbre. Soir. Au virage de la départementale qui relie Roussillon à Gargas, entre le Clos de l Urbane et Les Bourgues 2008 Route à la campagne, avec arbre. Soir. Au sud du vignoble des Bonnelly, en direction du nord-est, à travers un champ de vignes entre La Petite Verrière et St Sers 2008 Route à la campagne, avec arbre. Soir. À côté du hameau Le Sage au nord-est de Roussillon, faisant face au Pié de Boeuf et au Vergilas 2008

11 A country road. A tree. Evening. At the bridge where Lough Bray Lower drains into the Glencree river, Glencree, Co. Wicklow 2007 C-Type prints Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery, London Please return large print to the gallery assistant

12 Gerard Byrne A State of Neutral Pleasure 17 January 8 March 2012 Large print labels and interpretation Gallery 9

13 Gerard Byrne: A state of neutral pleasure While the re-staging of texts is a key aspect of Gerard Byrne s work, the representation of time also plays an important role. Time is investigated in Byrne s practice not only in terms of its linearity, but also in how it can become complex and multi-layered. In each of his works, through devices such as re-interpretation, translation and re-staging, the present moment is overlaid with the recent, lived past. This trope becomes explicit through the costuming and props in the moving image works shown in Gallery 1. In contrast, the works in Gallery 9 explore representation of time in different ways. Comprising images from his ongoing series Newsstands (2007-on).

14 These large-scale photographs capture the magazines available in a variety of international newsagents on a given day. The time between the instant that the photograph was taken and its subsequent display become overt through the titling of these works, where the time frame is described in words, such as Three months and twenty days ago (2012). Additionally, while the Newsstands offer a snapshot of socio-political history, they also demonstrate Byrne s interest in the magazine as material for his film and video works. Showing alongside the Newsstand images is 68 Mica and Glass, this highly choreographed 16mm film shows two conservators dis-assembling and re-assembling Robert Smithson's Untitled (1968).

15 The work offers a pertinent echo of A thing is a hole by positioning itself in relationship to Byrne s interest in the discourses generated around minimalism in the 60s. It also provides a meditation on time. The work is never shown in a state of completion, with the conservators caught in a permanent performative loop.

16 Eleven months and twentyone days ago 2012 Silver gelatin print Opposite: 68 mica and glass (a demonstration on camera by workers from the State Museum) mm film loop projection Duration: 08:29 min. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery, London

17 Clockwise: Three months and twenty days ago 2012 Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery, London One month and six days ago Silver gelatin print Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery, London Please return large print to the gallery assistant

18 Gerard Byrne A State of Neutral Pleasure 17 January 8 March 2012 Large print labels and interpretation Gallery 8

19 Gerard Byrne: A state of neutral pleasure The written word, in the form of the magazine interview, is explored and used as a source material for making work by Byrne. Gallery 8 brings together three monitor-based works Why it s time for Imperial, again ( ), New sexual lifestyles (2003) and 1984 and beyond (2005). All of which encompass ideas of sexuality and the object, as presented in print media between the late 1960s and early 80s. Why it s time for Imperial, again takes as its starting point an advertisement for the new Chrysler Imperial car, first printed in National Geographic in The original text, imagines a conversation between Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca and Frank Sinatra where they discus the merits of this new luxury car.

20 Byrne s restaging of the text, within a gritty urban settling, contrasts sharply with the desirability of the object in question. New sexual lifestyles and1984 and beyond, focuses on two round table discussions that were originally printed in Playboy magazine. In the context of the sexual revolution of the 60s, in 1972 Playboy brought together a group to discuss the future of sex. Byrne s re-visiting of the text is located within a contemporary Irish setting; a country not know for its liberal attitudes towards sex and sexuality. Played across three monitors, the questions and answers are randomly replayed in multiple versions adding another layer to representing of the original material.

21 This device is also used in 1984 and beyond which features a restaging of a discussion between twelve well-known science fiction writers, including Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, about their vision of the future. Originally published in Playboy magazine in the 1960s, the conversation shows the optimistic views of the writers at a time of political unrest in the United States.

22 New sexual lifestyles 2003 Three-channel video shown on monitors and photgraphs Duration: 54 min. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery, London Why it s time for Imperial, again Single-channel video installation plus five colour photographs Video duration: 21min. Collection Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane

23 1984 and beyond Three-channel video shown on monitors, vinyl wall text and silver gelatin photographs Duration: approx. 60 min. Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery, London Please return large print to the gallery assistant

TRANSFORMATIONS A GRAPHIC AND CHOREGRAPHIC WORKSHOP

TOURING EXHIBITION for children TRANSFORMATIONS A GRAPHIC AND CHOREGRAPHIC WORKSHOP www.centrepompidou.fr TRANSFORMATIONS A GRAPHIC AND CHOREGRAPHIC WORKSHOP CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION page 3 2 BIOGRAPHICAL