From June 19 to September 16, 2014, Der Leone Have Sept Cabeças, a group exhibition with Pedro Barateiro, Lothar Baumgarten, Mariana Castillo Deball, Henri Chopin, Natalie Czech, Dora García, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Runo Lagomarsino, Quinn Latimer & Megan Rooney, Matt Mullican, Musa paradisiaca, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Katarina Zdjelar and a selection of works from Marc & Josée Gensollen Collection, curated by Filipa Oliveira & Elfi Turpin.
“Pinit, putahtraletungay”
“Nis, Poto?”
“Liba Cabingoat, it”
“la moa, Poto?”
“Ya”
Der: A story about two twins who invented a language of their own was what started this exhibition. Poto and Cabengo spoke a gibberish that no one but themselves understood. In 1978, the French film-maker Jean-Pierre Gorin attempted to capture the moment before they lost their language, before they were forced to adapt to English.
Leone: Appropriating Gorin’s words about his film, this exhibition is about unstructured discourse—that of the artists—which is surrounded by structured discourse—that of the institution, the curator, the market, the audience… Can language, and in this case can art, be considered a subversive act?
Have: Yes, peut-être. But what are they saying? What are they saying? Poto and Cabengo are possibly talking about exile and the weight of the American dream. Because it is as exiles in their own language that they meet, in California, that odd film-maker who is leaving Europe, speaks French in English, and wants to halt time, precisely where their words have remained cryptic. There’s this situation: almost a relation with migration and a form of impenetrable communication whose social, historical, political, psychological and aesthetic contexts concern the artists in this show. What are they saying? What are they saying?
Sept: The works of the artists erupt as dysfunctional acts in relationship to a classic understanding of what language is supposed to be. They do move within the space of language, text and speech, but deal for instance with notions of interpretation, nonsense and invention. Nevertheless, neither Poto & Cabengo nor language itself are the subjects of this project. They become metaphors or are used simply as common work tools.
Cabeças: With this background, the exhibition should generate discursive and disruptive layers, talking about subjects introduced by the artists and the audience. Or so we hope. The exhibition is a seven-headed lion. One body with many heads.
Der: With Pedro Barateiro, Lothar Baumgarten, Mariana Castillo Deball, Henri Chopin, Natalie Czech, Dora García, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Runo Lagomarsino, Quinn Latimer & Megan Rooney, Matt Mullican, Musa paradisiaca, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Katarina Zdjelar.
Cabeças: And a selection of works from the collection of Marc & Josée Gensollen by Ignasi Aballí, Absalon, Alterazioni Video, Carl Andre, Pierre Bismuth, Alighiero e Boetti, Marcel Broodthaers, Stanley Brouwn, Maurizio Cattelan, Jimmie Durham, Dora García, Mario García Torres, Kendell Geers, Liam Gillick, Douglas Gordon, Carsten Höller, Sofia Hultén, Art Keller—Collection Yoon Ja & Paul Devautour, Gianni Motti, Antoni Muntadas, Hans Op de Beeck, Gabriel Orozco, Philippe Parreno, Kelly Schacht, Tino Sehgal, Yann Sérandour, Marion Tampon-Lajarriette, Ian Wilson.
Have: And also a reading by Quinn Latimer & Megan Rooney, on July 17 at 7pm.
Sept: And finally A Stuttering Exhibition: lecture by Vanessa Desclaux with Jesse Ash, Sven Augustijnen, Anna Barham, Ben Cain, Agnès Geoffray, Will Holder, Dominique Petitgand, Linda Quinlan, Cally Spooner, on September 21 at 4.30pm.
Leone: Ya.
—Filipa Oliveira & Elfi Turpin, May 2014.
The exhibition is supported by the Swedish Institute, Paris, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon & Consulat Général d'Allemagne, Strasbourg.
