MB Art Agency Amsterdam / Johan Deumens Gallery, Haarlem / C-Space Beijing
Have the pleasure to invite you to a private and exclusive preview of
ULAY’s historical oeuvre
A presentation consisting of unique vintage Polaroids and never shown before photographic works, portfolio-cassettes, facsimiles, objects & editions and artist books. In addition to this selection, several works from the collaborative period with Marina Abramovic will be presented.
The event will take place on the 12th of June 2010, 17- 20.00 hours at
MB Art Agency ’s project space, Willemsparkweg 191, 1071 HA Amsterdam .
The artist will be present.
Due to limited space and security reasons, we kindly ask your confirmation by e-mail to: mbartagency@gmail.com or by phone at: 0614789395.
Please show the invitation at the entrance. If you made a telephonic reservation please register at the entrance desk.
After the opening the exhibition can be seen by appointment only.
Practical Information: the venue is situated at the crossroad of Willemsparkweg and Cornelis Schuijtstraat, Tram no. 2, (tram stop Cornelis Schuijtstraat).
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ULAY / Historical Oeuvre Preview
Active throughout no less than four decades in the international artistic milieu, Ulay is one of the very few artists whose work is and will remain eternally challenging. His accurate anticipations and intuitions on the several paradigms shifts, which are expressed in his earlier works have influenced generations of artists and still represents a model to follow for the younger artists.
Taking into consideration that a significant part of his work from the late 60’s and the 70’s have not been exhibited as a whole, but only by fragments, this exclusive preview aims to give an insight on the most intense and prolific period in the artist’s work. It also wishes to honour the artist’s major contribution not only to the history of performance but also to the history of photography.
This selection brings together besides the artist’s personal archive, vintage Polaroids and other photographic material, portfolio-cassettes, facsimiles, objects & editions and artist books realized before he started his collaboration with Marina Abramovic. Some of the recurrent themes that appear in these early works will later re-appear through other forms in the Relation Work period with Marina Abramovic.
“Ulay’s work in photography has long been concerned to evade perceived limitations in the medium. In terms of the various categories of photography, I would characterize Ulay’s approach as ontological- meaning that he is always seeking to ground his photographic work in the real. Strategies to accomplish this have included: auto photography, with its direct reflection of the author closing the cognitive loop; the combination of photography with elements of performance, which root it is actual experience; and Polaroid photography, which eliminates some of the mediating processes to more directly reflect the object. Ulay’s work involves an attempt to capture the real object in its conditions of time and space. It is thus the photography led him to performance and more recently, performance has returned him to photography”.
Thomas McEvilley, “Art, Love, Friendship, Marina Abramovic and Ulay – Together & Apart”, “The First Act”, page 203-204,
published by McPherson & Company, N.Y. 2010