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Valéry Proust Museum/White Cube Fever
Curator: Camiel van Winkel
Artists: Josef Albers, Robert Barry, Lynda Benglis, Frits van den Berghe, Cosima von Bonin, Dirk Braeckman, Gerhard von Graevenitz, Dan Graham, Rodney Graham, Arnaud Holleman, Craigie Horsfield, Ekaterina Kaplunova, Hélène Keil, Raoul De Keyser, Alvin Lucier, Pol Mara, Willem Oorebeek, L.A. Raeven, Jeroen de RIjke/Willem de Rooij, Berend Strik, Paul Thek
From November 26, 2011 until Februari 5, 2012, the exhibition Valéry Proust Museum/White Cube Fever is presented at Mu.ZEE Oostende. This exhibition is curated by Camiel van Winkel and is the result of a collaboration between the Research Group of Visual Art at AKV|St. Joost, Marres Maastricht and Mu.ZEE Oostende.
The exhibition is not a regular group show or thematic exhibition, but an environment composed of selected works by a range of artists from different periods. Avoiding art historical and thematic selection criteria, the exhibition is based on the idea of the inevitable disappearance of the work of art in the empty spaces of the museum.
The title of the exhibition refers to Th.W. Adorno’s 1953 essay ‘Valéry Proust Museum’. Adorno bases his discussion of the problematic nature of the museum as an institution on texts by French authors Marcel Proust and Paul Valéry. In Valéry Proust Museum/White Cube Fever, Adorno’s analysis is extended to the contemporary situation. The exhibition can be seen as a plea for the ‘white cube’.
Between the artist who vacates the work, and the viewer who believes that the work must address someone else, a tangible gap opens up. The exhibition Valéry Proust Museum/White Cube Fever addresses the emotional potential of this gap.
The publication that accompanies the exhibition is available at Marres Books.
