Presented by MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
in association with Melbourne Festival
MEDIA KIT
Reinventing
the wheel:
The
Readymade
Century
Exhibition dates
3 october - 14 december 2013
Opening function
Saturday 5 october, 3 - 5pm
MEDIA
Andrew Liversidge’s project is
supported by the Bank of Melbourne
For all media enquiries please
contact Rosemary Forde
rosemary.forde@monash.edu
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
Tues – Fri 10am – 5pm; Sat 12 – 5pm
Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle wheel 1913,
reconstructed 1964
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
Purchased 1973
© Succession Marcel Duchamp/ADAGP/Paris,
Licensed by Viscopy, 2013
MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
Reinventing the wheel: The Readymade Century
Introduction
Arguably the most influential artistic development of the
twentieth century, the readymade was set in motion one
hundred years ago when Marcel Duchamp mounted
an upturned bicycle wheel on a stool. Duchamp’s
conversion of unadorned, everyday objects into fine art
completely inverted how artistic practice was considered.
Suddenly, art was capable of being everywhere and in
everything. It was a revolutionary moment in modern art
and the ripples from this epochal shift still resonate today.
Reinventing the Wheel: the Readymade Century pays
tribute to Duchamp’s innovation, including two key
examples of his work: Bicycle wheel 1913 and Bottle
dryer 1914. Other important historical works that MUMA
has borrowed for the exhibition reveal the readymade’s
presence in Minimalism and Conceptual art as well
as its echoes in Pop art. The exhibition traces some
of the ways the readymade has been reinterpreted by
subsequent artists in acts of homage to Duchamp or
further expanding the possibilities the readymade has
unfurled.
ARTISTS
Carl Andre
Hany Armanious
Nairy Baghramian
Ian Burn
John Cage
Christo & Jeanne-Claude
Tony Cragg
Michael Craig-Martin
Martin Creed
Aleks Danko
Julian Dashper
Simon Denny
Marcel Duchamp
Sylvie Fleury
Ceal Floyer
Claire Fontaine
Gilbert & George
Among the various trajectories of the readymade,
Reinventing the Wheel traces its elaborations in neodada practices, with a particular focus on everyday
and vernacular contexts; the mysterious and libidinous
potential of sculptural objects; institutional critique
and nominal modes of artistic value. These discursive
contexts also provide a foundation to explore more
recent tendencies related to unmonumental and social
sculpture, post-Fordism and other concerns, particularly
among contemporary Australian artists.
Bringing together works by over forty artists – from
Duchamp and Man Ray to Andy Warhol and Martin
Creed, along with some of Australia’s leading
practitioners – this is a one-of-a-kind salute to an idea
that continues to define the very nature of contemporary
art.
‘This is the most ambitious exhibition that MUMA
has yet presented, including works that establish
the historical moment of the readymade in Europe
and its reception in the USA and in Australia. Most
exciting is the opportunity for living artists to see
their work as part of this ongoing history.’
- Charlotte Day, Director, MUMA
Félix González-Torres
Agatha Gothe-Snape
Greatest Hits
Matthew Griffin
Richard Hamilton
David Hammons
Matt Hinkley & Joshua Petherick
Lou Hubbard
Barry Humphries
Jeff Koons
Joseph Kosuth
Louise Lawler
Klara Lidén
Andrew Liversidge
James Lynch
Robert MacPherson
Callum Morton
John Nixon
Meret Oppenheim
Kain Picken & Rob McKenzie
Rosslynd Piggott
Man Ray
Scott Redford
Stuart Ringholt
Peter Saville
Charlie Sofo
Haim Steinbach
Ricky Swallow
Masato Takasaka
Peter Tyndall
Alex Vivian
Danh Vo
Andy Warhol
Heimo Zobernig
Curatorial team Max Delany (former MUMA director), Charlotte Day, Francis E. Parker, Patrice Sharkey
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
Tues – Fri 10am – 5pm; Sat 12 – 5pm
MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
Reinventing the wheel: The Readymade Century
Public Programs
Found Sound
MUMA presents a series of three live performances
responding to Reinventing the Wheel: The Readymade
Century. Found Sound commences with a programme
devised by composer Mary Finsterer, for which she has
written a new work, and performed by staff and students
from the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music. The series
also features artists using found sounds in a variety of
innovative ways: Sarah Byrne, collaborators Julian Day and
Luke Jaaniste, Lawrence English and Joyce Hinterding.
Performance dates: Saturdays 12th 19th and 26th
October
Time: 3.00pm
Venue: Monash University Museum of Art, Caulfield
campus
Free entry
Inheritance of the readymade
MUMA will present a panel session as part of the Art
Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ)
Conference 2013, hosted by the Unviersity of Melbourne
(VCA and Art History). Convened by Tara McDowell,
Associate Professor and Director of Curatorial Practice at
Monash University, the panel of artists and theorists will
investigate the ‘Inheritance of the readymade’, its legacy
and relevance particularly within the context of Australian
contemporary practice.
Conference dates: 7-9 December 2013
Further details: http://aaanz.info/aaanz-home/
conferences/
Catalogue
Reinventing the Wheel will be accompanied by a full-colour
catalogue with essays reflecting on aspects of the exhibition
and the broader context of the readymade, including a text
previously unpublished in English by renowned Duchamp
scholar Thierry de Duve.
Man Ray
Cadeau 1921
Collection: National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra, Purchased 1992
© MAN RAY TRUST/ADAGP
Licensed by Viscopy, 2012
Andy Warhol
Campbell’s Soup II - Chedder Cheese 1969
Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Orde Poynton Bequest, 2005
© 2013 The Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts, Inc
Ground Floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
muma@monash.edu
Tues – Fri 10am – 5pm; Sat 12 – 5pm
MONASH UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
Reinventing the wheel: The Readymade Century
Marcel Duchamp
Bottle dryer 1914 reconstructed 1964
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased 1973
© Succession Marcel Duchamp
/ADAGP/Paris, Licensed by Viscopy, 2013
Tony Cragg
Spyrogyra 1992
Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales
Mervyn Horton Bequest Fund 1997
© Anthony Cragg. Bild-Kunst/ Licensed by Viscopy, 2013
Meret Oppenheim
Eichhörnchen (Squirrel) 1969
Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased 2008
© Meret Oppenheim. Pro Litteris
Licensed by Viscopy, 2013
Sylvie Fleury
Vital perfection 1993
Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased 1995
Aleks Danko
Art stuffing 1970
Art Gallery of New South Wales
John Kaldor Family Collection
Ceal Floyer
Garbage bag 1996
Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery, London
www.monash.edu.au/muma
Ground Floor, Building F
Telephone +61 3 9905 4217
Monash University,Claire
Caulfield
Campus
Julian Dashper
Fontaine
Matthew Griffin
muma@monash.edu
900 Dandenong Road
Untitled (The warriors) 1998
La société du spectacle brickbat
2006
Minor threat 2007
Tues – Fri
10am – 5pm;
Sat
12 – 5pm
Caulfield
East
VIC
3145
Australia
Courtesy of the artist’s estate and Michael Lett, Auckland
Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York
Courtesy of the artist
Photo: Kallan MacLeod