The 1st at Moderna is an exhibition programme for contemporary art. The opening is always on the first day of the month, and the exhibitions are in different venues in or outside the museum.
The Bulgarian artist Ivan Moudov explores the rules of the art world. Over the past years, he has often posed questions about who owns and has access to the work of art, as idea and object. The act of collecting has grown central, sometimes even by stealing. In the work Fragments, for instance, Moudov has used parts of works he claims to have stolen from galleries and museums, and arranged them carefully in custom-made cases à la Marcel Duchamp.
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Ivan Moudov Fragments (box #1), 2002-2007 © Ivan Moudov |
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Ulf Eriksson, curator: “The remarkable thing is that the magical aura of the original artwork remains around each fragment, even though the objects are entirely removed from their previous meaning and context. This emphasises their character of being fetish objects. The fragments become relics and the cases are shrines. The constructed exaltation of the works of art above the status of everyday object is enhanced.”
Ivan Moudov Already Made 4 (Timm Ulrichs) © Ivan Moudov |
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In addition to Fragments (box #1), the exhibition includes Already Made 4 (Timm Ulrichs) which focuses a botched art theft by German artist Timm Ulrich. In 1971, he documented his attempt to steal a drawing by a colleague from a gallery. Moudov copies the plot, but opts to steal Ulrich’s work. He then photographs the stolen work, frames the new photo and repeats the procedure until Ulrich is obliterated from the photo. Thus, Moudov appropriates both Ulrich’s idea and his work.
At Moderna Museet, Moudov launches a new, legal phase in his collecting. The exhibition shows a video-recorded performance – Romanian Trick – in which Moudov demonstrates how a euro coin can be divided with one hand. A magician who shares a magic trick always wants compensation, however. In exchange for this trick, Moderna Museet pays Moudov a sum of money, which he uses to buy the artist Maria Lindberg’s work 60 Metres. This work is also included in the exhibition.
Ivan Moudov, born in 1975, lives and works in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Further information
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