Project Space: Stage and Twist
Anna Molska and Ciprian Mureşan
In "Stage and Twist" a child drinks a mixture of Pepsi and Coca-Cola, a giant puzzle is played by two half-naked young men, an iconic work by Yves Klein is re-enacted with the artist leaping into the void and hitting the pavement below and a group of workers assemble a monumental sculpture out of scaffolding in an empty field. In all of these works history is both re-staged and twisted as a means to engage critically with the present day.
This exhibition brings together the Polish artist Anna Molska and the Romanian artist Ciprian Mureşan for their first museum exhibition in London. Molska and Mureşan draw upon historical events and art history to highlight the power of the collective experience in the post-communism era. Both artists question social mechanisms and the construction of individuality. Rather than glorifying the past, each work cheerfully accepts the uncountable failures and shortcomings of contemporary society.
Project Space at Tate Modern (formerly the Level 2 gallery) is dedicated to presenting contemporary art through a series of collaborations with cultural organisations around the world. It brings together emerging curators from both Tate Modern and other international venues for contemporary art to work together on an exhibition for both locations. Based on curatorial exchange and dialogue, the series showcases the work of new, recently established or rediscovered international artists. The exhibitions therefore open up the possibility of introducing new work and interpretations within differing global contexts.
This series of discursive exhibitions began in 2011 and, to date, has included collaborations with institutions in Amman, Lagos, Istanbul, Mexico City and Warsaw. Forthcoming exhibitions are being developed with partners in Cairo, Lima and New Delhi. The Project Space series aims to explore the most challenging art of today as well as the complexities of operating within a global context for contemporary art.
Anna Molska (born 1983, Prudnik, Poland) lives and works in Warsaw. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 2011. Selected solo exhibitions include: Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (forthcoming, Autumn 2012); The Forgetting of Proper Names, Calvert 22 Foundation, London (2012), Anna Molska, Malmö Konsthall, Sweden (2010). Selected group exhibitions include: The Third Room, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (2011); Rearview Mirror, The Power Plant, Toronto (2011); While Bodies Get Mirrored – an exhibition about Movement, Formalism and Space, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich (2010); The Generational: Younger Than Jesus, New Museum, New York (2009); 5th Berlin Biennial, Berlin (2008).
Ciprian Mureşan (born 1977, Dej) lives and works in Cluj, Romania. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Cluj-Napoca in 2000. Since 2005 Ciprian Mureşan has edited IDEA art + society magazine, published in Cluj-Napoca. Selected solo exhibitions include: Recycled Playground, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève (2012); Ciprian Mureşan, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany (2010). Selected group exhibitions include: The Beauty and the Distance, 17th Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2010); Les Promesses du passé, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2010); The Generational: Younger Than Jesus, New Museum, New York, (2009); Seductiveness of the Interval, Romanian Pavilion, 53 Venice Biennale (2009); Staging the Grey, Prague Biennale 4 (2009).