Visual artist Sarah Morris’ solo exhibition focuses on her cinematographic work
No stranger to the weird of the everyday, painter and filmmaker Sarah Morris is known for filming evocative cityscapes, capturing the glamour of Hollywood in Los Angeles, the symbols of power around Washington D.C. in Capital, or the clash of international athletes and turbocapitalism with regular Chinese life in Beijing.
Now boasting her own solo exhibition at the Kunsthalle, 10 films by Morris will be screened, with her latest, Strange Magic, taking the most prominent position. In it, she takes on Paris, exploring the brittle world of luxury as a purchasable commodity. Critical and observant, it’s an intimate portrayal of the process of commoditized desire, prominently including the manufacture of luxury items: flowers are picked to create perfume, which is endorsed by celebrities and then produced and packaged en masse. Juxtaposed against the practical realities of production are female forms and architectural details.
Commissioned by the LVMH group for the opening of the Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Louis Vuitton, Strange Magic explores the “production of dreams and desire,” the wish for a luxurious life. It’s a study in contrasts: the apparent affirmation of luxury brands counterbalanced with criticism of mass consumerism; the robotic methods of manufacturing against the people who contribute to the production.
Sarah Morris. Falls Never Breaks
Kunsthalle MuseumsQuartier
7., Museumsplatz 1
Dec 8 – Jan 8
Opening and artist’s talk on Dec 7 at 19:00
