Nora Turato at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein

Artist: Nora Turato

Exhibition title: explained away

Venue: Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Date: February 22 – May 19, 2019

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein

Note: Exhibition booklet can be found here

Nora Turato (born 1991, Zagreb, Croatia) scripts powerful narratives from text fragments gleaned from advertising, social media and everyday life. Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein is devoting the first comprehensive museum exhibition to the Amsterdam-based artist.

Turato defines language as the foundation of her work, from which she creates artworks in a variety of media. Her spoken-word performances garnered notice at the Venice Biennale in 2015, eliciting invitations from prominent museums. Turato’s performances confront the audience with a transformed reality, as the language she uses is the language of our everyday lives.

The artist uses her smartphone to explore the text hysteria that is circulating online. Fast-paced nonstop breaking news in adverts, in the press, literature, film, music and the social media. Honing in on specific content, she translates it into her script. She processes meaning, sound and the stylistic devices peculiar to the particular medium. She negotiates social roles and our relationship to consumer goods, political or cultural views. The constantly growing script serves as the basis for her performances, but also as a source for artist’s books, wall texts, works on paper, videos and audio works.

The phonetic, semantic and pictorial qualities of language fuse together in the exhibition. The focal relationship between image and text is flanked by gestures and embodiments in the performances. The spaces Turato creates consist of modular elements that incorporate art historical accomplishments of the 20th century and change with each performance. At the opening and during the exhibition, the artist will stage her performances at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein.

Nora Turato. explained away is the seventh show in a series showcasing outstanding young artists. Works from the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein collection are integrated into the presentation.

The exhibition conceived in collaboration with Nora Turato is a production of Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, curated by Fabian Flückiger. A monographic publication and an artist’s edition are being published to accompany the show.

The exhibition Nora Turato. explained away is supported by Mondriaan Fund.

Nora Turato, explained away, 2019, exhibition view, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, photo: Stefan Altenburger Photography, Zürich © Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Nora Turato