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The Lulennial: A Slight Gestuary (Part 1)

February 18, 2015

Artists: Zarouhie Abdalian, Fernanda Gomes, Jiří Kovanda, Jenine Marsh, Gabriel Orozco, Chantal Peñalosa, Tania Pérez Córdova, Goran Trbuljak, Karin Sander

Exhibition title: The Lulennial: A Slight Gestuary

Curated by: Fabiola Iza and Chris Sharp

Venue: Lulu, Mexico City

Dates: February 7 – March 8, 2015 (Part 1)

Photography: Courtesy of Lulu, Mexico

Lulu is proud to present The Lulennial: A Slight Gestuary.

Loaded with double and even triple entendres, the title literally says it all. A Slight Gestuary seeks to function as a kind of reliquary of slight gestures, which is also in and of itself, inevitably slight (mindful of the mathematical impossibility of any kind of exhaustive or encyclopedic presentation of the “slight gesture,” the exhibition can but adumbrate the vast multitudes to which the title alludes). In other words, the theme of the exhibition is: small gestures, big impact. These gestures could be either quite humble, in so far as the physical art work they produce is characterized by a marked material economy, or they could be slight in so far as the gesture, also slight and local, ac- crues a historical significance which ultimately wields a much larger, and even international impact. Perhaps no historical artist better embodies, or better yet, defines these parameters than the Czech artist, Jiří Kovanda. His actions from the ’70s are a case in point. Enacted for the camera or a very small audience in the streets of Prague, Kovanda carried out a series of works, which ranged from hiding from passersby, to turning around on an escalator and staring at people, to executing a series of choreographed gestures which were indistinguishable from everyday gestures. Since being po- pularized in the west, these minor works of poetic protest have accumulated a broad international appreciation, while also retrospectively nuancing the oppressive context from which they issue. For all their initial simplicity, they are incredibly complex pieces whose depth and complexity have only deepened, matured, ramifying outward, over time.

A Slight Gestuary pairs living, established and emerging artists with historical artists and instances. Given the size of Lulu (9 square meters) and the ambition of the exhibition to be comprehensive, rather than exhaustive, it will necessarily take place in three successive installations. Each iteration in the space will be accompanied by the online publication of a historical archive, featuring work which consists of documentation (of the original gesture), as opposed to the work itself.

Thus, contrary to the expansionism that currently dominates almost every aspect of contemporary art, A Slight Gestuary proposes a radical modesty, examining its many implications and celebrating its overall economy.

Dates:

Part 1: February 7 – March 8
Zarouhie Abdalian, Fernanda Gomes, Jiří Kovanda, Jenine Marsh, Gabriel Orozco, Chantal Peñalosa, Tania Pérez Córdova, Goran Trbuljak, Karin Sander

Part 2: March 14 – April 14
Paola de Anda, Francis Alÿs, Darren Bader, Jiří Kovanda, Kirsten Pieroth, Wilfredo Prieto, Martín Soto Cli- ment, B. Wurtz, Lin Yilin

Part 3: April 18 – May 17
Pierre Bal-Blanc, Robert Barry, Isaac Contreras, Marie Cool Fabio Balducci, Simon Gabriel Greenberg, Matt Hinkley, Roman Ondak, Yoko Ono, Goran Petercol, Ana Roldán, Ana Santos

Archive:
Billy Apple, Graciela Carnevale, Ulises Carrión, Lygia Clark, Eduardo Costa, Christopher D’Arcangelo, Marcel Duchamp, Koji Enokura, Lucio Fontana, Alberto Greco, Hi Red Center, Tehching Hsieh, Stephen Kaltenbach, Yves Klein, Jiří Kovanda, Lee Lozano, Cildo Meireles, Lotty Rosenfeld, Seth Siegelaub (Carl Andre, Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler, Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, and Lawrence Weiner) Mladen Stilinovic, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, La Monte Young.

The archive may be consulted during the period of the exhibition at http://aslightgestuary.tumblr.com

The Lulennial: A Slight Gestuary is curated by Fabiola Iza and Chris Sharp.

A performance program, curated by Sophie Goltz, will run throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Artists: Mariechen Danz, Christian Falsnaes, Adam Linder, Johannes Paul Raether, Susanne M. Winterling.

On the opening day, performances by Susanne M. Winterling and Christian Falsnaes will be presented throughout the day.

Additionally, a catalog, featuring textual contributions by Sophie Goltz, Fabiola Iza and Chris Sharp, will be published and internationally distributed by Mousse publishing.