Selected works from the collection of Isabelle and Jean-Conrad Lemaître.
Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Fikret Atay, Yto Barrada, Yeal Bartana,
Johanna Billing, Ulla von Brandenburg, Dominique Gonzalez Foerster, Emily Jacir, Hassan Khan, Sigalit Landau, Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsen, Steve McQueen, João Onofre, de Rijke/de Rooij, Bojan Šarčević, Zined Sedira, Mariana Vassileva, and Mark Wallinger
The University Art Gallery at University of California, San Diego, is delighted to present a selection of 18 video works from the collection of Isabelle and Jean-Conrad Lemaître. For the last seven years these London based French collectors have been collecting almost exclusively video work. The collection includes artists from all over the world and at the latest count numbers 80 works. This selection includes work by artists originating from Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Israel, The Netherlands, Palestine, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States.
Focusing primarily on younger artists the collection demonstrates many approaches to making film and video from the use of a simple gesture or intervention, the documentation of people and events, to the staged and performative. This, in turn, reflects many of the themes and concerns of today, the way social and political change is manifested and reflected in everyday life, a fascination with the negotiation of boundaries both physical and metaphoric, and a reflection of the kaleidoscopic nature of human beings, their emotions, and their lives. Collectively, they announce the arrival of a new generation of internationally recognized video artists who choose to occupy the gallery space yet talk of the world outside it.
Revolutions will occupy six especially created rooms, which will house both projected works and pieces shown on monitor. Each work, ranging from 80 seconds to 30 minutes in length, will be shown sequentially creating a complete cycle lasting almost three hours, and require the visitor to complete three rotations of the gallery.