Behind Closed Doors

‘Behind Closed Doors’ brought together a selection of artworks that reflected upon the hidden or secret histories of buildings. Confrontational, fantastical and political, these works sought to challenge our perception of the built environment. Pivoting on two historically significant conceptual artworks by Dan Graham and Hans Haacke, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ explored how artists have engaged with the economic, social and political realities of architecture.

Dan Graham’s ‘Homes for America’ (1966-67) depicts the uniformity of pre-fabricated post war suburban housing and Hans Haacke’s work ‘Shapolsky et al..’ (1971) revealed a hidden network of ownership in New York. Candida Höfer opened up the surprising interiors of an ornately decorated German castle, while Vangelis Vlahos and Sean Snyder focused on the political backgrounds, and curious stories of specific buildings.

Hiraki Sawa’s digitally animated videos offered a vision of fantastical happenings in the most banal of domestic interiors. Amelie von Wulffen’s collages similarly started in the reality of specific interiors but grew into impossible fantasies of space and colour. Both Monica Bonvicini and Jane and Louise Wilson took brutal macho structures as their starting point. Bonicini’s vast sculpture, ‘Stonewall 3’, employed the steel and glass of contemporary buildings to create a structure that speaks of dominance and aggression. The Wilson’s video installation Monument (Apollo Pavillion/Peterlee), (2003) recorded the contemporary reality of a visionary concrete structure that has been slowly taken over by decay.

Pressetext

Behind Closed Doors
Galleries 1 & 2

mit Monica Bonvicini, Dan Graham, Hans Haacke, Candida Höfer, Hiraki Sawa, Sean Snyder, Vangelis Vlahos, Amelie von Wulffen, Jane & Louise Wilson