CuratorSquared

Under Control

ORGANIZER Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion University of Illinois, Champaign

DATES October 23, 2009 – January 3, 2010

DESCRIPTION Global financial intrigues stretching from Little Rock to the Vatican bank, government-sponsored spying, corrupt political lobbies, secret societies and, of course, preemptive war: the news headlines that have intrigued and horrified us of late have become, not surprisingly, inspiration for many contemporary artists worldwide. Whether exposing the complexity or folly of conspiracy theory, or analyzing money trails and their surprising beneficiaries, all of the artists in this exhibition are essentially questioning control. Who controls whom? Who controls what? Where does it leave the rest of us? Despite the heavily politicized subject matter, the exhibition presents an objective point of view on the power of control as a construct within our society.

The exhibition featured approximately 30 works, all created within the last ten years, in a variety of media. Exhibition design and photographs by Rice+Lipka Architects, New York.

ARTISTS Ignasi Aballi, Michael Bell-Smith, Hasan Elahi, Cliff Evans, Eva Grubinger, Jon Haddock, Jenny Holzer, Jeon Joonho, Sylvan Lionni, Adam McEwan, David Opdyke, Iran do Espirito Santo, Hito Steyerl, Los Torreznos.

CATALOGUE A fully-illustrated catalogue includes essays by exhibition curators Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox on the works in the show and their contrasting antecedants. Artist and geographer Hasan Elahi has created a graphic component, in addition.