EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art

Tacita Dean exhibition at EMMA rewards viewers who stop and observe

25.2.2020 11:00:00 EET | EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art | Press release

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The main exhibition this spring at EMMA showcases key works from the career of Tacita Dean, one of the internationally most prestigious contemporary artists of today. Some of the works in Dean’s first-ever solo exhibition in Finland receive their debut at EMMA, including Dean’s latest film, A Cloud makes itself. The show will be open from 26 February to 3 May 2020.
Tacita Dean: Chalk Fall, 2018. 
Chalk on blackboard, 366 cm x 732 cm. 
Courtesy of the Artist, Frith Street Gallery, London and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York/ Paris.
Photograph: Fredrik Nilsen
Tacita Dean: Chalk Fall, 2018. Chalk on blackboard, 366 cm x 732 cm. Courtesy of the Artist, Frith Street Gallery, London and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York/ Paris. Photograph: Fredrik Nilsen

Tacita Dean (b. 1965) is one of the most highly acclaimed contemporary artists of our day. She is known best for films shot on 16mm and 35mm and her work for the preservation of analogue film. She also creates large, spatially engaging chalkboard drawings as well as works on slate, photographs, print images and works made with found materials.

The exhibition, curated by EMMA director Pilvi Kalhama, borrows from Dean’s existing body of work, in addition to which the artist has created several new pieces for this show. The show features recent key works in which Dean explores portraiture, painting, the ephemerality of natural events and the layers of time. Dean, a champion of slowness and concentration, draws attention to details and encourages us to stop and observe the world. The exhibition rewards the viewer who is prepared to give time to the works.

The exhibition includes seven films, the latest of which, A Cloud makes itself, receives its premiere at EMMA. The works featured in the exhibition include Dean’s ambitious chalkboard drawing Chalk Fall (2018), her recent series of 80 monoprints on found postcards, Pantone Pairs (2019), displayed for the first time at EMMA and two works from the Saastamoinen Foundation´s art collection, Quatemary and A Book End of Time.

”It is a great pleasure to be showing for the first time in Finland and always exciting to have the opportunity to show new works as well as to revisit older ones.” Tacita Dean

Tacita Dean describes herself as a British European artist and divides her time between Berlin and Los Angeles. She was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1998 and later was awarded the Hugo Boss Prize in 2006 and the Kurt Schwitters Prize in 2009. In 2018, three London museums, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts presented an unprecedented collaboration that consisted of three distinct exhibitions by Tacita Dean, entitled “LANDSCAPE, PORTRAIT, STILL LIFE”. Dean’s designs for The Dante Project, a new ballet choreographed by Wayne McGregor and composed by Thomas Adès, will première in May at the Royal Opera House in London.

Event for a Stage is a 50 minute film, which will be screened daily at the times below. We strongly advise our visitors to watch the film from start to finish.

Tuesdays: 12:00, 16:00
Wednesdays–Fridays: 12:00, 17:30
Saturdays–Sundays: 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 

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Tacita Dean: Chalk Fall, 2018. 
Chalk on blackboard, 366 cm x 732 cm. 
Courtesy of the Artist, Frith Street Gallery, London and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York/ Paris.
Photograph: Fredrik Nilsen
Tacita Dean: Chalk Fall, 2018. Chalk on blackboard, 366 cm x 732 cm. Courtesy of the Artist, Frith Street Gallery, London and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York/ Paris. Photograph: Fredrik Nilsen
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Tacita Dean. Portraits, 2016 (Location photograph). 16mm colour film, optical sound, continuous loop; 16 minutes
Tacita Dean. Portraits, 2016 (Location photograph). 16mm colour film, optical sound, continuous loop; 16 minutes
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Tacita Dean: Ear on a Worm, 2017 (Film still). 16mm colour film with optical sound, continuous loop; 3 minutes 33 seconds
Tacita Dean: Ear on a Worm, 2017 (Film still). 16mm colour film with optical sound, continuous loop; 3 minutes 33 seconds
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Tacita Dean, Quatemary, 2014 (DETAIL)

Photogravure, 5 panels each in 2 parts, on Somerset White Satin 400g.

Each panel 199 x 129.5 cm (240 x 710 cm total framed work)

Printed by Mette Ulstrup, Julie Dam and Tom Jennions. Published by Niels Borch Jensen Editions, Copenhagen.

Courtesy: The Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection.
Tacita Dean, Quatemary, 2014 (DETAIL) Photogravure, 5 panels each in 2 parts, on Somerset White Satin 400g. Each panel 199 x 129.5 cm (240 x 710 cm total framed work) Printed by Mette Ulstrup, Julie Dam and Tom Jennions. Published by Niels Borch Jensen Editions, Copenhagen. Courtesy: The Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection.
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About EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art

EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art
Ahertajantie 5
02100 Espoo

http://www.emmamuseum.fi

EMMA – Espoon modernin taiteen museon kokoelma- ja näyttelytoiminta profiloituu kotimaiseen ja kansainväliseen modernismiin, nykytaiteeseen sekä designiin. EMMA sijaitsee Espoon Tapiolassa, professori Aarno Ruusuvuoren suunnittelemassa betoniarkkitehtuuria edustavassa Näyttelykeskus WeeGeessä. Näyttelytilat ovat pinta-alaltaan Suomen suurimmat, ja pelkistetty moderni arkkitehtuuri tukee EMMAn, Saastamoisen säätiön ja Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Säätiön kokoelmien sekä vaihtuvien näyttelyiden kokemuksellista esittämistä. Tervetuloa!

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