Thinking, acting, and being beyond all categories and conventions. To be apodictic and at the same time open to indifference. To make works that are not artworks but are nevertheless art. To lead discourse without dictating it. Never to repeat oneself. To be lazy instead of occupied. To be free.
The resistivity—in form and thought alike—that distinguishes the oeuvre of Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) is unbroken, his questions are present: What is art? What constitutes an object? What is a subject? What unites and divides science and poetry? What defines our gender and our identity?
With persistent exactitude and welcome unpredictability, resolute anarchy, and humorous ease, Marcel Duchamp made works that, by virtue of their precision and openness, reach completion only through us, the viewers. His oeuvre thus, changes with us and with time.
Thanks to Duchamp, we know that everything can become art, and that thinking knows no boundaries.
Marcel Duchamp is the first comprehensive exhibition in two decades to feature works spanning all phases of the artist’s oeuvre from 1902 to 1968.
Information in IS
The exhibition is called Marcel Duchamp.
Marcel Duchamp was a French-American artist.
He was born in 1887 and died in 1968.
The exhibition shows some of his works of art.
Marcel Duchamp’s art is about:
Thinking, working and living without rules.
Being free from labelling by other people.
Being sure and certain.
Letting everything and anything happen.
Creating works which are not works of art.
Even though they are art.
Holding discussions on art, but keeping an open mind.
Never creating the same work of art twice.
Always looking for new opportunities.
Being lazy and not always busy.
Being free.
In Marcel Duchamp’s works of art we see:
He wanted to create something different and new.
He resisted the usual way of thinking.
He tried new things in his works of art.
He changed art and the way we think about it today.
Marcel Duchamp often asked himself questions.
These questions are still important today:
— What is art?
— What is an object?
— What is a person?
— What is the link between science and poetry?
— What is the difference between science and poetry?
— What does gender mean?
— What makes us who we are?
Marcel Duchamp worked very accurately.
But at the same time he left a lot to chance.
He allowed his work to happen.
He resisted rules.
Some of the works of art have a lightness (about them).
This lightness shows us that Marcel Duchamp had a sense of humour.
The audience was very important for Marcel Duchamp.
He thought that the audience completed the works of art when they looked at them.
Marcel Duchamp’s works of art change with his audience and over time.
Many years ago his audience looked at his works of art in a very different way
to how we see them today.
Marcel Duchamp continues to show us:
Everything can become art.
There are no boundaries to our thoughts and ideas.
The exhibition Marcel Duchamp is the first large exhibition of his works of art
for 20 years. The exhibition shows works of art from the year 1902 up to the year 1968.
