The French are showing Dan Graham plenty of amour this year. The American writer, curator and pioneering conceptual artist currently has a solo exhibition at MAMO, on the rooftop of Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse in Marseille. And this week, a new Graham exhibition opened at Marian Goodman's Paris space, centred on Passage Intime – the latest in a series of sculpture/architecture 'pavilions' Graham has been working on since the late 1970s.
Passage Intime is essentially two stainless steel curves holding two way mirrors. It allows for two people to walk between the curved screens at the same time, though with a degree of forced intimacy. Which is the point. 'Passage Intime can be seen either as a Tunnel of Love or as a frightening tight squeeze,' says Graham. 'A claustrophobic and uncomfortable spatial experience or an intimate body moment.' This discombobulation is compounded by the distorting effects of the curved two-way mirrors, for those inside and outside the passage. The work Graham says, is part 'fun house', part exploration of Lacanian theory.
The show also includes the first screening of Graham's 2004 satirical rock opera Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty; a collaboration with puppeteer Phillip Huber (whose CV includes Being John Malkovich and John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together), set designer Laurent Bergen and art-rockers Japanther.
On 12 October, Passage Intime will begin a month-long residency in Place Vendôme, partnered with another of Graham's pavilions, Two Nodes, currently on display at MAMO.
The work comprises two stainless steel curves holding two way mirrors. It allows for two people to walk between the curved screens at the same time, though with a degree of forced intimacy
A screening of Graham’s rock opera Don’t Trust Anyone Over Thirty, created with the help with satrical puppeteering heavyweight Phillip Huber, accompanies the installation
Graham describes Passage Intime as ’part fun house’ and part exploration of Lacanian theory, the space combining the distorted reflections of the former with the psychoanalytic instability of the latter
Next month, Passage Intime will move to the Place Vendôme to accompany Graham’s other pavillion, Two Nodes
INFORMATION
Website
Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery Paris. ’Dan Graham’ is on view until 8 October
ADDRESS
Marian Goodman Paris
79 Rue du Temple
75003 Paris
-
Wael Shawky explores a theatrical moment in history in EdinburghPull strings to get there if you can, as the Egyptian artist presents the third film in his ‘The Crusades Cabaret’ trilogy, at Talbot Rice Gallery
-
We bring you all the best bits from this year’s Goodwood Festival of SpeedAs car makers switch their allegiance to the sunny West Sussex countryside as a place to showcase their wares, a new generation of sports cars were sent running up that famous hill
-
Stay at Patina Osaka for a dose of ‘transformative luxury’ in western JapanFrom nature-inspired interiors to sound-tracked cocktails and an unusually green setting, Patina Osaka is a contemporary urban escape that sets itself apart
-
Rolf Sachs’ largest exhibition to date, ‘Be-rühren’, is a playful study of touchA collection of over 150 of Rolf Sachs’ works speaks to his preoccupation with transforming everyday objects to create art that is sensory – both emotionally and physically
-
Architect Erin Besler is reframing the American tradition of barn raisingAt Art Omi sculpture and architecture park, NY, Besler turns barn raising into an inclusive project that challenges conventional notions of architecture
-
What is recycling good for, asks Mika Rottenberg at Hauser & Wirth MenorcaUS-based artist Mika Rottenberg rethinks the possibilities of rubbish in a colourful exhibition, spanning films, drawings and eerily anthropomorphic lamps
-
San Francisco’s controversial monument, the Vaillancourt Fountain, could be facing demolitionThe brutalist fountain is conspicuously absent from renders showing a redeveloped Embarcadero Plaza and people are unhappy about it, including the structure’s 95-year-old designer
-
See the fruits of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely's creative and romantic union at Hauser & Wirth SomersetAn intimate exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset explores three decades of a creative partnership
-
Technology, art and sculptures of fog: LUMA Arles kicks off the 2025/26 seasonThree different exhibitions at LUMA Arles, in France, delve into history in a celebration of all mediums; Amy Serafin went to explore
-
Inside Yinka Shonibare's first major show in AfricaBritish-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare is showing 15 years of work, from quilts to sculptures, at Fondation H in Madagascar
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
