2001.4.4 [Wed] - 6.17 [Sun]

Marking the centenary of Alfred Hitchcock's birth on August 13, 1899 in London, (died April 29, 1980, Beverly Hills, California), Notorious: Alfred Hitchcock and Contemporary Art explores the master of suspense's profound influence on contemporary art. Hitchcock is recognised as the first director who, over a period of fifty years, created films that achieved international commercial and artistic success. From the early English black and white films such as The Thirty Nine Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938), to the massive impact of such classics as Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960), Hitchcock's films made the man behind the camera a celebrity himself. For NOTORIOUS MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art Oxford, original organizer of this touring exhibition) has commissioned and selected work by contemporary artists inspired by Hitchcock. Through photography, film, video, sound works and mixed media installations the exhibition examines how imagery, themes and techniques employed in his work have - to varying degrees - been transformed, appropriated or mirrored by contemporary artists, a proces in which the film-maker himself becomes an unwitting collaborator. Hitchcock's interest in themes such as voyeurism, obsession, the double, and the relationship of landscape to narrative, is reflected in the work of many visual artists. In addition, given the filmmaker's typically modernist emphasis on the cinematic process, Hitchcock's influence is now as evident among artists as contemporary film-makers. While some artists draw their source directly from Hitchcock's films, as exemplified in Douglas Gordon's video projection 24 Hour Psycho, or in Christoph Girardet and Matthias Müller's new film montages, the Phoenix Tapes, which have been commissioned especially for this exhibition, other artists excecute their own 'takes' on Hitchcock's work, and in so doing tranform its original meaning. Thus, Stan Douglas' film loop installation Subject To a Film: Marnie (1989) recreates the office robbery scene from Hitchcock's film, examining the notions of repetition and obsession. Likewise, Pierre Huyghe takes Hitchcock's voyeurism a step further in his 16mm film Remake (1995), a virtual copy of Hitchcock's Rear Window, in which we compare the expressions and actions of contemporary actors to the originals. For Huyghe, any reference to the cinema, and to Hitchcock in particular, is based on the power of memory. Some works incorporate the imagery, narrative and sounds of Hitchcock's best known works, such as the shots from North by Northwest (1959) which are included in the new large-scale montages of John Baldessari's Tetrad Series (1999). Vertigo (1958) is certainly the most frequently cited film: it serves as the source for Victor Burgin's photographic installation The Bridge (1984), David Reed's installation Scottie's Bedroom (1994), Christian Marclay's Vertigo (soundtrack for an exhibition) (1990), Cindy Bernard's slide installation, Location Proposal (1970-1999) and a sequence taken from Chris Marker's film Sans Soleil (1982). Again, all of these works start from the premise of our collective cinematic memory. Other archetypal themes and techniques are also highlighted: the disquieting role of the woman often portrayed as seductress, victim or tormentor, is indirectly appropriated in the photographs of Cindy Sherman. Similarly Judith Barry's video Casual Shopper (1980-81) which contains a direct reference to Hitchcock's Marnie, questions the portrayal of women in mainstream cinema. Finally, in his single channel video installation Evidence (1999), Atom Egoyan takes footage extracted from his latest film, Felicia's Journey, a sequence shot with a video camera planted in his car by a serial killer, in which his eventual victims are interrogated. The killer may be seen as a wry comment on the role of the film director, manipulating people and effects in order to satisfy his own explicit and (often) illicit desires. For many spectators, the film director who most immediately comes to mind is Alfred Hitchcock.

14 Notorious Artists

John Baldessari Born in 1931 and based in Los Angeles, John Baldessari is one of America's most influential and respected artists. Using found photographs, Baldessari constructs 'montages' of images that function as static cinema. Much of his work, which blocks out sections of the image, proposes a particularly active role for the viewer. For this exhibition Baldessari is showing 2 new large-scale works, using photography and taking Hitchcock themes as his inspiration. Tetrad Series: To Be A 1999 Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York Judith Barry Born in Ohio, in 1954, Judith Barry now lives and works in New York. She is particularly interested in the notion of self-identity in today's society which, through media domination, attempts to create a uniformity of ideals. The work shown, Casual Shopper (1978), is set in a Californian shopping mall and refers to Hitchcock's film 'Marnie'. Barry explores the way public space intervenes in private fantasy, where, like the cinema-goer, the shopper invents a personal narrative from the sounds and images displayed. Casual Shopper (video still) 1980 - 81 Collection of the artist Photo by Christopher Moore Cindy Bernard Los Angeles artist Cindy Bernard shows an existing work based on Hitchcock's Vertigo. Much of Bernard' work focuses on the concept of memory and Location Proposal #2 (1998) is no exception. In this piece the artist digitally re-creates shots from a sequence of Vertigo, which are then projected onto 3 screens. Location Proposal #2: shot 14 1997 - 99 Courtesy of the artist and Lotta Hammer, London Victor Burgin Born in 1941, Victor Burgin is one of the most important British artists of the last twenty years. His use of photography, text and critical theory has influenced a generation of Young British Artists. For this exhibition is showing The Bridge (1984), a photographic work that examines the ways in which Hitchcock deals with voyeurism and the representation of women in his films. Burgin combines quotations from John Everett Millais' Pre-Raphaelite painting Ophelia (1851-2) with stills from Hitchcock's Vertigo. The Bridge (detail) 1984 Courtesy the artist and Galerie Liliane and Michael Durand - Dessert, Paris; Universal City Studios Inc. Stan Douglas Stan Douglas was born in 1960 and lives and works in Vancouver. He uses traditional cinematic techniques and new technologies to produce remarkable images, often suggestive of repressed memories and forgotten histories. His films often make social and historical observations through narrative structures. The MOMA exhibition includes Subject to a film: Marnie (1989) a film installation based on the Hitchock film of the same name. Subject to a Film: Marnie 1989 Courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner, New York Atom Egoyan Born in Cairo in 1960, to Armenian parents, Egoyan moved to Canada in 1963. As a film-maker, artist and opera director Atom Egoyan's films have won him recognition as one of cinema's most probing chroniclers of emotional desfunction, and he is now widely recognised as Canada's foremost film-maker. At the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, Egoyan's Exotica won the International Critics' Prize and his reputation as an internationally-acclaimed Director was firmly established when he was nominated for a Best Director Oscar in 1997 for his film The Sweet Hereafter. Recently Egoyan has directed a number of Opera productions, including the Canadian Opera Company's Salome, and Dr Ox's Experiment for the English National Opera. He has also participated in group exhibitions such as The Event Horizon (Irish Museum of Modern Art, 1995) and the Venice Biennale, 1997. A new video installation, Evidence, based on Egoyan's upcoming Hitchcockian thriller Felicia's Journey, has been made for this exhibition. Evidence 1999 Photo by Christophere Moore Christoph Girardet & Matthias Müller Christoph Girardet Born in Germany in 1966, and now living in Hanover, Germany, Christoph Girardet studied with Matthias Müller at Braunschweig Art Academy and works with him on film projects. A specialist in 'found footage' film, Girardet has had a number of solo shows, as well as taking part in many international film festivals. For the Hitchcock exhibition he works with Matthias Müller to create montages of Hitchcock's films. Matthias Müller Matthias Müller was born in Bielefeld, Germany in 1961, where he continues to live and work. He is widely considered to be one of Germany's most important experimental film-makers. Müller studied German Literature and Fine Arts at the Bielefeld University, and then studied at the Braunschweig School of Art, but was making films long before he graduated in 1991. In 1985 he co-founded the Alte Kinder film co-operative, organising avant garde film events throughout Germany. In 1996 he organised the first German 'Found Footage Film Festival', and in 1998 the first German festival of autobiographical films 'ICH etc'. He has won numerous film awards, with his 1990 short film Home Stories securing 8 prizes alone, including Preis der Deutschen Filmkritik, 'Best German Short Film of the Year'. For this exhibition, he is creating new black and white montages of Hitchcock films in collaboration with Christoph Girardet. The Phoenix Tapes #6 - Necrologue (3'40 min.) 1999 Courtesy of the artists Douglas Gordon Gordon was born in 1966, and now lives and works in Glasgow. He was winner of the 1996 Turner Prize. His 24 Hour Psycho (1993) - to be featured in this exhibition - is a projection of the movie slowed down to two frames per second, onto a screen that one can walk around and view from either side. Each sequence becomes a mini-movie and the total video lasts 24 hours. The presentation forces us to interrogate and challenge how we typically remember and understand those familiar images. 24 Hour Psycho 1993 Courtesy the Lisson gallery, London Pierre Huyghe Born in 1962, Huyghe is a French artist who lives and works in Paris. He has taken part in a number of group exhibitions in Europe and has had solo shows in Dijon, Montpelier, and Paris. Huyghe works with film, video, site-specific billboards and sound. Huyghe's work seeks to emphasise the impossibility of separating lived experience from our representations of it. In many works, he analyses the perception of an icon and tries to alter it, exploring the concept of translation both in terms of language and image. His Remake (1995), a 16mm film which refers to Rear Window, is a home-made version that coincides frame-by-frame with the original. Remake 1995 Courtesy of the arist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York/Paris Christian Marclay Born in 1955 in California, Christian Marclay's work often deals with issues about sound. Marclay is presenting a sound work created in 1990, Vertigo (soundtrack for an exhibition), which uses Hitchcock's film as raw material for his interests in the relationship between objects, images, sound, and silence. Using snippets from the film's dialogue and score, Marclay creates a richly layered 'superimposition' of sounds that are randomly spaced by as much as four minutes. The 'soundtrack' conjures images from the film, but then creates from them a new film of the imagination. Vertigo Courtesy of Universal Pictures Chris Marker Born in France in 1921, Chris Marker is acclaimed by his admirers as 'the one true essayist of the French cinema.' As a result of his journalistic background, his film-making has focused on documentaries, often with a political motivation. He usually writes and photographs his films himself. This exhibition shows a sequence from his 1982 film Sans Soleil, which is inspired by Vertigo. Sans Soleil 1982 Courtesy of Argos Films, Neuilly sur Seine David Reed American artist David Reed was born in San Diego in 1946, and currently lives and works in New York. Since his paintings were first exhibited in the 70s, they have attracted important debate, as Reed, unlike most painters of his generation, has also engaged in a significant dialogue with technology. Reed also uses a variety of digital technology to incorporate his paintings into films. The piece in Notorious is an example of this work. In a bedroom installation, matching one in Hitchock's Vertigo, a t.v. screen plays Vertigo on a continuous loop. Reed's own painting is inserted into the film. Scottie's bedroom 1994 Courtesy Max Protetch Gallery, New York Cindy Sherman Born in 1954, Cindy Sherman is one of America's best known artists. Using film and photography, Sherman is primarily concerned with the ideas and images of female identity. In her self-portraits, she never appears as herself. Instead she becomes an anonymous, neutral woman in whom people recognise something of themselves. Her protagonists include those based on heroines of films. For Notorious the curators have chosen work which has been influenced by Hitchcock's portrayal of women. Untitled #70 1980 The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica,

Informtiion Dates: 4 April [wed] - 17 June [Sun] 2001 Opening Hours: 12:00 - 20:00 (to 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, entry up to 30 minutes before closing) Closed: Mondays (Tuesday if the Monday is a public holiday) Admission: Ordinary:1,000 yen (800 yen), College and high school students: 800 yen (600yen), Junior high and elementary school students: 600 yen (500 yen), Children below school age: free *The ticket is valid for during the exhibition term. Please produce the ticket and your ID card at reentry. *Admission includes entrance for Terada Gallery *Amounts in brackets ( ) are rates for groups 15 or more. Organizered by the Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation / Asahi Shinbun Specially Sponsored by Nippon Life Insurance Company Sponsored by Odakyu Railway Co.,Ltd. / The Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company / National/Panasonic / agnès b Supported by Yamadai Tetsusho / Sogo Bussan / Japan Airlines / Bijutsu shuppan-sha / Caramel Mama Grants from The British Counsil and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Japan Tour: 29 July - 2 September 2001, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art Exhibition organized and toured by Museum of Modern Art Oxford. Japan tour realized by: APT International, Tokyo. For further information: Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery Tel. +81-3-5353-0756