Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler: Flora
On view through January 2, 2022
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
www.themodern.orgTwo important new works by Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler, “Flora” and “Bust,” both 2017, have joined the Modern’s permanent collection, which already includes their Grand Paris Texas, 2009, and Holes, 1997.”Flora” is based on Hubbard / Birchler’s discoveries about the unknown American artist Flora Mayo, with whom the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti had a love affair in Paris in the 1920s. While Giacometti is one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, Mayo’s oeuvre has been destroyed and her biography relegated to a footnote in Giacometti scholarship.”Bust” is inspired by a photograph of Mayo and Giacometti flanking a portrait bust she made of him. The work expands the formal and conceptual layers of Hubbard / Birchler’s storytelling, juxtaposing Flora’s narrative of ephemerality and loss with the tangible re-imagining of the sculpture. “Flora” and “Bust” premiered in the Swiss Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale. The site-responsive installation at the Modern will include items related to the works’ genesis, on loan from the artists.
On view through January 2, 2022
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
www.themodern.orgTwo important new works by Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler, “Flora” and “Bust,” both 2017, have joined the Modern’s permanent collection, which already includes their Grand Paris Texas, 2009, and Holes, 1997.”Flora” is based on Hubbard / Birchler’s discoveries about the unknown American artist Flora Mayo, with whom the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti had a love affair in Paris in the 1920s. While Giacometti is one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, Mayo’s oeuvre has been destroyed and her biography relegated to a footnote in Giacometti scholarship.”Bust” is inspired by a photograph of Mayo and Giacometti flanking a portrait bust she made of him. The work expands the formal and conceptual layers of Hubbard / Birchler’s storytelling, juxtaposing Flora’s narrative of ephemerality and loss with the tangible re-imagining of the sculpture. “Flora” and “Bust” premiered in the Swiss Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale. The site-responsive installation at the Modern will include items related to the works’ genesis, on loan from the artists.
[Image: Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler, Flora, 2017. Synchronized double-sided film installation. Shared soundtrack, 12 audio channels; 30 minutes, loop. Overall dimensions vary with installation. Museum purchase, The Friends of Art Endowment Fund]
