Tino Sehgal Walks the Line Between Art and Life in Guadalajara

Summary

• Tino Sehgal opens his first solo exhibition in Mexico at the Museo de Arte de Zapopan
• The exhibition features several live works, including the seminal “Kiss,” “Yet Untitled” and “These Associations,” a new work created for the venue

Tino Sehgal’s works are famously undocumented, save for the odd stray snapshot here and there. While based in sculpture, the Berlin-based artist has built a reputation around what he terms “constructed situations”: fleeting encounters shared between visitors and performers; things to be experienced more than witnessed. You just have to be there.

Sehgal has landed in Guadalajara for his first-ever solo show Mexico. Staged at the new Estación MAZ at the Museo de Arte de Zapopan, the eponymous exhibition gives the floor to these ephemeral exchanges in warm-blooded works that toe the line between art and life.

At the heart of the exhibition is his seminal work, “Kiss.” The piece features two dancers, entwined, locked in a passionate kiss and, like much of Sehgal’s work, doesn’t immediately announce itself as art. Instead, it unfolds, unprompted, echoing each viewer’s own experience of intimacy and couples throughout art history, from Rodin, Klimt and Brâncuși to Gustave Courbet and Jeff Koons.

Also on view is the Golden Lion-winning “Yet Untitled,” exhibited at the 2013 Venice Biennale. It consists of dancers and singers kneeling in communal formation, subtly merging elements of pop culture, beat-boxing and spirituality, while keeping in-tune with the performers’ movements, emotional states and collective rhythm.

Starting January 29, a daily presentation of “These Associations,” a new commission, will unravel across the museum’s Andador 20 de Noviembre walkway. Through spontaneous storytelling encounters, visitors are drawn into close, personal exchanges becoming participants in scenes. Based on a practice Sehgal began at Tate Modern in 2012, the interactive work unleashes a hoard of participants in public spaces, unfolding with immediacy, honesty and a rare sense of shared connection.

The exhibition is now on view in Guadalajara until March 1. Check out the museum’s website for more information on how to visit.

Museo de Arte de Zapopan
Prol. 20 De Noviembre 166,
centro historico,
45100 Zapopan, Jal.,
Mexico