Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
June 15, 2019–January 05, 2020
Manifesto: Art x Agency is a group exhibition designed to examine the art-historical impact of artist manifestos from the 20th century to present day. Organized by the Hirshhorn’s Chief Curator Stéphane Aquin, Manifesto: Art x Agency includes German artist Julian Rosefeldt’s Manifesto, presented as a multi-channel film installation for the first time in Washington, D.C., alongside a diverse selection of works from the museum’s permanent collection. With more than 100 works of art that span a hundred-year period, Manifesto: Art x Agency explores how artists used manifestos to engage with the political and social issues of their time and how contemporary practices still employ art as a tool in the making of history.
Exploring the idea of the artist manifesto as a major tenet of the 20th century, the Hirshhorn’s exhibition will be divided into three distinct sections. The introduction will feature a powerful display of the museum’s modern collection holdings, including seminal works by artists such as Jean Arp, Giacomo Balla, Alexander Calder, Salvador Dalí, Helen Frankenthaler, George Grosz, Hannah Höch, René Magritte, André Masson, Joan Miró, Joan Mitchell, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock and Tsuruko Yamazaki.
These works offer a historical framework for the ideas born out of the various manifestos from this time period. To further ground these works within the ideas that inspired them, a number of published manifestos, including texts from futurism, surrealism, constructivism and lyrical abstraction, on loan from North American art libraries, will be on display as a key part of the exhibition.
In the second section, Rosefeldt’s titular Manifesto (2015) will be displayed as a singular work. Conceived as an artwork, Manifesto has gained worldwide attention as a feature-length film. Presented at the Hirshhorn as a multichannel installation, chapters of the film will play simultaneously on 13 video projections, inviting visitors into an immersive experience. Featuring actress Cate Blanchett performing excerpts from some of the great manifestos of the past century, the installation serves to demonstrate the contemporary resonance of the artist manifesto in today’s artistic and cultural climate, while simultaneously connecting earlier aesthetic movements from the previous section.
The third section will highlight contemporary pieces from the permanent collection, spanning from the 1960s to present day. This grouping will encompass works that provide a commentary on political movements and social change within contemporary contexts. Included among the artists on view are the Guerrilla Girls, Adrian Piper, Hurvin Anderson, Alfredo Jaar, Nam June Paik, Zoe Leonard, Catherine Opie, and Glenn Ligon.
