Exhibition
The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place - 176 Zabludowicz Collection
176 / Zabludowicz Collection are pleased to present an exhibition of works from the Zabludowicz Collection guest curated by Anna-Catharina Gebbers.
As part of 176 / Zabludowicz Collection’s curatorial residency, Anna-Catharina Gebbers was given complete freedom to create an exhibition from the over 2,000 works in the Zabludowicz Collection. The result is a dramatic contrast to former presentations of works from the Collection.
With over 200 works exhibited, The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place will be the largest ever showcase of works from the Zabludowicz Collection. Anna-Catharina Gebbers invites us into a salon-style exhibition, a format which emphasises the deliberately overwhelming amount of contemporary works of art including painting, photography, sculpture and video.
Inspired by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges’ short story ‘The Library of Babel’ (1941) where inhabitants of an infinite library search for the absolute interpretation of the information around them, The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place encourages the visitor to embark on a similar quest for meaning.
While Anna-Catharina Gebbers generously empowers the visitors to draw their own conclusions from the Collection, seemingly incongruous works belie carefully disguised threads of meaning waiting to be uncovered and interpreted.
Anna-Catharina Gebbers on the exhibition:
’The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place questions my role as it places every visitor in the role of curator; the sheer number of works forces the visitor to chose which works will receive attention. I am interested in how these decisions are made.’
The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive public programme where invited professionals and visitors alike are offered the chance to become Guides, conducing tours for the public. Discussing how and why our attention and perception is guided and exposing different ways of creating meaning within the exhibition
There will be an accompanying series of lectures and panel discussions with experts including scientists and theorists from backgrounds as wide-ranging as neurology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, linguistics and literature; plus an illustrated publication with specially commissioned texts designed by Joff + Ollie.
Anna-Catharina Gebbers is a curator and writer based in Berlin. Since 2004 she has curated some 50 exhibitions with over 300 artists. Gebbers also acts as editor for several cultural magazines and is the author of books about artists including Thomas Scheibitz, Paloma Varga Weisz and Thomas Schütte. Her non-profit project space ANNA-CATHARINA GEBBERS | BIBLIOTHEKSWOHNUNG in Berlin presents transdisciplinary collaborations with artists, curators, cultural activists and other institutions.
In and Out of Place, is the umbrella title for exhibitions and events associated with Anna-Catharina Gebbers’s guest curatorship with 176 / Zabludowicz Collection. The title is borrowed from an essay about Louise Lawler written by Andrea Fraser. The culmination of the residency will be an exhibition curated by Anna-Catharina Gebbers at 176 / Zabludowicz Collection, London from 25 February - 9 May 2010
