To what extent does class play a role in the production and dissemination of contemporary art?
Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul
23 January 2007 – 3 March 2007
Annika Eriksson Chris Evans Dirk Fleischmann Liam Gillick Marion Von Osten Natascha Sadr Haghighian San Keller To what extent does class play a role in the production and dissemination of contemporary art? Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie is an exhibition and research project touring internationally from 2006 to 2008, which aims to investigate how socioeconomic background still defines ones career, and to what extent career choice and development reflects or consolidates the initial social hierarchies in question. In light of recent changes in working conditions within and without the art world, a fundamental query here is whether traditional analytical tools that discuss the role of class and social hierarchy are still of use today.
Initiated at Gasworks, London, last October, this series of exhibitions is the starting point for a two-year collaboration. Over 2007, the project is to move to Stockholm and Cairo, then back to London, during which a continuing, methodical collaboration between practitioners of various fields will be developed. Most of the artworks on display were shown in an initial form at Gasworks, October 2006, and will be developed over the coming presentations. Additional artists in the London exhibition included Sylvie Fleury, Hassan Khan, and Erkan. The project as a whole will be documented in an extensive publication due to be released in 2008. Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie launched in July with a special broadcast by Dirk Fleischmann as part of Radio Gallery on Resonance FM. Radio Gallery was curated by Anna Colin. The exhibition was at Gasworks between November 10, 2006 -January 14, 2007. Following Istanbul, it will move to venues in Stockholm and Cairo. Tirdad Zolghadr is a curator, critic and film-maker based in Zurich. Recent curatorial projects include Ethnic Marketing, at the Kunsthalle Geneva, and the 7th International Sharjah Biennial. He is further active as a member of the Shahrzad Art & Design Collective, and is a contributing editor of Bidoun magazine. Nav Haq is curator at Gasworks. He is presently a guest editor at Book Works, and has also recently been appointed curator of the 3rd Contour Biennial for Video Art, Belgium. He has also contributed to magazines such as Art Review, Bidoun and Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art.
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