STRASBOURG.- Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Strasbourg presents Silences, A statement by Marin Karmitz, from April 18th to August 23rd 2009. “Throughout my career I have always been preoccupied with establishing bridges between what I was most familiar with, the cinema, and different disciplines, such as literature, music, painting, photography, sculpture and video” (interview with Marin Karmitz, Silences exhibition catalogue. As such and following in this spirit of de-compartmentalization, Strasbourg’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art gave Marin Karmitz the opportunity to develop an exhibition project three years ago. Silences will be presented at MAMCS from April 18th to August 23rd 2009, compiling works by Dieter Appelt, Georg Baselitz, Christian Boltanski, Alberto Giacometti, Robert Gober, Ilya ad Emilia Kabakov, Tadeusz Kantor, On Kawara, Joseph Kosuth, Chris Marker, Mario Merz, Annette Messager, Juan Munoz, Bruce Nauman and Martial Raysse in a scenography created by architect Patrick Bouchain.

A passionate defender of arthouse films over the years, Marin Karmitz has demonstrated his commitment to contemporary creation and especially his interest for the fine arts. The film Comedie, directed by Marin Karmitz in 1966 emblematically builds a first bridge between different disciplines: adapted from a Beckett’s play, the film is both experimental video and “Throughout my career I have always been preoccupied with establishing bridges between what I was most familiar with, the cinema, and different disciplines, such as literature, music, painting, photography, sculpture and video” (interview with Marin Karmitz, Silences exhibition catalogue. As such and following in this spirit of de-compartmentalization, Strasbourg’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art gave Marin Karmitz the opportunity to develop an exhibition project three years ago. Silences will be presented at MAMCS from April 18th to August 23rd 2009, compiling works by Dieter Appelt, Georg Baselitz, Christian Boltanski, Alberto Giacometti, Robert Gober, Ilya ad Emilia Kabakov, Tadeusz Kantor, On Kawara, Joseph Kosuth, Chris Marker, Mario Merz, Annette Messager, Juan Munoz, Bruce Nauman and Martial Raysse in a scenography created by architect Patrick Bouchain.

The project is based on new artistic practices emerging during several of recent history’s key periods. Silences treats propositions of a new genre to be developed by artists between post WWII and the 1970’s that have in common the introduction of speech, the written word and sound into the silence of painting.

The Silences exhibition, on view in Autumn at Lisbon’s Berardo Museum is subject for publication. The exhibition will be accompanied by numerous thematic events held in the Museums’ auditorium where the public is invited to prolong the visit via films of the artists presented in the exhibition.