NEW YORK, NY.- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum today announced at a press conference the exhibition and international tour of Matthew Barney: The CREMASTER Cycle, an epic five-part film project, accompanied by related sculptures, photographs, and drawings. Begun in 1994 and created out of sequence, Barney has produced four episodes to date—4, 1, 5, and 2. On the occasion of this exhibition, Barney will premiere the final installment of the cycle, CREMASTER 3. This exhibition is organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, in cooperation with the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, and the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. It will be presented at the Museum Ludwig from June 6 to September 1, 2002. Following its opening in Cologne, the exhibition will travel to the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (October 10, 2002–January 5, 2003), and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (February 14, 2003–May 11, 2003).



’We are extremely happy on this occasion to announce the long-awaited exhibition, Matthew Barney: The CREMASTER Cycle and its international tour, ’ said Thomas Krens, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. ’Matthew is one of the most important artists of his generation. Through his films, sculptures, photographs, drawings and books, Matthew’s potent imagery and private cosmology have a haunting and allusive presence.’



The exhibition installation, designed specifically by the artist for each of the three venues, will bring together the interconnected components of the CREMASTER cycle—sculpture, photographs, drawing, and video versions of the films—to encapsulate and conclude the entire project. Each venue will also screen the 35 mm films in a theatrical setting. For the first time, audiences will fully experience the fundamental interrelationship between the objects and the moving image in the CREMASTER cycle. The exhibition has been organized by Nancy Spector, Curator of Contemporary Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.



The world premiere of Matthew Barney’s film CREMASTER 3 will be held on May 1st at the Ziegfeld Theater, as a benefit for contemporary programming at the Guggenheim Museum, followed by its commercial release at Film Forum in New York City on May 15.