Rirkrit Tiravanija: We Don’t Recognise What We Don’t See 08.04.2023 — 04.06.2023

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Event has ended

8 April – 4 June 2023

About The Exhibition

What do we picture, when we think of extinction?

How do we begin to peel back its layers, trace its footprints?

This exhibition is a practice in tuning in. We are asked to confront our pre-conditioned way of seeing the world, and to acknowledge our dystopian present through being active participants in the narrative of this show. Beyond that, Rirkrit Tiravanija does not preach; rather, he opens a channel for us to ponder on the next steps for ourselves amidst the rubble.

But the spirit of generosity persists in many of Tiravanija's works, and it does so here as well. Even as the tale seems bleak, the artist simultaneously pays tribute to and honours the lives of these animals. It is through this that an invitation is extended to make relations anew with our non-human brethren. If we were to treat every thing out there as kin, if we were to recognise our relations with them so as to be with them in the world, might we be able to collectively dream of a more hopeful future?

If we are able to take this first step in repositioning our way of seeing, perhaps we will be more inspired to rally together, to do things differently.

What will we picture now, when we think of extinction?

About the artist

Rirkrit Tiravanija

Residencies in 2012, 2015, 2020, 2022

Rirkrit Tiravanija (b. 1961, Buenos Aires, Argentina; based in New York, United States; Berlin, Germany; and Chiang Mai, Thailand) creates work that routinely rejects the primacy of the art object and redefines the exhibition space as a stage for social interaction and communal care. Frequently associated with relational aesthetics, a movement that bases art in human relations and social contexts, Tiravanija has been a pivotal figure in the evolution of contemporary art since the 1990s.

In addition to participatory installations that gather people to share in ordinary rituals such as cooking, eating and reading, Tiravanija also works through other modes such as painting, printmaking, assemblage, video, performance and teaching. Underlying his work is a strong desire to dissolve the barriers between art and the everyday. In an ongoing series beginning with pad thai (1990) in New York, Tiravanija prepares and serves Thai dishes to exhibition visitors—a simple yet radical act that confronts preconceived notions of art spaces and spotlights cultural identity. Since the mid-2000s, the artist has also engaged with broader social and political themes, such as through collaborative efforts to create images of mass protests and movements against oppressive powers in Demonstration Drawings (2006–ongoing).

Tiravanija obtained his BFA from the Ontario College of Art, Toronto in 1984; his MFA from the School of Art Institute of Chicago in 1986; and underwent the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1985–1986). His work is found in leading collections including the Baltimore Museum of Art; Bundeskunstsammlung, Berlin; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Fond National d’Art Contemporain, Paris; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Bangkok; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate, London; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.