Scene of the Myth is the first expansive solo exhibition by artist Sarah Pierce in Germany. The exhibition – previously shown at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin – brings together eight installations, performances and video spanning twenty years of Pierce’s practice. Born out of sticky relationships between the narratives we reproduce and those we wish to leave behind, Scene of the Myth asks what it means to gather, reflect, and act in community. A large body of recent works relates to Pierce’s interest in the figure of the student, in particular the art student, and the tenuous relationship between teaching and learning, politics and art-making.
Scene of the Myth is curated by Rike Frank (European Kunsthalle). The exhibition has been organised by the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, in collaboration with Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (Museum of Contemporary Art), Leipzig and John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton.
Tuilleadh eolaisSince 2003, Sarah Pierce has used the term ‘The Metropolitan Complex’ to describe her project, characterised by forms of gathering, both of historical examples and those she initiates. The processes of research and presentation that she undertakes demonstrate a broad understanding of cultural work and a continual renegotiation of the terms for making art, the potential for dissent, and self-determination. Pierce’s work has shown widely in the EU, US and Canada with major exhibitions at the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), CCS Hessel Museum and CCS Galleries, Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson), Tate Modern (London) and MuMOK (Vienna).
Solo exhibitions include Lost Illusions/Illusions perdues, developed jointly with Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff), Mercer Union (Toronto), and SBC Galerie (Montreal); No Title at the Centre of Contemporary Art (Derry), The Artist Talks at The Showroom (London), and The Meaning of Greatness at Project Arts Centre (Dublin).
Pierce represented Ireland in a group exhibition at the 51st Venice Biennale and has since exhibited in major international biennials including Glasgow International, EVA International, Lyon Biennale, International Sinop Biennial, and the Moscow Biennale.