Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) is credited as a contemporary art pioneer who changed the meanings of creating and interpreting art. Duchamp grew up in Normandy, France, and later joined the Cubist group of artists in Paris, causing much discussion with his famous work Nude Descending a Staircase (No.2) (1912). At the age of 25, he decided to give up painting entirely to devote himself to The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even, also known as The Large Glass, which he left unfinished in 1923. Simultaneously, he conceived the concept of “readymade, “place ordinary manufactured objects in artistic contexts to endow them with new meanings and challenge the definition of art. During the 20s and 30s, Duchamp disguised himself as his female alter ego Rrose Sèlavy to dismantle the dichotomy of sexual identity. He deployed Rrose Sélavy as an alternate character using humor and sexual innuendo in art.
Duchamp always actively supervised the reproduction and exhibition of his works. In 1950, he assisted his principal patrons, Louise and Walter Arensberg, in their decision to donate their collection of modern art, including the largest assembly of Duchamp's works, to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in partnership with the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), The Essential Duchamp features more than 150 objects, including paintings, readymades, drawings and archival materials, many of which are shown in Korea for the first time.
The exhibition tells the life and career of the artist in four sections.
The first section introduces paintings and other works that Duchamp produced in his youth while studying movements such as Impressionism, Symbolism and Fauvism that were taking place in France. This section also includes Nude Descending a Staircase (No.2), which caused a sensation when it premiered at The Armory Show in New York in 1913.
The Second Section presents The Large Glass and related works which explore Duchamp's belief that art should not remain in the realm of the retina but ascend to the realm of ideas. This section will also show his readymades, including Bicycle Wheel (1913/1964) and Fountain (1917/1950).
The Third Section captures Duchamp's fascination with chess; various experiments involving words and optics created under the pseudonym Rrose Sélavy, such as the Rotoreliefs, which blur the line between art and engineering. This section also offers a rare opportunity to see two editions of Box in a Valise (1935-41), the portable museum containing miniature replicas of Duchamp's works: a 1941 edition of the MMCA and a 1966 edition of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
© Association Marcel Duchamp / ADAGP, Paris – SACK, Seoul, 2018.
Finally, the Section Four traces the exhibitions and publications that marked Duchamp's fame in the 50s and 60s. This section also tells the story of Étant donnés (1946-66), the artist's last major work. The Large Glass and Étant donnés, both permanently installed sculpture constructions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will be presented in the exhibition in a digital format.
This exhibition will also highlight artists who collaborated with Duchamp and influenced his life and work, including photographer Man Ray, architect Frederick Kiesler, surrealist poet André Breton and master of British Pop Art, Richard Hamilton, whose retrospective was held at the final year MMCA.
