The show called “Sensational Fix”, focusing on this legendary band’s incursions into art, will open in Móstoles
“Sonic Youth: Sensational Fix”
CENTRO DE ARTE DOS DE MAYO
Avenida de la Constitución, 23-25 28931 Móstoles
From the 3rd of February to the 2nd of May 2010
Their output, coupled with the production of diverse creators linked to the band whose works have been compiled for this exhibition, shed light on the evolution of the cultural underground in recent decades, in which exploration of the world of youth, fame, fashion, sexuality and the presence of religion in our society has intermingled with a critical, nonconformist attitude.
The materials on display at the CA2M. Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo starting on the 3rd of February include record designs, brochures, fanzines, posters and texts and photographs by the members of Sonic Youth. Actually, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo first joined forces as artists, and it was only upon their arrival in New York in the late 1970s that they ventured into the world of music. During the same period, Gordon began her collaborations with several galleries in the Big Apple, her projects as an independent curator and her essays on music and art topics for publications like Artforum.
Dan Graham often recorded his performances at a time when rock stars and artists seemed to be drawing from the same energy and merging their disciplines naturally. Collaborations between musicians and artists prevailed over solo works. In 1981, during the Festival Noise Fest, Gordon and Barbara Ess organised an exhibition of artwork by musicians, most of them friends of Thurston. The idea inspiring this show, according to Ranaldo, was a sort of initiation journey where Sonic Youth sought to not only carve a niche for itself in the music scene but also bring as many people onboard with them as possible.
The music by this incipient band, both far-reaching and complex, merged the rebelliousness of punk rock with experimental music and conceptual art. In “Sensational Fix” you can see both works by active creators working in New York in the 1970s and 1980s and ones by later artists linked to Sonic Youth, including Dan Graham, Tony Oursler, Cindy Sherman, Vito Acconci and Rita Ackermann. Plus, in a pavilion that Dan Graham designed specifically for this exhibition, you can listen to all of Sonic Youth’s output, its recordings and video clips and those by other contemporary bands.
This exhibition has already been shown at the Kunsthalle/KIT in Düsseldorf and the Konsthall of Malmö.
