Luxembourg and Dayan: That Obscure Object of Desire

Luxembourg and Dayan: That Obscure Object of Desire

This August, Luxembourg and Dayan will present That Obscure Object of Desire. Titled after Luis Buñuel’s 1977 film, in which the protagonist’s lust for an elusive woman leads him into a state of utter submissiveness, the exhibition revolves around the dark side of desire. It explores the connection between artwork and a fetishised object, and looks at the process of object making as an obsessive endeavour akin in its intensity to erotic infatuation.

Organised by Luxembourg & Dayan director Stephanie Adamowicz and Tamar Margalit, That Obscure Object of Desire is tied loosely together by the genealogy of erotic object making. Artists represented are drawn to forms, processes, and materials with bodily connotations that oscillate between the sexual and the abject. The exhibition features works by Hans Bellmer, Dorothea Tanning, Hannah Wilke, Alina Szapocznikow, Robert Heinecken, Anthea Hamilton, Julie Verhoeven, and Alisa Baremboym.

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Hans Bellmer La Poupée(L’attente latente),1949 Courtesy Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York
© 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Jeffrey Sturges

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Dorothea Tanning Traffic Sign, 1970 © 2014 The Dorothea Tanning Foundation/
Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Christian Carone

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Alina Szapocznikow Lampe-bouche, 1966
Courtesy of The Estate Alina Szapocnikow / Piotr Stanislawski /
Galerie Loevenbruck, Paris / Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
© Alina Szapocnikow / ADAGP, Paris

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Robert Heinecken Multiple Solution Puzzle, 1965 © 2014 The Robert Heinecken Trust, Chicago
Courtesy of Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles. Photo by Robert Wedemeyer

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Alisa Baremboym Leaking Industries: Soft Screw, 2012
Courtesy of 47 Canal, New York. Photo by Joerg Lohse

by Louise Lui

That Obscure Object of Desire is at  Luxembourg and Dayan 64 E 77th St, New York, NY 10075,
Tel: +1 212-452-3350 from August 14 until October 4, 2014