About —
A Peek at the MAJ Collection
Art consists of transposing ideas and intuitions, of showing people a different way to see an alternate form of reality. This selection of works from the Museum’s collection reveals distinct ways of exploring transposition. By shifting form or content to another field or register of meaning, the artists invite readings that are imbued with poetry, engaged politically, or informed by a broader reflection on the experience of art. These works were produced either with a series in mind—in which each work has both similarities with others and unique features—or according to production of multiples based on identical characteristics.
Russell T. Gordon’s works visually materialize the intangibility of jazz improvisation, which is constantly renewed as it is being performed, with abstract motifs. Sophie Jodoin adds political commentary to her series of portraits of women who are indistinguishable from each other, but whose faces are hidden to engender a new way of perceiving them. Untitled [Sans titre] by Joseph Beuys consists of a remembrance of an ephemeral performance executed in Kenya, of which we see only the vestiges. Drawn from a multiple production, this small-sized work reminds us that one of the roles of art is to question what it shows and how it reaches out to us.
Artists: Joseph Beuys, Russell T. Gordon and Sophie Jodoin
Image in the banner:
© Sophie Jodoin, Untitled (inmate 7), 2010.