The most comprehensive look to date at the artistic practice of Ydessa Hendeles, legendary art collector and pioneer of curating, abundantly illustrated with pictures of two of her exhibitions.
Once a legendary collector of contemporary art, Ydessa Hendeles then became one of the pioneers of curating as an artistic practice. Building upon her concept of an exhibition as a "curatorial composition," she developed a radical approach to art-making. In this book, Ernst van Alphen and Mieke Bal explore Hendeles's art practice through in-depth analyses of her exhibitions, "The Milliner's Daughter" in Toronto (2017) and "Death to Pigs" in Vienna (2018). The authors make a compelling argument that these "retrospective shows" were each multilayered site-responsive artworks, in and of themselves, that presented parallel worlds composed of art objects and artifacts. The most comprehensive look to date at Hendeles's innovative art practice.
Text: Emily Cadger, Markus Müller, Gaetane Verna.
