The great changes that took shape in the 1960s – from the civil rights movement and rock and roll to the rise of mass consumerism and the sexual revolution – still echo in contemporary society and throughout the art world. A new Pinault Collection exhibition explores not only the era's creative turnaround, but what it represents for us today.
“Forever Sixties: The Spirit of the Sixties in the Pinault Collection,” which marks the third edition of the annual Arts and Culture Exporama in Rennes, explores the decade's resounding changes in art history and beyond through 80 iconic works of art - many of which have never been on public display. “What did the 1960s represent?” its release says, citing “tension between conservatism and democratization, dominant culture and alternative countercultures, commercial conformism and dreams of escape.”
The exhibition includes paintings, photographs and sculptures by names such as Barbara Kruger, Martial Raysse, Richard Prince, Sturtevant and Richard Avedon. Some artists, like Michelangelo Pistoletto, are still actively working today.
An entire room was dedicated to an Edward Kienholz installation, while another was filled with a series of culturally significant album covers, accompanied by a soundtrack of 100 songs selected by French singer Etienne Daho.
The exhibition also coincides with another exhibition at the Pinault Collection in Rennes by Turner Prize-winning contemporary artist Jeremy Deller, based in London. Its three-venue presentation demonstrates parallel fascinations with contemporary politics, attitudes and pop culture – against which “Forever Sixties” offers a particular historical context.
Source: Artnet News