Paying tribute to the tenth anniversary of 9/11, MoMA PS1 presents September 11, a group exhibit that explores the far-reaching consequences of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Inspired by the dearth of representation in the cultural discourse of the attacks, Peter Eleey, who is the head curator at MoMA PS1, has assembled 71 works by artists dead and alive including Diane Arbus, William Eggleston, Christo, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono, a selection that avoids images of the event itself or art made in direct response it.
Some of the work is more direct, like Ellsworth Kelly’s collage Ground Zero, which shows a mocked up page of The New York Times with a green geometrical shape over a picture of Ground Zero. Other pieces were created before the attacks, like Alex Katz’s 10:00 AM, which shows a serene body water with a reflection that now appears haunting. “I’m interested in how we read things into these images,” Eleey has said about how 9/11 has influenced the way we see our environment. “After the attacks, we continued to see the towers everywhere.” Click through to see some of the works in the show.
Ellsworth Kelly (American, b. 1923). Ground Zero (2003). Collage on paper (newsprint). Sheet (irregular): 11 9/16 x 13 1/2 inches (29.4 x 34.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Gift of an anonymous donor © Ellsworth Kelly; courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Photo credit: David Allison
William Eggleston (American, b. 1939). Untitled (Glass in Airplane) (1965–74), from The Los Alamos Portfolio (1965–74). Dye-transfer print. 20 x 16 inches (50.8 x 40.64 cm). Collection Jonathan Sobel and Marcia Dunn, New York © Eggleston Artistic Trust; courtesy Cheim & Read, New York
Alex Katz. 10:00 AM. 1994. Oil on linen. 72 x 96″. Collection of the artist © 2011 Alex Katz. Courtesy Gavin Brown’s Enterprise. Photo credit: Paul Takeuchi
Christo. CHRISTO (American, b. Bulgaria, 1935). Red Package (1968). Plastified tarpaulin and rope. 12 x 149 x 23 inches (33 x 378.5 x 28 cm). Courtesy the artist. © Christo 1968. Photo credit: André Grossmann
Jem Cohen. Little Flags (1991-2000). Super 8mm film transferred to DVD (b/w, sound); 6:00 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Gravity Hill Films, New York
Harun Farocki (German, b. German-annexed Czechoslovakia, 1944). Transmission (2007). Video (color, sound); 43:00 minutes. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Committee on Film Funds, 2011. © Harun Farocki
Janet Cardiff (Canadian, b. 1957). The Forty Part Motet (2001). Reworking of “Spem in Alium Nunquam habui,” 1575, by Thomas Tallis. 40-track sound recording (14:00 minutes), 40 speakers. Dimensions variable. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder in memory of Rolf Hoffmann, 2002. © 2011 Janet Cardiff
Mary Lucier. Dawn Burn (detail). 1975. Seven monitors of increasing sizes from 15 to 25 inches diagonal; slide projector mounted on wall; seven-channel video converted from ½-inch, open-reel tape to DigiBeta and DVD (black and white, silent); one color slide (34:00 min., continuous). Structure: 7’3”–8’ 2” x 20’ (approx.) x 20”–27”. Collection San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.Accessions Committee Fund: gift of Doris and Donald Fisher, Marion E. Greene, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr., and Leanne B. Roberts, 1991. © 2011 Mary Lucier
Susan Hiller (American/British, b. 1940). Monument (installation view, Tate Britain, 2011) (1980–1981). 41 C-type photographs, audio (14:23 minutes), and park bench. 180 x 270 inches (457.2 x 685.8 cm). Installed in rebated wall. Courtesy the artist and Timothy Taylor Gallery, London. © 2011 Susan Hiller
Thomas Hirschhorn. Mondrian Altar. 1997. Mixed mediums. Dimensions variable. Centre Genevois de Gravure Contemporaine, Geneva, 1997. Courtesy Carol Greene, New York, and Gladstone Gallery, New York. © 2011 Thomas Hirschhorn
George Segal. Woman on a Park Bench. 1998. Bronze sculpture with white patina, metal bench. 52 x 72 1/2 x 37 1/2”. Courtesy The George and Helen Segal Foundation and Carroll Janis. © 2011 The George and Helen Segal Foundation; licensed by VAGA, NY