Blenheim Art Foundation launched its first exhibition designed specifically for the park and gardens, and this art takes on a more unusual shape.
The major solo exhibition by Tino Sehgal, was revealed to spectators on Friday.
Tino Sehgal breaks out of the mould of traditional art. If you are used to seeing sculptures, paintings and tapestries Sehgal 's work will certainly feel different.
The British-born German artist is known for artworks composed exclusively using the human body, voice, and social interaction. He uses choreographed gestures and spoken instructions acted out by performers often in gallery settings.
For this project, Sehgal is presenting a complex, roaming choreography imagined for Blenheim, involving more than 30 participants.
The exhibition moves fluidly throughout the park and gardens like a game of encounters, responding to specific conditions such as the number of visitors, the location or the weather.
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The group of participants – the majority of whom are local residents cast specially for this project – gather and disperse in a fluid choreography, enacting moments of connection with visitors and their surroundings.
The artists says this relationship of movement is informed by the landscape architecture of Blenheim which was designed by Capability Brown.
Sehgal said: "I feel honoured and excited to be presenting my practice within this Oxfordshire landscape designed by Capability Brown, as I admire the ease with which he interwove nature and culture. As a society, we will need to take this ease as a foremost example for all of our undertakings to meet the global sustainability challenge of the coming decades.”
Michael Frahm, Director of Blenheim Art Foundation, said: "After a long year distanced one from another, Tino’s work feels more relevant than ever: bringing bodies together in space and calling attention to the fleeting, immaterial magic of human connection. Our eighth exhibition at Blenheim will introduce our visitors to a practice unlike any other we have presented before, by one of the most important artists of this generation.”
Edward Spencer-Churchill, Founder of Blenheim Art Foundation, said: “This year, we are delighted to welcome Tino Sehgal to Blenheim, along with a great number of participants from the local Oxfordshire community who will bring his vision to life. Sehgal’s radical practice celebrates the poetics of everyday people, their lives and their stories. Blenheim itself has always been a place of gathering, of human histories, relationships, exchange and dreams, and it is a privilege to be able to involve and represent the local community in this poignant project.”
The exhibition is taking place from July 9 to August 15.
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