In
Exhibition-ism, theorist and artist Mieke Bal develops the idea that
exhibiting is a significant form of the contemporary.
In an exhibition, visitors are in the actual company of artworks that can perform. This essay considers recent shows of Bal's own video work, and is framed by observations on contemporary sculpture's response to classics of the form. Looking at art as process, Bal makes the case that the being-together-in-time of an exhibition visit encourages and, if the curation is well thought-out, can heighten the sense of the contemporaneity—art being more capable of this than anything else.
Maria Gertrudis “Mieke” Bal (born 1946 in Heemstede, Netherlands) is a cultural theorist and critic video artist whose areas of interest range from biblical and classical antiquity to 17th century and contemporary art and modern literature, feminism and migratory culture.
