Mircea Cantor — Prix Marcel Duchamp 2011 — Centre Georges Pompidou — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: October 3, 2012 → January 7, 2013

At once poetic, minimal, and metaphysical, Mircea Cantor’s works — be they videos, photographs, drawings, sculptures or installations — have made the artist quite a figure in the new geography of contemporary art. A self-styled rootless wanderer, Mircea Cantor has made himself a name on the contemporary art scene through a series of works so delicate yet guarded, so subtle yet radical, that their material seems to be the very stuff that sensitive dreams are made on.

Mircea Cantor says:

“Today, one should be wary to speak the language of globalization and pander to global brands but should rather speak a universal language, which is the very opposite. That is exactly what globalization is doing away with.”

Speaking about his works, Cantor also mentions “the need for uncertainty”, because he wants to create pieces that are open to multiple perspectives, multiple readings. Porous, they invite the contemporary world through and feed on reality, on human contradictions, through a discursive process: layers of metaphors that harmonize or clash with each other. The artist brings myths, elements from various ancient cultures, into play, without indulging into nostalgia, but paying attention rather to the enduring signs of the past in the present.