In 1961, Pontus Hulten, a young art historian and curator who had recently taken on the role as director of Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, curated Movement in Art. This was to be the first in a series of exhibitions that set the stage for Stockholm becoming recognized as a progressive and international art center. But by 1968, when he organized the first solo exhibition of Andy Warhol’s work in Europe, his ambitions would leave him questioned at home and headhunted abroad. Years later, after having become the founding director of the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou, Paris, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and other prestigious institutions, some of the activities that had made him so attractive were increasingly questioned. Today it seems that his liberal use, and appropriation, of Warhol’s artwork has become a legacy that overshadows his greater achievements as a radical anarchist and administrator of art. This talk will give context and elucidate Hulten’s seemingly “unprofessional” activities.
Patrik Andersson teaches contemporary art and ideas informed by his freelance activities as art critic and curator with interests ranging from conceptual art to design. He holds a PhD in Art History from the University of British Columbia with a dissertation on the post-war reception of Marcel Duchamp's work. He is co-founder of Made Magazine and co-editor/author with Judith Steedman of the book Inside Magazines (Thames and Hudson, 2002). Recent publications include "Niki de Saint-Phalle’s Killing Game: Happenings, Performance and Theatre" (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2014), “Inner and Outer Space: Rethinking Movement in Art” (Moderna Museet, Stockholm / Steidl, 2017); “Hitting the Nail on the Head: Rodney Graham’s Impressionist Games” (Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts, Newcastle, 2017 JPRingier). Recent exhibitions include Art School High (Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, 2017) and Rodney Graham: Canadia Impressionist (Canada House, London, England, 2017). His curatorial project TRAPP can be explored via instagram: trappprojects or www.trappprojects.com
