Carnegie Museum of Art reveals plans for 58th Carnegie International
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Carnegie Museum of Art has announced commissions for the 58th Carnegie International that will be realized at the museum and throughout the city of Pittsburgh in the lead-up to the exhibition opening Sept. 24.
Established in 1896, the Carnegie International is the longest-running North American exhibition of international art and is second globally only to the Venice Biennale. The upcoming iteration will run through April 2, 2023.
“For the 58th International, we’ve expanded the scope of the exhibition beyond the walls of this museum, establishing relationships with local partners and artists to connect local concerns with current issues prompting national and international debates, and collaborating with other national and international museums,” said Sohrab Mohebbi, the Kathe and Jim Patrinos Curator of the exhibition.
Some of the commissions will create works to dialogue with pieces in the Pittsburgh museum’s collections, others will stand on their own. These groups and individuals doing commissioned works were announced at a March 10 press preview at the museum:
• terra0 – a group of Berlin, Germany-based developers, artists and researchers who develop tools to manage natural ecosystems – has proposed an augmented tree that owns its land. The Community College of Allegheny County will donate land on which the tree will be planted, and the tree will regulate and govern itself through a smart contract and issue certificates of care to the museum for the services the museum will provide during its lifetime.
The work responds to broad environmental concerns, but also refers to large swaths of Pennsylvania forest lost to the logging industry in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Pittsburgh artist James “Yaya” Hough will paint a mural in the city’s Hill District, where he was born. The project expands on Hough’s practice of making public art projects. A selection of his works also will be presented in the museum’s galleries during the International.
• Cuban American artist Rafael Domenech will create a pavilion to be housed in the museum’s courtyard. To be made of construction scaffolding and mesh, the installation will suggest urban development while also referring to the museum as a site of production.
• Virginia-based visual artist and educator Tony Cokes will create four billboards along Route 28, along with a video to be installed at the museum. Cokes’ works employ text collected from various sources, placed over color blocks and usually accompanied by music. Topics include racism, evil and imperialism.
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Along with the commissioned works and partnerships with local institutions, the Carnegie Museum also will partner with international institutions including the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende in Chile. As part of the International, the museum of modern and contemporary art will show a selection of its collection for the first time in the United States.
Works from the Carnegie Museum’s permanent collection also will be exhibited alongside new commissions in the Oakland facility’s Scaife galleries.
“Historical works will be presented in what we call an ‘ahistorical timeline,’” Mohebbi said.
Pieces from the collection will be arranged chronologically by the dates they were created, and not by the historical dates to which they refer.
“This will suggest that these events were ever-present,” Mohebbi said. “This aspect of the International will feature ephemera plus installations that take us through history in a non-linear way, providing vital context for the commissions.”
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Organized every three to four years, the International presents an overview of how art and artists respond to the critical questions of their time.
“Every three or four years, the Carnegie Museum of Art has the potential to transform itself with this exhibition against the backdrop of American industry and history and through deep collaboration with international curators and artists who engage with the museum through the show,” said Eric Crosby, the museum’s Henry J. Heinz II Director. “As a curator, (Mohebbi) is committed to examining immediate, local concerns in a broader picture of the world today.
“I have no doubt he will lead our museum in creating an International that is more collaborative, interdisciplinary and socially engaged than ever before,” he added.
Working with Mohebbi are associate curator Ryan Inouye and curatorial assistant Talia Heiman.
The museum sources works for its permanent collection from those shown in the International.
“The International underscores Carnegie Museum of Art as a globally relevant institution,” Crosby said. “It allows artists to present their work in a broader picture of the world today.”
For more information, visit cmoa.org.