October 10–November 8, 2014
Opening reception: Friday, October 10, 6–8pm
Curatorial walkthrough: Saturday, November 1, 1pm
SMU Meadows School of the Arts
Pollock Gallery
Hughes-Trigg Student Center
3140 Dyer St.
Dallas, TX 75205
Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 11am–5pm;
Saturday 1–5pm; Wednesday and Sunday by appointment
T +1 214 768 4439
www.smu.edu/meadows/AreasOfStudy/Art/PollockGallery
The Pollock Gallery is pleased to present 1972 by Sarah Morris. In the eponymous film, Morris gathers together picturesque views of the landscapes and cityscapes of Munich, archival photographs, the empty Olympic stadium, interior spaces such as offices and screening rooms and juxtaposes them with documentary-style interview footage between Morris and Georg Sieber, the psychologist and consultant who was hired by the National Olympic Committee (NOC) to lead the security team for the fateful 1972 Olympiad. Recounting the security training and preparations undertaken by the NOC in advance of the 1972 Summer Olympics through the hostage crisis that resulted in the murder of 11 Israeli athletes by the Palestinian terrorist group who called themselves Black September, Sieber presents a convincing case for faith in procedure, rehearsal and systematic structures and at the same time shows their failure. This narrative is disrupted and undermined by Sieber himself, who walked away during the crisis when he saw no one adhering to the scenario planning he had logistically worked out. His own words reveal his biases, his resentment towards the burden of the political history of his motherland and, despite his attempts to present an objective account of a politically charged and significant moment, the version of the truth that he presents can only ultimately be yet another, to use Sieber’s own words, “subjective perception.”
A selection from Morris’s “Timecodes” series of silkscreen prints will be exhibited alongside the film as well as three original Otl Aicher designed posters from the Munich Olympics.
Otl Aicher’s work appears courtesy of The Pinnell Collection.
Artist bio
Since the mid-1990s, Sarah Morris has been making complex abstract paintings and films. These works, based on different cities, are derived from close inspection of architectural details combined with a critical sensitivity to the psychology of a city and its key protagonists.
Morris was born in 1967 in the UK and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. She lives and works in New York. Morris has participated in many important exhibitions including the 4th Site Santa Fe Biennial (2001); 25th São Paolo Biennial (2002); and Days Like These: Tate Triennial (2003). Solo exhibitions include Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2001); Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen (2004); Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2005); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2005); Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover (2005); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2006); Fondation Beyeler (2008); Lenbachhaus, Munich (2008); MAMbo, Bologna (2009); MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2009); and MCA Chicago (2013).
Curated by Sally Frater, Pollock Curatorial Fellow
Sally Frater is an independent curator and writer. She holds a BA in studio art from the University of Guelph and an MA in contemporary art from The University of Manchester/Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Frater has curated exhibitions for the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Toronto; Georgia Scherman Projects, Toronto; The Print Studio, Hamilton, Ontario; Art Gallery of Peterborough, Ontario; A Space Gallery, Toronto; and the McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, Ontario. Her writing has appeared in publications for The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Art21, Artforum online, NKA, Prefix Photo, Border Crossings, FUSE, X-TRA and Canadian Art. A former Critical Studies Fellow in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Core Program and artist-in-residence at Project Row Houses, she is currently a member of IKT (International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art) and ICI (Independent Curators International).
For more information, contact Sally Frater, Pollock Curatorial Fellow, T +1 214 768 4439 / [email protected].
