Artist Wim Delvoye has made a career out of provocatively examining how society classes art and its role in the market economy. In the past, that’s led to tattooing pigs, and even a human who is now contractually obligated to go on display three times a year. His recent exhibition, titled The Order of Things, while less grisly, demonstrates his continued use of irony to poke holes, sometimes even literally, into the hierarchy that the art world imposes on artists and their works.
Delvoye is the fourth artist to participate in the carte blanche XL exhibition at the museum. The intention with carte blanche XL is to let artists curate shows that feature their own work along with the museum’s in order to interrogate the relationship between “the museum’s connection to its collections and institutions.” Combining neoclassical sculptures such as the Venus Italica and modern art by the likes of Warhol, Delvoye upends the traditional narrative of art history. Further complicating matters, the Belgian artist has made copies of the works that are punctuated by tracks with steel balls circuiting around. In this manner, priceless works of art turn into something more fitting for a toy store. The ever innovative artist also used artificial intelligence to create some of his works, stating, “ I wrote a program that does the work for me actually… It's beautiful because the computer does it better. It has no emotions. It doesn’t see [a] nose or eyes.”
Delvoye was an especially apt choice for artist-curator of the carte blanche XL as he is also an art collector and included his archives in the exhibition. Unsurprisingly, considering his history of questioning how art is valued, he features many works that are often unnoticed in the museum. Delvoye notes that often great art, especially of the old masters, is priced less than contemporary art which moneyed collectors look at as investments foremost over their aesthetic quality.
Delvoye's The Order of Things is currently on display at Museum of Art and History in Geneva, Switzerland, through June 16, 2024.
Belgian conceptual artist Wim Delvoye acted as artist-curator for Geneva's Museum of Art and History's fourth carte blanche xl exhibition.
With his trademark humor, Delvoye commits an act of “philosophical vandalism” as the museum's director calls it, subverting the preciousness of what are considered priceless objects.
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