Age of Terror: Art since 9/11

Fascinating exhibition at the Imperial War Museum looking at how contemporary artists reacted to the events of 9/11 and conflicts that have arisen since.

I found the first section on 9/11 itself most interesting. I loved Hans-Peter Feldman’s installation of corridor of the front covers of world newspapers from the next day. These gave a sense of a moment when the world stood still. Tony Oursler’s video installation combining footage he shot of the immediate recreation to event as he lived nearby mixed with footage of the days afterwards was moving. It was also interesting to see a pot by Grayson Perry which he was making on the day and in which he included a reference to the events.

A section looked at how an early reaction by many countries was to increase state control. This included a marble sculpture of a surveillance cabinet by Ai Weiwei. I liked a row of tiny figures by Jitish Katlat showing the strange relationship between figures undertaking and undergoing airport searches.

Another section looked at the use of images of weapons in art including Mona Hatoum’s cabinet with Murano glass hand grenades and Dexter Dawood’s White Flag, my second reference of the day to Jasper Johns.  Finally the show looked at the effect of the conflicts on people in their homes. I was moved by Hrair Sarkissian’s split screen video installation of him destroying a model of the block in which he parents live in Damascus. One side showed his effort and the other focused on the destruction as a time lapse with his removed from the picture.

Closes on 28 May 2018

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