Set Pieces

Curated by Virgil Marti from the Collection of The Philadelphia Museum of Art

September 15, 2010 - February 13, 2011
Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 15, 6-8pm

Set Pieces restages objects and art works from the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Organized by guest curator Virgil Marti, a Philadelphia-based artist, the selection of seventy-five objects taps treasures from the museum’s storage spanning three centuries. Reflecting the artist’s own immersive sculptural environments that often cross art and décor, Marti draws especially on European and American decorative arts and sculpture. The installation is informed by favorite films (such as Citizen Kane and Last Year at Marienbad) and those cinematic moments that highlight the unique capability of film to stitch together random incidents. The result is series of tableaux and mash-ups of  objects that might not otherwise meet up outside this unconventional display of art objects and objets d’art.

Marti has been invited by ICA to act as Katherine Stein Sachs CW'69 and Keith L. Sachs W'67 Guest Curator. The artist is working closely with Joseph J. Rishel, Philadelphia Museum of Art Gisela and Dennis Alter Senior Curator of European Painting before 1900, and Ingrid Schaffner, ICA Senior Curator, to select works from the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Virgil Marti is a long time Philadelphian who received his MFA from Tyler School of Art in 1990 and for many years was a master printer at The Fabric Workshop and Museum. His art has been presented by ICA in numerous contexts. He was included in the 1996 group show You Talkin' To Me?, and one of his chandelier pieces has been installed in ICA's lobby for several years. In 2003, for ICA's series of commissions for the ramp space, he created a new installation titled Virgil Marti: The Flowers of Romance. Marti's art has also been presented at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Most recently one of his sculptural poufs was part of the exhibition Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris. Marti's work is in the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others.

Set Pieces is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with contributions by Thomas Devaney, Lia Gangitano, Claudia Gould, Joseph J. Rishel, and Ingrid Schaffner, and a conversation between Richard Meyer and Virgil Marti. $20.

Sachs Guest Curator Program

This is the second exhibition in the Sachs Guest Curator Program. An initiative designed to bring outside points of view to ICA, the program provides an opportunity for ICA to work closely with artists and curators, who will create a new exhibition every two or three years. The program was inaugurated with artist Christian Marclay's group exhibition Ensemble, which was presented at ICA September 7 through December 16, 2007.

images: Aaron Igler/Greenhouse Media

Related Public Programs

Exhibition Walkthrough (ICA members only)
Whenever Wednesday, September 15, 5PM
With artist and guest curator Virgil Marti, Joseph J. Rishel, Philadelphia Museum of Art Senior Curator of European Painting before 1900, and Ingrid Schaffner, ICA Senior Curator.

Conversation: On Conservation
Whenever Wednesday, November 3, 6:30PM
Ponder the future of contemporary art from the perspective of those who care for and repair it. A panel of fine art conservators will speak about the intriguing problems created over time by untraditional materials and new technologies.

Set Pieces Screenings (International House, 3701 Chestnut Street)
Fathom connections between the imagery and structure of Virgil Marti's installation at ICA and some of his favorite films with introductions by the artist.

Whenever Wednesday, October 27, 6:30PM
L'Avventura (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960, 143 minutes)

Whenever Wednesday, November 17, 6:30PM
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972, 124 minutes)

Whenever Wednesday, January 19, 6:30 PM
Citizen Kane (dir. Orson Welles, 1941, 119 minutes)

Whenever Wednesday, January 26, 6:30 PM
Viridiana (dir. Luis Buñuel, Spain, 1961, 90 mins)
The Phantom of Liberty (dir. Luis Buñuel, 1974, 104 minutes)

Whenever Wednesday, February 2, 6:30 PM
Conversation to follow
Nashville (dir. Robert Altman, 1975, 159 minutes)

ICA gratefully acknowledges support from the Katherine Stein Sachs CW'69 and Keith L. Sachs W'67 Guest Curator Program.

Installation photos: Aaron Igler/Greenhouse Media


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