In a final hurrah at the landmark Moore Building, the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami has organized an ambitious exhibition by German artist Thomas Bayrle. “One Day on Success Street” offers the ultimate farewell as the museum looks toward opening its permanent space in late 2017.
Featuring a survey of nearly 50 years work examining technology and environments, at the heart of this show is Bayrle’s Wire Madonna: a 33-foot monumental sculpture in the museum’s atrium—the largest to date by the artist, and an important centerpiece in its representation of the unknown future and wonderment.
According to ICA Director Ellen Salpeter, “Bringing to the fore one of the most seminal artists of our era, this exhibition is a prime example of the significant programming ICA Miami has produced since its founding and that we will continue to present in our new home. Bayrle’s work offers a revelatory interpretation of contemporary culture, and reflects the museum’s commitment to the exchange of ideas and to providing a platform for the most experimental artists working today.”
Though Bayrle has long been internationally celebrated for his works across mediums including sculpture, video, collage and installation, “One Day on Success Street” organized by Deputy Director and Chief Curator Alex Gartenfeld and Assistant Curator Stephanie Seidel is his first major American museum exhibition. Far too prolific an artist to be fully captured by any single show, here at ICA, the focus is on Bayrle’s exploration of technology and civilization.
“Bayrle is known for his prescient depictions of mega cities and bodies consumed by machines—images that foreshadowed developments in our culture, not to mention the incorporation of digital techniques into the artistic realm,” explains Gartenfeld. Elaborate handmade models of highways, patterned silkscreens, computer-generated prints and images of popular and consumer culture were created as early as the 1970s, but feel eerily current and fitting in the current political and capitalist landscape.
Bayrle (b. 1937) is a Frankfurt-based artist honored with countless solo exhibitions, including at the Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona; Madre Museum, Naples; Wiels, Brussels; Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt; and at Portikus, Frankfurt. Recent major group exhibitions include “The World Goes Pop”, Tate Modern, London, U.K.; “Making Worlds”, La Biennale di Venezia, 53rd International Art Exhibition, Arsenale, Venice, Italy; as well as Documenta 3 (1964), 6 (1977), and 13 (2012). In 2012, he was awarded the Arnold Bode Prize and was also commissioned by Frieze London to create installations for the fair’s public spaces. More recently, Bayrle’s work was included in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s international Pop exhibition, and is included in major collections across the world.
“One Day on Success Street” is on view through March 27, 2017 at ICA Miami (4040 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami Design District). For more information, visit icamiami.org.
