FIRST MAJOR EXHIBITION ABOUT ART AND CONSPIRACY TO OPEN AT THE MET BREUER THIS FALL

“Everything Is Connected: Art and Conspiracy”
September 18^th, 2018 – January 6^th, 2019
The Met Breuer, New York City

The Met Breuer will open, “Everything is Connected: Art and Conspiracy,” the first major museum exhibition about art and conspiracy on September 18^th. The collection of 70 multimedia works introduces an alternative narrative for the history of the past 50 years. Made between 1969 and 2016, the works in the style of Pop, Conceptualism and Appropriation Art attempted to unveil hidden aspects of Western culture during their times. According to curator Douglas Eklund, “I would like to bring back the idea of art as a way of jolting people to get rid of their preconceived notions and to hopefully question more.”

*“Martian Portraits” by Jim Shaw. Courtesy of The Met.*

The exhibit will include two types of conspiracy art. The first, consists of artists who enjoy fact-finding through their art. Mark Lombardi’s complicated web of lies between politicians, businessmen and arms dealers will be featured alongside Trevor Paglen’s photographs of black sites, where the government is alleged to have secretly taken prisoners. Also included in this section is Hans Haacke’s investigation of New York’s real estate records from the 1970s. The second style of art consists of dark, dream-like works that tried to reveal hidden information through fantasy aspects. This section will feature Jim Shaw’s UFOs and Martian portraits as well as other works by Tony Oursler and Sue Williams.

*“1906” by Jeremy Blake. Courtesy of The Met.*

The exhibition will be presented simultaneously with, “Jane and Louise Wilson: Stasi City,” on view in the Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography at The Met Fifth Avenue from September 18, 2018 through March 31, 2019. This important video is a tour of the East German secret police’s (Staatssicherheit) former headquarters.

“Everything is Connected: Art and Conspiracy” is curated by Doug Eklund, Curator in the Department of Photographs, and Ian Alteveer, Aaron I. Fleischman Curator, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, with assistance from Meredith Brown, Research Associate in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Beth Saunders, Assistant Curator in the Department of Photographs, all at The Met.