Jimmie Durham
Jimmie Durham Research Project
In the spring of 2012, the M HKA launched a major retrospective of the work of Jimmie Durham (born 1940). The US-born artist settled permanently in Europe in 1994, after a turbulent period in which he alternated his artistic activities with an activist’s existence in the American Indian Movement. His work is profound and accessible, political and personal, both ‘of the moment’ and beyond the prevailing trends. He asks awkward questions about life and exerts a great influence on several generations of artists, curators, theorists and art lovers worldwide.
Thanks to years of commitment, the M HKA has gained an important overview of his work and highlighted primarily his role as an activist, essayist, poet, performance artist and sculptor in the book and exhibition Jimmie Durham. Een kwestie van leven en dood en zingen as well as on the web platform collections.org. 2013 saw the publication of the book Jimmie Durham ‘Waiting to be Interrupted’ – Selected Writings 1993-2012, edited by M HKA curator Anders Kreuger and Jean Fisher.
The thorough investigation of Jimmie Durham’s aesthetic and political commitment, his inventive opposition to the state’s architecture and other symbols has been documented in great detail and will further result in a comprehensive Jimmie Durham Research Centre.
The M HKA wants to continue to document the work by making it accessible in a catalogue raisonnée with special attention for lost or destroyed works, intangible testimonies and material used as a starting point for future projects at home and abroad. Based on a true, unsystematic and specific approach akin to the artist’s working method, he will be presented as a north-western Eurasian artist. For this, a collaboration with the Jimmie Durham Studio in Berlin and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles will play a crucial role. Both the Jimmie Durham Studio and the Hammer Museum will join forces to further develop the web platform and future website. Moreover, the platform forms the backbone for the next exhibition in Los Angeles.
Click here to browse a substantial part of the Jimmie Durham collection.
