exhibition | dusseldorf, de

The group exhibition Digital Diaries with Rindon Johnson looks at how artists have experimented with diaristic forms in video and digital art from the 1970s to today. Inspired by the iconic work The Electronic Diaries of Lynn Hershman Leeson 1984–2019 (1984–2019), which is simultaneously on view, Digital Diaries gathers videos, photographs, video sculptures and mixed-media works that record artists’ intimate experiences. Placing works from the collection in dialogue with loaned pieces, the exhibition combines early videos by Sophie Calle and Hannah Wilke with contemporary works by Rindon Johnson, Alex Ayed, Sophie Gogl, Hannah Perry, and Tromarama, among others.  

 

Intertwining images and personal writing, these artists use storytelling and digital technologies to craft images of themselves and reveal their private lives. From self-portraiture and home videos to phone messages and chatroom conversations, the works move from the intimacy of daily life, as in a photograph by Wolfgang Tillmans and a video by Ken Okiishi, to a wider sociopolitical view, like in Rindon Johnson’s video. Drawing on the evolution of film, video, and photography, as well as on our communication tools, the artists reflect on the impact technologies have had on the construction and performance of gender and identity. 

 

8 July 2024