NASTYNASTY© e Arts & Sciences Projects: Public Collection

The exhibition

Public Collection is the latest work by NASTYNASTY©, produced in collaboration with Arts & Sciences Projects and presented as a publication in September 2015 as part of the New York Art Book Fair at MoMA/PS1.

Public Collection is a set of 38 stills taken from Hollywood movies and other films from around the world in which an artwork is featured. Works both ancient and contemporary, from classical sculpture to Keith Haring, via Piero della Francesca, Delacroix, Goya and many more besides, thus appear in the backgrounds of equally famous films alongside stars of the silver screen, in a complex interplay of overlapping, cross references and combinations. While numerous contemporary artists have reflected on the relationship between artworks and their audiences, from Thomas Struth to Francesco Jodice, in this work the art is to be found inside the scene, carrying out the same role as an actor in the development of the narrative.

Public Collection is the result of a practice of appropriation (it’s a collection of collections) and sets off a recognition process in the onlooker. What work is to be found in the frame? Who does it belong to? Who is it by? The result is a further stratification of the reading and interpretation of the original, which while featured once already on the movie screen, is thus further recontextualised. What’s more, the most radical consequence is its questioning of the dogma of the exclusivity of art. The guiding principle here is that of diffusion. Public Collection celebrates cinema’s democratising role, furthering the spread of imagery otherwise considered highbrow and elitist. Potential interpretations abound. The audience becomes broader and more diverse. Art thereby goes public.