Danh Vo's In Situ Installation at CAPC Bordeaux

The CAPC musée d’art contemporain in Bordeaux presents Danh Vo's in situ installation from May 19 to October 28, 2018, curated by María Inés Rodríguez in her final exhibition at the museum. The Danish artist of Vietnamese origin (born 1975) organizes the work into four 'moments' within the Nef space. A striking 'forest' of Carrara marble blocks, cut in the 1930s using traditional techniques that respect the stone's natural veins, dominates the space. Photographs of hands from Michelangelo's Christ, David, and Moses are attached to the stone surfaces. Metal shelves display branches, 16th-century ornament fragments, and a polychrome chestnut wood Christ in Flemish style from 15th-16th century Portugal. A wooden crate from a brand of American condensed milk the artist drank as a child holds a Roman marble torso of Apollo (1st-2nd century CE). Behind construction palisades, mirrors are arranged, with the artist's father having engraved lyrics from Xiu Xiu's 'Fabulous Muscles' on several mirrors; the Californian band was invited for performances. The work's title references 'Take My Breath Away' from Top Gun, which heroicized the Vietnam War during the Reagan era. Photographs by Dr. Joseph M. Carrier documenting 1960s-70s Vietnam are also inscribed. Vo states he is open to combining interests without seeking a common link, trusting the process of assembly as it composes his life.