Sophie Calle @ Art Institute of Chicago

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Sophie Calle @ Art Institute of Chicago

September 2nd, 2022 by fstop

Sophie Calle: Because—The Blind
August 27th – January 23rd, 2023

Curator’s Talk: September 22nd | 6 – 7 PM

“In 1986, French artist Sophie Calle introduced herself to people attending an institute for the blind in Paris and asked if she might speak with them on the subject of beauty. Calle photographed each person she interviewed and also assembled photographs of one to three scenes or things they named as beautiful. The conversations took a deeply personal nature, as Calle made clear in excerpts she typed up and framed alongside the photographs. The final work, comprising 23 conversations and more than 80 images, debuted at a Los Angeles gallery in 1989.

In 2020, the Art Institute acquired the only complete version of The Blind in English—the one first shown more than 30 years earlier in Los Angeles. Alongside this classic early work, this presentation includes examples from Calle’s recent series, Because, in which she details her personal reasons for making certain photographs over the years; these reasons are embroidered on wool cloths that visitors must lift to see the pictures in question. Because and The Blind show in complementary ways the coyly provocative spirit that animates Sophie Calle’s investigations, and which she continues to put forth in new ways four decades into her career.”

Art Institute of Chicago
111 S Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL

Location: Chicago, Illinois Type: Exhibition

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