“Like a needle in a haystack…”

Kunsthal 44 Møen and curator Julia Rodrigues are proud to present Like needle in a haystack, the first solo exhibition by Brasilian artist Cildo Meireles in Scandinavia.

Meireles (b. 1948) is internationally regarded as one of the leading figures in the development of conceptual art. Since the 1960s he has built on a rich and complex corpus of work, which often involve the viewer’s participation through the sensorial experience of the body. His artistic language, which has influenced generations of artists, is articulated between a sense of playfulness and a rigorous political stand.

The exhibition at Kunsthal 44 Møen presents a selection of works that spams from the early 1970s to the present day and explores ideas of space and scale: a huge pile of hay encircled by a golden wire in the work Fio (Thread 1990). At one end of the wire, a single 18-carat gold needle is inserted into the hay, which also inspires the title of the show.

The work La Bruja (The Witch, 1979–81/ 2014) is the central-piece in the exhibition and suggests the idea of ‘material thought’: a household broom leans against the wall, but instead of short bristles the shaft holds 1.000.000 meters of black cotton threads, which will cover the gallery and the rest of the building in a monstrous mess.

Early works in the show include Insertions into ideological circuits (from 1970 -) – a body of work in which the artist used to print statements on glass Coca Cola bottles or stamp them on money and than return them back into circulation, challenging the idea of capital and information circulation through its own means.

Extending his exploration of value Meireles presents Money Tree (1969) explores the paradox of symbolic value versus the real value of things. Consisting of a bundle of 100 one-cruzeiro notes presented like an art work on a plinth, it was offered for sale for twenty times that amount.

A room of the Kunsthal is also dedicated to a selection of Meireles’ sound works Liverbeatlespool (2004), Mebs/Caraxia (1970), Rio Oir (2011) og Sal Sem Carne (1975). By introducing sound as an element, Meireles underlines the interrelation of space and time, questioning the different ways in which these can be figured.

About Cildo
Meireles Between 2013 and 2014 a large retrospective of Cildo Meireles installation works has travelled from Museo Reina Sofia (Madrid, 2013), to Fundação Serralves (Porto 2013) and Hangar Biccoca (Milan, 2014). In Europe, he has previously had a retrospective at Tate Modern (London, 2008) and Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (2009). Other major monographic exhibitions include the Museu de Arte Moderna (Rio de Janeiro); the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg; the New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York); the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (Helsinki); the Institut Valencia d’Art Modern (Valencia); and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London).

Like needle in a haystack is kindly supported by KVADRAT, Vordingborg Kommune, Udviklings- og markedføringspuljen and Statens Kunstråd and produced by Kunsthal 44 Møen in collaboration with South Into North.
Curated by Julia Rodrigues.