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Public Art Fund & Deitch Projects present?
A Live Event on the Flight Deck
of the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum and an
off-site component of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York
April 21, 2000 from 19:30-21:00
NNew York, NY - VB42 Intrepid is the culmination of an unprecedented
collaboration between Vanessa Beecroft and the US Navy. Beecroft and the
US Navy have worked together with the Public Art Fund And Deitch Projects
to bring this extraordinary live event to the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum
in New York City. A major off-site component of the 2000 Biennial Exhibition
at the Whitney Museum, Vanessa Beecroft's VB42 Intrepid features approximately
30 Sailors from the Undersea Warfare Community standing in ceremonial
formation on the flight deck of the Intrepid in service dress blues. The
event will take place in the evening, from 1930 to 2100 (7:30 to 9:00
pm) with New York City's glowing skyline as a dramatic backdrop. The public
will be invited onto the Intrepid's famous flight deck to take in Beecroft's
live portrait of the US Navy.
Vanessa Beecroft, born in Italy and residing in New York City, has earned
an international reputation as one of contemporary art's most innovative
young artists. She is known for her stunning live portrayals of groups
of people. Vanessa Beecroft's VB42 Intrepid is her second project in a
series devoted to capturing a portrait of the US Navy. Following the internationally
acclaimed US Navy SEALs project presented at the Museum of Contemporary
Art, San Diego in June of 1999, Beecroft now brings her work with the
military to New York. VB42 Intrepid honors the US Navy's Undersea Warfare
Community on the occasion of the Submarine Centennial anniversary. The
Navy has selected 35 of the finest Sailors from the Undersea Warfare Community
to be part of Beecroft's event. The live portrait will represent an intersection
of military rules and aesthetics with those of the world of art.
An additional element of this project is a "museum within a museum"
- onboard the Intrepid a reproduction of the UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce,
FL will be displayed. Curated by Vanessa Beecroft and produced by Deitch
Projects, this exhibition will feature film and photographs of objects
from the UDT-SEAL Museum collection that will be projected inside a scaled-down
inflatable reproduction of the UDT-SEAL Museum building. The UDT-SEAL
Museum collection includes a Vanessa Beecroft US Navy SEAL project photograph.
About Vanessa Beecroft
Vanessa Beecroft works in the gap between art and life. The work is neither
performance nor documentary, but something in-between. Her live events
are recorded through photography and film, but her conceptual approach
is actually closer to painting. Beecroft is making contemporary versions
of the complex figurative compositions that have challenged painters from
the Renaissance onwards. She sets up a structure for the participants
in her live events to create their own composition, presenting themselves
according to their own internalized aesthetic system. The Naval personnel
position themselves in their traditional geometric formation, wearing
uniforms that communicate a precise structure of rank and achievement.
The live composition represents an abstract portrait of Naval values as
well as a literal portrait of the Sailors themselves.
The Intrepid project is Vanessa Beecroft's 42nd live event. Her work has
been exhibited at international venues including the Museum of Contemporary
Art, Sydney (1999), Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (1999), Spiral
Wacaol Art Center, Tokyo (1999), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
(1998), Moderna Museet, Stockholm (1998), Venice Biennale (1997), and
the Institute of Contemporary Art, London (1997).
About US NAVY UNDERSEA WARFARE
The US Navy provides the Nation with a continuos, flexible and effective
instrument of security policy with which to promote stability and project
maritime power. The Navy's dominance demands superior war fighting capability
on, above and under the sea. The Navy's Undersea Warfare community provides
this superiority through the integrated operations of submarines, maritime
patrol aircraft and the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System. Modern
US nuclear submarines possess the inherent characteristics of stealth,
endurance, mobility, firepower, and multi-mission flexibility. Maritime
patrol aircraft, in conjunction with the Integrated Undersea Surveillance
System, continually monitor the world's oceans, making long range detection
of submarine and surface ship contacts to provide real-time reporting
of surveillance information to theatre commanders. As the US Navy Submarine
Force celebrates 100 years of service to the Nation in the year 2000,
the men and women of the Undersea Warfare Community stand poised to meet
the challenges of the 21st century.
About the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum
Commissioned in 1943 the ESSEX Class Aircraft Carrier USS INTREPID (CV-11)
was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name meaning "resolutely
courageous, fearless and bold." Referred to as the "most hit
flattop" in the US Navy due to kamikaze attacks during some of the
most historically significant naval and air battles of the Pacific during
WWII the USS INTREPID earned the meaning of the name it was christened.
Other duties of the USS INTREPID included, but are not limited to: Post
War Japanese Occupation; Sixth Fleet Mediterranean Operations; Recovery
Ship for NASA's Mercury and Gemini Programs and the Vietnam War. Decommissioned
in 1974 after 31 years of service to our nation, the 900 foot-long former
aircraft carrier USS INTREPID (CV-11) is the historic centerpiece of Intrepid
Sea Air Space Museum.
The museum's permanent collection of ships and aircraft includes the
former Vietnam-era destroyer USS EDSON (DD-946) dubbed the "great
gray ghost of the Vietnam coast" for being the "top gun"
providing more naval gunfire support than any other US Navy ship during
the Vietnam War, and USS GROWLER (SSG-577), the only guided submarine
in the world which is open to the public.
Over 600,000 visitors annually are exposed to the museum's message of
honoring our nation's heroes, inspiring our youth about the price of freedom
and educating the public about the role of today's military. The recent
recipient of City, State and Federal funding, the Intrepid Museum is in
the process of resurfacing her 57 year-old flight deck, developing a state-of-the-art
theater experience and constructing a 17,000 square-foot, two-story Visitor's
Center which will house its admissions area, museum store and restaurant.
About UDT-SEAL Museum Association, Inc.
The UDT-SEAL MUSEUM Association, Inc. operates a unique non-profit museum
in Fort Pierce, Florida dedicated to preserving the weapons, equipment,
artifacts and memorabilia of a valiant group of one of America's most
extraordinary fighting men: US Navy Frogmen - US Navy SEALS. Located on
the beaches where World War II Naval Combat Demolition Units and Scouts
& Raiders trained, the collection also preserves the heritage of Underwater
Demolition Teams and the elite modern SEA-AIR-LAND TEAMS.
About the Whitney Biennial
The Biennial, the signature exhibition of the Whitney Museum of American
Art, is an invitational show of the most significant art being produced
in America at the moment. The 2000 Biennial, on view from March 23 to
June 4, exhibits the work of 97 artists, and for the first time includes
Internet art along with painting, sculpture, installation art, photography,
and cinematic selections. The Biennial also features extensive public
programming, an audio tour, an expanded web site, and a major publication.
The Whitney Museum of American Art is the leading advocate of 20th-century
and contemporary American art.
About Deitch Projects
Deitch Projects specializes in producing ambitious projects by contemporary
artists. The gallery is global in its outlook. Since its opening in January,
1996 with a live event by Vanessa Beecroft, the gallery has presented
projects by artists from more than 20 countries.
About Public Art Fund
The Public Art Fund is New York's leading presenter of artists' projects,
new commissions, installations, and exhibitions in public spaces. With
twenty-five years of experience and an international reputation, the Public
Art Fund identifies, coordinates, and realizes a diversity of major projects
by both established and emerging artists throughout New York City. By
bringing artworks outside the traditional context of museums and galleries,
the Public Art Fund provides a unique platform for an unparalleled public
encounter with the art of our time.
The Public Art Fund is a non-profit arts organization supported by generous
gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations, and with public
funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council
on the Arts, a State Agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural
Affairs.
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Contact:
Public Art Fund
tel: (212) 980-4575
e-mail: press@publicartfund.org
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