Rirkrit Tiravanija

Born in 1961 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Rirkit Tiravanija is widely recognized as one of the most influential artists of his generation. His practice defies media-based description combining traditional object making, public and private performances, teaching and other forms of public service and social action.

Tiravanija's mesmerising new work "untitled (a study for Karl's perfect day) or ( the incomparable Karl Holmqvist)" follows the same line as the John Giorno, Chewing the Fat (2010), Pilar 06.10.10 (2010) and Lung Neaw (2010); films that Rirkrit has made over the last 3 years.

These captivating 'portraits' are some of Rirkrit's most interesting and challenging work of the past years. The film works are complex investigations of the people who inhabit Tiravanija's everyday life: artists, gallerists and Thai labourers. His film portraits are a reflection of different sides of his identity.

This film is presented as a 2 screen immersive installation that is an hour long. Although each film is independent, some parts of each film match scenes; however they are shot from different points of view.

Both films contain 4 distinct scenes. Scene 1 in both begins with Karl shaving and then cuts to him dressing, and then writing upon the wall. Here we are only presented with ambient noise and silence.

The film begins to split in direction with Karl reciting a poem about Elizabeth Taylor on one screen whilst the second screen shows a part of his studio, then him, in a café, flicking through magazines. The scene ends with Karl reciting a short poem from a book. We are smothered in the ambient sound of his environment. The aural experience moves between shots and screens as the films drift in and out of synchronicity. Interspersed we have ideas and thoughts of Karl Holmqvist presented as texts suggesting the content of 'as-of-that-time' unmade film, thus playing with the ideas of fact and fiction, truth and desire.

Tiravanija studied at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto, the Banff Center School of Fine Arts, Canada, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Whitney Independent Study Program, New York. He has exhibited at museums and galleries worldwide. Major solo retrospectives include Museum of Modern Art, New York (1997); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1999); Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo (2002); Chiang Mai University Art Museum (2004); Museum Bojmans Van Beuningen (2004); Museé de la Ville de Paris (2005), and Kunsthalle Bielefeld (2010):

Tiravnija's work has been recognised with numerous prestigious awards including the Benesse by the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum in Japan and the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Lucelia Artist Award, the Hugo Boss Prize from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the 2010 Absolut Art Award. The film Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbours (2011) was shown at the Orizzonti section of the 68th Venice International Film Festival. "On Air," Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, "Soup/No Soup," La Triennale, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Tiravanija will participate in the 9th Gwangju Biennale (2012)

Tiravanija is a professor on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts at Columbia University, and is a founding member and curator of Utopia Station, a collective project of artists, art historians, and curators. Tiravanija is also President of an educational-ecological project known as The Land Foundation, located in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and is part of a collective alternative space called VER located in Bangkok where he maintains his primary residence and studio.