This thought-provoking three-part exhibition at the Frans Hals Museum delves into the world of Institutional Critique, considering the artistic movement from a contemporary perspective.

Institutional Critique is an art movement which emerged at the end of the nineteen-sixties, and had a second wave in the early nineteen-nineties. The artists involved used their practice to criticise the forces and powers in the art world itself.

Works by Sarah Lucas, Tracey Emin and Andrea Fraser from the Frans Hals Museum’s collection form the starting point for this exploration. Like the practice of these artists, The Art of Critique presents forms of critique that maintain an involved attitude to that which they critique and are attuned to the complexity of the world today. Looking at the present state of affairs, it asks: what does the art world look like now that the dividing line between art and commerce is becoming increasingly blurred? And what role does our present online image culture play in criticising it?

The first exhibition ‘Image Power’ looks at image culture and how (social) media is changing the perception of art and the notion of critique. In a world saturated with visual information, do we look at art differently and does this have an effect on how critique is articulated?

The second part focuses on representation: who features in our museum collections, and who doesn’t? What kinds of visitors do we address in our museum galleries and who do we ignore? And how does this connect to the world beyond the museum walls?

In the third exhibition, we finally zoom out and bring together artworks that examine ‘the system’ in which art lives and artists depend on today.

Part 1, Image Power, on view until 20 September 2020.
Part 2 and 3 will be announced soon.

Side program
The Frans Hals Museum organizes a side program together with the Studium Generale Rietveld Academy and the Goethe-Institut. This consists of lectures, performances and events. In 2020 the program will take place online. More information can be found on the website that was specially made for the project: theartofcritique.rietveldacademie.nl.