John Gerrard
13th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea
1 April – 9 May 2021
The Gwangju Biennale was founded in 1995 in memory of the spirit of civil uprising against the 1980 repression of the Gwangju Democratisation Movement. It is Asia’s oldest biennial of contemporary art. The 13th edition, under the artistic direction of Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala, brought together artists, scientists, and system thinkers to collectively explore the entire spectrum of intelligence—ranging from indigenous and healing practices, non-human cognition, artificial intelligence, augmented realities and algorithmic regimes.
In this context, the Artistic Directors invited Vienna-based artist John Gerrard to participate in the exhibition with a new presentation entitled Corn Work, which was co-produced by Phileas. Using a new form of artificial intelligence, the work was developed with eight contemporary dancers using digital motion capture presented on a large-scale LED screen.
John Gerrard (born 1974 in Dublin, Ireland) lives and works in Dublin and Vienna. Past solo exhibitions include LACMA, Los Angeles; Somerset House, London; Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing; Kunsthalle Darmstadt; Modern Art Oxford and MiMA, Middlesbrough. His work was presented at Manifesta 12 Palermo, at the 11th Shanghai Biennale, the 53rd Venice Biennale and the 3rd Liverpool Biennial, as well as at several group shows at such institutions as Salzburger Kunstverein; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Tate Britain, London; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.
