The Puppet Show

September 6 – November 23, 2008

Organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, The Puppet Show brings together contemporary artworks in many different media that explore the imagery of puppets. Some of the works are actual puppets (marionettes, shadow puppets, hand puppets), others evoke topics associated with puppetry (manipulation, miniaturization, control), yet others introduce new variations on a form of theater that is historically and globally ubiquitous.

Puppets often appear as images and metaphors within contemporary art. Dan Graham, Pierre Huyghe, Christian Jankowski, and Kara Walker have all created recent works in the form of actual puppet shows. Anne Chu's and Annette Messager's figurative sculpture display puppet anatomy. For some, the image of the puppet embodies a threshold of childhood, one that adults cross with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. For others, the puppet serves as a performative object, a surrogate capable of indirectly acting out emotions, episodes, or thoughts. As a form of popular theater, invested with high artistic values and ambition, puppetry continues to thrive, especially in parts of Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. In contemporary Western culture, where animation is an increasingly prevalent form of representation in art and entertainment, the puppet now renews its capacity as a psychological abstraction, social commentator and entertaining performer. Additional artists under consideration for the exhibition include: Nicole and Leesa Abahuni, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Balkenhol, Nayland Blake, Christian Boltanski, Louise Bourgeois, Maurizio Cattelan, Heri Dono, Susan Hiller, Mike Kelley, Matt Mullican, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Dennis Oppenheim, Tony Oursler, Huang Yong Ping, Thomas Schutte, Laurie Simmons, Michael Smith, Kiki Smith, Georgina Starr, Jeff Wall and Andy Warhol.