Joan Jonas’s exhibition Moving Off the Land II reopens from June 6 to September 13

TBA21 is delighted to announce the reopening of Joan Jonas’s exhibition Moving Off the Land II at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, with dates extended until September 13. Be prepared for a deep dive into aquatic poetry – a world of watery mythology in the heart of the city. Free entry this weekend; pre-book your entrance online.

Curated by Stefanie Hessler, Moving Off the Land II is the result of three years of oceanic and underwater research with the TBA21–Academy. It features video performances, sound compositions, drawings and installations, including works produced by Jonas during her residency with the Alligator Head Foundation in Portland, Jamaica. 

As we shift from one phase of the COVID-19 pandemic to another we all find ourselves in a strange world filled with unique challenges. At TBA21 we believe that art is an essential companion in unfamiliar and difficult times. More than ever before we see the importance of supporting artists. We also recognize the necessity for art organizations to work together to nourish both our natural and cultural ecosystems.

TBA21 Chair Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza writes: “I am so happy that the National Museums of Spain are reopening because it’s a clear opportunity for people to see these treasures without all the tourists and really explore what is in their national collections. I am so grateful to the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza for extending the exhibition of Moving Off the Land II by Joan Jonas, one of my most beloved projects ever to emerge from the TBA21–Academy, because it explores the ocean, in all its depth, it looks at its legends, at mystical creatures like mermaids, and the extraordinary relationship that we have with so many organisms that inhabit it. The exhibition had attracted so much attention when it opened, and sadly was closed just three weeks later. I am well aware that many of you may want to take this opportunity to go and visit the show now. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!”

Elsewhere, several works loaned from the TBA21 Collection are once again on show as museums and exhibitions cautiously reopen their doors.

Olafur Eliasson: In real life is open at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and features Your uncertain shadow (colour) (2010), an ever-changing live experiment in color theory told through bodies in motion and overlapping colored silhouettes.

The Lebanese-American artist Walid Raad’s retrospective Let’s be honest, the weather helped (on view at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, last year) will reopen at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, from 16 June. The exhibition includes Better Be Watching the Clouds (1992-2017), a series based on a photographic guide to flora of the Middle East in which heads of political leaders take the place of flowers.  

The Center for Contemporary Arts Prague is once again open and presents Overview Fact, curated by Václav Janoščík. Part detective story, part game, this group exhibition includes John Bock’s disorientating video installation Skipholt (2005) which documents an enigmatic quest across Iceland. 

Later in the month, on 25 June, Copenhagen Contemporary will inaugurate In Focus: Statements, an exhibition which explores language as a communicative tool and sculptural medium with works including Jenny Holzer’s ARNO (1996), a pair of inscribed white marble benches.

Our team at TBA21 – and our colleagues in Bilbao, Stockholm, Prague, and Copenhagen – looks forward to welcoming you back!