On view October 13, 2018 – August 2, 2019

Opening reception October 12, 2018

“Death is a mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected.”
― Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

Like Prometheus, who shaped men out of mud, and Athena, who breathed life into these figures, do sculptures created in our image suggest a will to exist? Are they a form of self-preservation, a reflection of their creator’s environment, or a grasp at immortality? Death Is Irrelevant examines these questions through the presentation of figurative sculpture from the Marc and Livia Straus Collection. Featuring works created over a forty-year period (1975–2018) from seventeen different countries, it is a contemporary examination of our timeless inclination to recreate ourselves, explore fragility and mortality, and consider what it means to be alive.

Death Is Irrelevant is an exhibition showcasing selected figurative sculptures of international artists from the Marc and Livia Straus Collection, 1975–2018, co-curated by Ken Tan, Tim Hawkinson, Marc Straus Gallery, in collaboration with the Marc and Livia Straus Family on view at the Hudson Valley MOCA in Peekskill, NY.

Among exhibited sculptures there is a featured piece by a renown Polish artist, Paweł Althamer, The Power of Now (2016), alongside Folkert de Jong (Netherlands), Damien Hirst (UK), Patricia Piccinini (Australia), or Nicole Eisenman (USA). The exhibit is a contemporary contemplation of existential themes reflected in the selected figurative sculptures from the collection, focusing on notions of decay, mortality, and the timeless inclinations to preserve life.

Featured Artists

Pawel Althamer (Poland), Huma Bhabha (Pakistan), Berlinde DeBruyckere (Belgium), Folkert de Jong (Netherlands), Keith Edmier (USA), Nicole Eisenman (USA), Red Grooms (USA), Damien Hirst (UK), Sam Jinks (Australia), Matt Johnson (USA), Chris Jones (UK), Mark Manders (Netherlands), Tony Matelli (USA), Maria Nepomuceno (Brazil), Evan Penny (Canada), Patricia Piccinini (Australia), Rona Pondick (USA), Adrián Villar Rojas (Argentina), Italo Scanga (Italy), Claudette Schreuders (South Africa), Abdi Setiawan (Indonesia), Kiki Smith, (USA), Rebecca Warren (UK), Paloma Varga Weisz (Germany), Olav Westphalen (Germany), and Entang Wiharso (Indonesia).

Hudson Valley MOCA, 1701 Main Street, Peekskill, NY. On view from October 13, 2018 to August 2, 2019.

Organized in collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and supported by Arts Westchester and Westchester County Government