Curated by Mia Locks, “Miranda July: New Society” spans three decades, from the early 1990s until today, including short film, performance, and installation works by American artist, filmmaker and writer Miranda July. The exhibition debuts a new work called F.A.M.I.L.Y. (Falling Apart Meanwhile I Love You), a multi-channel video installation featuring July’s yearlong collaboration with seven other performers via Instagram. The exhibition uses F.A.M.I.L.Y. as a jumping off point to consider related ideas from July’s other performative and collaborative works.
“July’s work examines a range of human relationships and forms of intimacy,” says Locks. “Her questioning of established hierarchies and normative power dynamics is a distinctly feminist position that spans across the various media she has used in her career.” The exhibition, accompanied by the screening of July’s entire filmography at Cinema Godard in Fondazione Prada, offers a unique opportunity to experience the artist’s wide-ranging oeuvre.
“I’m so honored and excited to not only share my newest work at the Fondazione Prada, but that it will be contextualized by past work from the last three decades,” remarks July. “That the museum is exhibiting my artworks at the Osservatorio and my films at Cinema Godard demonstrates a rare and special commitment to multiplicity.”
The first level of Osservatorio presents documentation from July’s earliest performances in punk clubs to major performance pieces, such as Love Diamond (1998–2000), The Swan Tool (2000–03), Things We Don’t Understand and Definitely Are Not Going to Talk About (2006–07), and New Society (2015), alongside related props, costumes and archival documents.
The second level presents F.A.M.I.L.Y., as well as two other collaborative projects—I’m the President, Baby (2018) and Services (2020). There will also be a reprisal of Learning to Love You More (2000–07), a web-based project made in collaboration with Harrell Fletcher that included 70 assignments completed by the public and uploaded to the site. Assignment #43 (“Make an exhibition of the art in your parents’ home”) appears as part of the exhibition, completed by a local Milanese woman specifically for the exhibition.
The exhibition is complemented by the first screening of July’s entire filmography in Italy, which will take place at Cinema Godard in march. On Saturday, March 9, July meets the public at a masterclass at Cinema Godard moderated by Paolo Moretti. The program includes three feature films, Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), The Future (2011) and Kajillionaire (2020), together with a selection of short films and unreleased works on big screen. From May to August 2024, the practice of Miranda July will also be the focus of an exhibition at Prada Aoyama in Tokyo.
at Osservatorio Fondazione Prada, Milan
until October 14, 2024