Centre d'art contemporain

Taryn Simon

21 Apr - 24 Jul 2011

© Taryn Simon
Bird corpse, labeled as home décor, Indonesia to Miami, Florida (prohibited)
Courtesy Gagosian Gallery
TARYN SIMON
21 April - 24 July, 2011

The Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève is proud and happy to present the first solo show in Switzerland of the American artist Taryn Simon – one of the major figure of contemporary photography and winner of the 2010 Prix Découverte des Rencontres d’Arles – introducing her most recent work, CONTRABAND (2010), an analysis of JFK airport New York, one of the world's major transport hubs, and its passengers.

CONTRABAND is the result of an arduous and physically demanding sojourn at the airport requiring the artist and her team to adjust to its relentless 24hr rhythm. This series shows illegal, prohibited, pirated and/or counterfeited items detained or seized from passengers and express mail entering the United States from abroad - ranging from pharmaceuticals or drugs to Cuban cigars or animal body parts.

With this representative sampling frame of international trading, Taryn Simon exposes the mechanisms – needs and desires – of the globalized society in the early 21st century.
 

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