The Things we Keep: Selections from Olivier Mosset’s Archive
July 9 – September 19, 2021
East Galleries
The Things we Keep is an exhibition that presents selections from the archive of Swiss-born Tucson-based artist Olivier Mosset. The range of materials on view–artworks, books, ephemera–invites us to consider what we collect and surround ourselves with, asking how the things we keep have unique value based on personal, emotional, and memory-driven significance.
Over the course of a decades-long career, Mosset has been involved in and impacted numerous artistic communities across the globe. This is reflected in the presented materials, which mark Mosset’s trajectory as an artist active in Paris in the 1960s and 1970s, New York in the 1980s and 1990s, and Tucson in the late 1990s until today. Together, the items gathered demonstrate the artist’s embrace of a plurality of genres and his role as a generous champion of artists across place and generation.
The Things we Keep is organized into two distinct environments. In the North Galleries, artworks are displayed alongside books, brochures, invitations, and posters while an audio piece plays throughout the space, indicating how these objects might exist together in one’s home. Seating areas are available for resting, listening, and perusing reading materials. The South Gallery offers a spare but equally rich sensorial experience. A selection of monochrome paintings and prints are paired with the sounds of an experimental record belonging to Mosset, highlighting the range of approaches artists take to single-color artworks and encouraging immersion activated by sight and sound.
The Things we Keep is organized by Assistant Curator Alexis Wilkinson.