Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami

Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock & Roll since 1967
From May 31st through Sep 8th, 2008

Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock & Roll since 1967, on view at MOCA North Miami, is a traveling exhibition organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and curated by Dominic Molon. The group exhibition has been regarded as “the most serious and comprehensive look at the intimate and inspired relationship between the visual arts and rock & roll culture to date, charting their intersection through works of art, album covers, music videos, and other materials.” Comprising approximately one hundred works, the exhibition addresses the importance of specific cities such as London, New York, Los Angeles, and Cologne; rock & roll’s style, celebrity, and identity politics in art; the experience, energy, and sense of devotion rock music inspires; and the dual role that many individuals play in both the sonic and visual realms.

Since the late 1950s, rock & roll has undeniably impacted society while also drastically changing with the times. Artists from the 1960s to the present have maintained a strong connection to rock, beginning with Andy Warhol’s involvement with The Velvet Underground (which released its Warhol-produced landmark album The Velvet Underground & Nico in 1967). Many noted rock musicians including Bryan Ferry, John Lennon, and Peter Townshend attended art schools, and more recently, artists such as Slater Bradley, Mike Kelley, and Raymond Pettibon have created album covers and music videos that transcend both art and music genres.

Among the highlights of the exhibition are Dan Graham’s 55-minute video titled Rock My Religion from 1982-84; album covers and fliers drawn by Raymond Pettibon for his brother Greg Ginn’s band Black Flag; the 2006 Jutta Koether’s multimedia installation Music; Aida Ruilova’s 58-second video from 2002 based on the final scene in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1970 film, Sympathy for the Devil; and Tony Oursler’s Sound Digressions in Seven Colors, a 2006 video-sound installation of musicians individually improvising on their instruments. There are also more contemporary works such as the ones by the Mexican Daniel Guzmán, the Japanese Yoshitomo Nara and the Brazilian collective Assume Vivid Astro Focus, literally just to mention a few.

Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami
770 NE 125th Street
Miami, FL 33161
305.893.6211
www.mocanomi.org