Conceptual artist Renée Green’s four-part installation and exhibition World Tour incorporated sculpture, sound, photography, video, and other media that trace her recent journeys across Germany, Venezuela, and various parts of the US. Each was originally designed for different sites but modified by Green for the MOCA exhibition.
Mise-en-Scène (1992) juxtaposed traditional imagery from French toile with depictions of violence against Haitian slaves to examine the relationship between toile fabric production and France’s slavery-backed colonial empire. Bequest (1990) reconsidered the visual trope of whiteness/blackness as good/evil in the writings of major American authors. Idyll Pursuits (1991) pondered the desire of 19th century Hudson River School painters for “exotic” landscapes; and Import/Export Funk Office (1992) used the figures of Theodor Adorno and Angela Davis to chart the transmission and reception of Black culture from the US to Germany in the 1960s.
The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue.
Focus Series: Renée Green's World Tour was part of the museum’s Focus Series (1992–1998), which was dedicated to presentations of distinct bodies of work by artists working in all media and featured a roster of distinguished local and international artists.