The Storyteller focuses on artists who use the story form as a means of comprehending and conveying political and social events in contemporary art. Significantly, unlike their postmodern predecessors, the artists in The Storyteller neither take the idea of documentary truth as an object of their critique nor do they abandon fact for fabulation. Rather, they enable individuals (whether themselves, their subjects or their audience) to construct the story through the lens of their unique participation, thereby presenting these events in a new and unexpected light.
Responding to the rapid, often violent transformations of the twenty-first century, contemporary artists have displayed a growing desire to activate art’s documentary capacity, its ability to bear witness to events in the world. As Gilman and Sundell write, "All of the works in The Storyteller revolve around situations that are either in the process of unfolding or that continue to impact the lives of the artists or protagonists. However, in each case, these events are re-imagined and thereby re-experienced through the artist’s personal encounter or the character’s narration."
Essays by: Claire Gilman and Margaret Sundell, T.J. Demos, and Okwui Enwezor
Featured artists: Jeremy Deller and Mike Figgis, Omer Fast, Mounir Fatmi, Cao Fei, Ryan Gander, Lamia Joreige, Joachim Koester, Emanuel Licha, Missing Books, Steve Mumford, Adrian Paci, Liisa Roberts, Hito Steyerl
Gilman, Claire and Sundell, Margaret. The Storyteller, Independent Curators International (ICI), New York, and JRP Ringier Kunstverlag AG, 2010. 120 pages, 35 color images. 6.5 x 4.5 in., softcover. ISBN 978-3-03764-086-9.
