Janet Cardiff

Musée d'Art Contemporain de Lyon
Cité Internationale 81 quai Charles de Gaulle
July 19, 2013–September 8, 2002

MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Avenue at 46th Avenue
October 14–January 31, 2001

Canadian artist Janet Cardiff is best known for her works in which participants don headphones for what are essentially self-guided tours (cued by the sounds and voices on the CD visitors listen to) of the specific places, often outdoors, for which the works were made. In them, present and past, reality and fiction, mingle, overlap, and sometimes conflict. For her first survey exhibition, the artist and P.S. 1 senior curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev present such pieces away from their original settings. But Cardiff also has more conventional indoor installations to show and a new site-specific work for the occasion.

— Barry Schwabsky

Shirin Neshat

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
5216 Montrose Boulevard
September 6–November 2, 2003

Miami Art Museum
101 West Flagler Street
March 21–June 1, 2003

Walker Art Center
725 Vineland Place
June 15–September 8, 2002

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Place Ville Marie - Niveau Galerie commerciale
September 29, 2001–January 13, 2002

Given her high-profile gallery career and participation in omnibus vehicles like the 2000 Whitney Biennial, it’s surprising that Shirin Neshat had, until now, yet to receive a major museum solo. All that has changed as six film installations and sixteen related photographs investigating the intensities of women’s lives in strict Islamic cultures are on view in Montreal. A catalogue with essays by curator Paulette Gagnon, critic Shoja Azari, and filmmaker Atom Egoyan is available.

— Frances Richard