The Milliner's daughter: the art practice of Ydessa Hendeles

Abstract

The most comprehensive look to date at the artistic practice of Ydessa Hendeles, legendary art collector and pioneer of curating, abundantly illustrated with pictures of two of her exhibitions. Once a legendary collector of contemporary art, Ydessa Hendeles then became one of the pioneers of curating as an artistic practice. Building upon her concept of an exhibition as a "curatorial composition," she developed a radical approach to art-making. In this book, Ernst van Alphen and Mieke Bal explore Hendeles's art practice through in-depth analyses of her exhibitions, "The Milliner's Daughter" in Toronto (2017) and "Death to Pigs" in Vienna (2018). The authors make a compelling argument that these "retrospective shows" were each multilayered site-responsive artworks, in and of themselves, that presented parallel worlds composed of art objects and artifacts. The most comprehensive look to date at Hendeles's innovative art practice.