Reflecting upon the Museum as Hub as a space for experimentation and inquiry rather than a space of classic exhibition, this project stages an unusual dialogue between works by Marcel Broodthaers (b. 1924, Brussels, d. 1976, Cologne) and Liliana Porter (b. Buenos Aries, 1941) to highlight several points of common interest, or philosophical accords, that explore the politics of knowledge, pedagogy, and display. The title “The Incongruous Image” explores how Broodthaers and Porter each combine visual elements in ways that do not easily fit together. Both artists construct enigmatic and contradictory images, which often function as riddles or jokes, through directly challenging the viewer to discern, or even produce, their meanings. Both bodies of work engage found and mass-produced images or objects, structuring them in ways that involve juxtaposition, sequencing, and repetitions. Both artists draw us into their artworks through clever manipulations of our expectations; through their use of surprise, clichés, and humor, they implicate us within their investigations. As the second part of “The Accords” project, “The Incongruous Image” is part response, part elaboration, and part critique of the first exhibition “An accord is first and foremost only a proposition,” organized by Hub partner Sarah Rifky of the Townhouse Gallery, Cairo.

“The Incongruous Image” is organized by guest curators Annie Fletcher, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, and Tobias Ostrander, Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City.

About the Museum as Hub

The Museum as Hub is a partnership of six international arts organizations that supports art activities and experimentation; explores artistic, curatorial, and institutional practice; and serves as an important resource for the public to learn about contemporary art from around the world. Initiated by the New Museum in 2006, this partnership includes art space pool, Seoul, South Korea; Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City, Mexico; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico; Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt; and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Museum as Hub at the New Museum is organized by Eungie Joo, Keith Haring Director and Curator of Educations and Public Programs.