Episode No. 708 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features artist Paul Pfeiffer.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is showing the retrospective “Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom.” For over 25 years, Pfeiffer has investigated spectacle and mass culture, especially sport, and has found within it the power to create and extend political narratives. Included within the exhibition is only the second US presentation of Pfeiffer’s landmark 2007 The Saints, an immersive sound and video installation that considers the 1966 men’s World Cup final between England and West Germany that is one of the most significant works of the 21st century.
“Pfeiffer” was curated by Clara Kim and Paula Kroll. The MCA presentation, which is on view through August 31, was organized by Bana Kattan with Iris Colburn. The exhibition catalogue was published by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and MACK. Amazon offers it for $65.
For Pfeiffer’s Vitruvian Figure (2008), please see images at:
Instagram: Paul Pfeiffer, Tyler Green.
Air date: May 29, 2025.
Paul Pfeiffer, Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (09), 2004.
Paul Pfeiffer, Fragment of a Crucifixion (After Francis Bacon) (video still), 1999.
Francis Bacon, Study after Velazquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1953.
Paul Pfeiffer, The Pure Products Go Crazy (video still), 1998.
Julie Mehretu, Stadia I, 2004. Collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Julie Mehretu, Stadia II, 2004. Collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh.
Julie Mehretu, Stadia III, 2004. Collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.
Paul Pfeiffer, Caryatid Pacquiao), 2022.
Paul Pfeiffer, Caryatid, 2003.
Paul Pfeiffer, Morning After the Deluge, 2003.
Paul Pfeiffer, Sunset Flash, 2004.
The Modern Art Notes Podcast 