Shown for the first time in the U.S., Gaillard's
monumental work Artefacts (2011) imparts a reflection on the myth of Babylon takes form through a montage of scenes from post-conflict Iraq interwoven with images of the ancient civilization's antiquities, none more famous perhaps than the Ishtar Gate, reconstructed in an austere gallery of the Pergamon Museum in Berlin in the 1930s.
The exhibition is an intriguing combination of specially commissioned
work by artists such as Marina Abramović and Anish Kapoor, and existing
works by others, including Agnes Martin and Sol LeWitt — and also features Egyptian
artefacts and a
monumental sculpture by Canova.