Sophie Calle Will Open Her Next Exhibition in the Chapel of an Upper East Side Church

As a tribute to her late mother, Sophie Calle has created an installation which includes footage of her on her deathbed.

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For an exhibition that deals with the death of her mother in 2006, artist Sophie Calle has chosen the chapel of a church on New York's Upper East Side as her gallery space. Entitled "Rachel, Monique," Calle's exhibition opens on May 9 at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest on Eash 90th Street with an opening reception organized by Paula Cooper Gallery and Galerie Perrotin.

According to the New York Times, Calle's exhibition will feature a "life-size video projection" of her mother, Monique Sindler, on her deathbed. Calle says that she set up the camera to record her mother's last moments because she didn't want to miss them. "I was afraid I wouldn’t be there if she had a last thing to tell me...The camera made me feel restful because I could sleep in the other room or go out and buy food. When I wasn’t there, I was still there." The exhibition will also feature a recording of Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall reading from Sindler's diary, something that Cattrall had watched Calle do as a 30-hour marathon performance in France.

The church arranged for the exhibition to open around the time of Frieze New York Art Fair and plan to leave portions of it installed during Sunday services. The person responsible for initiating the exhibition, Rev. Elizabeth Garnsey, said that "for us, death is what we deal with daily...People always come to us for the end of life. So while it might be disconcerting to see this work in an Episcopal church, we think life is about change. And Sophie’s show is full of joy.”

[via PageSix]

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