Thinking on camera: James Nares in conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist

Thinking on camera: James Nares in conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist was hosted on the occasion of James Nares: All I Know at Frieze No. 9 Cork Street, London. Spanning works from the 1970s to the present, the exhibition marks the first UK solo survey of the London born, New York-based conceptual artist and underscores Nares’ experimentation with the corporeal form. This exhibition will be Nares’ inaugural return to the UK after nearly 50 years of living and working in New York City.
Hans Ulrich Obrist (b. 1968, Zurich, Switzerland) is Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries in London, Senior Advisor at LUMA Arles, and Senior Artistic Advisor at The Shed in New York. Since his first show, World Soup (The Kitchen Show), in 1991, he has curated more than 350 exhibitions. Most notable amongst these are the ongoing Do It series, begun in 1993; Take Me (I'm Yours) in London (1995), Paris (2015), New York (2016), and Milan (2017); and the Swiss Pavilion at the 14th International Architecture Biennale in Venice (2014). Obrist has also co-curated the Cities on the Move series (1996-2000); Laboratorium (1999); the operatic group exhibition Il Tempo del Postino in Manchester (2007) and Basel (2009); and The 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Rooms series (2011-15). Obrist's recent shows include IT'S URGENT at LUMA Arles (2019-21), and Enzo Mari at Triennale Milano (2020). The Handwriting Project, which protests the disappearance of handwriting in the digital age, has been taking place on Instagram since 2013 (@hansulrichobrist).
James Nares (b. 1953, London, UK) has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and a career-spanning retrospective at the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2019. Her work is included in several prominent public collections, including the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. A career-spanning survey of her film and video works were presented in 2008 at Anthology Film Archives, New York; and in 2011 at IFC Center, New York. In 2014, Rizzoli published a comprehensive monograph on Nares's career to date. Nares has lived and worked in New York since 1974. She has been represented by Kasmin since 1991.
Videography by Alisdair Kitchen