Tom Friedman features in 'Mind, Art, Experience: 10 Years of Chess & Culture in Saint Louis'
Tom Friedman features in 'Mind, Art, Experience: 10 Years of Chess & Culture in Saint Louis', a museum-wide group exhibition, celebrating the 10-year anniversary of The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF). Incorporating the best chess, art and culture from all 50 exhibitions held at the WCHOF since its 2011 relocation to Saint Louis, Missouri, the three-floor show features more than 120 artworks and artifacts. The presentation includes pieces related to legendary World Champions Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, and Boris Spassky; works by renowned photojournalist Harry Benson CBE and internationally acclaimed artists M.C. Escher, Tom Friedman, Barbara Kruger and Yoko Ono; chess-inspired pieces by Saint Louis-based creatives Michael Drummond, Peter Manion and Audra Danielle Noyes; and loans from notable collectors and institutions.
“By mixing all 50 of our past exhibitions, our audience will truly see the heart of our mission—to show the rich history of chess not only through the lives of legendary grandmasters but also the unifying impact this timeless game has on all aspects of culture.” - Shannon Bailey, Chief Curator at WCHOF
Highlights of the exhibition include native Saint Louisan Tom Friedman’s Untitled, a chess set assemblage of found objects and meticulously crafted items of which no two pieces are alike; Barbara Kruger’s Untitled (Do You Feel Comfortable Losing?), a chess set, which plays one of over one hundred possible statements when a piece is moved; Yoko Ono’s ‘Play It By Trust’, an all-white chess set inspired by the Cold War, nuclear arms race, military conflict in Vietnam, and the struggle for civil rights in the United States; Rachel Whiteread’s ‘Modern Chess Set’, which has pieces inspired by the dollhouses she collects and chess pieces used in Game 3 of the storied 1972 World Chess Championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky.
