5 Sep 2020

I'm Your Man (A Portrait of Leonard Cohen) and Auckland Art Gallery

From Music 101, 1:20 pm on 5 September 2020

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Auckland Art Gallery has a new exhibition. I’m Your Man (A Portrait of Leonard Cohen) is a multi-channel video portrait exhibition by South African artist Candice Breitz. Originally commissioned by Musée d’art contemporain in Cohen’s hometown of Montreal, the exhibition was created to celebrate Leonard's life and works. 

Leonard Cohen was a singer, songwriter, poet and novelist. Before his death in November 2016, Cohen had released 14 studio albums, and kept working right up until his death. He’s mostly known as the writer of enduring ballad classics ‘Hallelujah’, ‘Suzanne’ and ‘Bird on A Wire’. 


The exhibition itself gathers video portraits of 19 men over the age of 65 humming or singing Leonard Cohen songs. Charlotte Ryan went to the exhibition and interviewed Auckland Art Gallery director Kirsten Lacy. They discussed the exhibition, Covid19's impact on galleries and the importance of music during these strange times.