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		Keeping it Real: An Exhibition in Four Acts: Act 1: The Corporeal: The D. Daskalopoulos Collection Whitechapel Gallery The relationship between art and reality has been a consistent preoccupation in modern and contemporary art. Keeping it Real examines this relationship through over fifty works from the D. Daskalopoulos Collection, Greece. The works in question, by both well-known and rarely seen artists, address questions of identity, desire and human vulnerability. Uniting these works is that their meaning is rooted in their materiality. Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, 1917/64, the meticulously hand-crafted copy of a mass-produced urinal, is the starting point for this year-long series of four displays. Duchamp’s so-called ready-mades eradicated conventional distinctions between reality and art and influenced later artists exploring questions of identity, gender and sexual difference. Sherrie Levine’s riff on Duchamp’s iconic work queries the idea of originality, while Robert Gober’s melancholic sculptures are reminders of human vulnerability. A surreal sense of the uncanny pervades Louise Bourgeois’ hanging sculpture Fillette (Sweeter Version) as much as Paul Thek's sardonic riposte to the white cube gallery.
		1.Sherrie Levine, Fountain (Buddha): 5 ©Sherrie Levine. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. 2.Robert Gober, Untitled, © Robert Gober.
		Strategies of humour and irony are central to both Sarah Lucas’ multi-limbed sculpture and Sue Williams’ collages. Performance brought the body more directly back into art as seen in Marina Abramović’s ritualistic cleaning of a skeleton and Kiki Smith’s light boxes. It also informs John Bock’s homage to the actress Winona Rider and the implied threat of shooting in Jimmie Durham's sculpture. The artist's body is directly present in David Hammons' prints, Jim Hodges' use of his own saliva in his drawings, and Despina Isaia's weave of her hair into lyrics from the musical Funny Girl. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, Keeping it Real: From the ready-made to the everyday. Keeping it Real is part of the Gallery’s ongoing programme opening up important public and private art collections to wider audiences.
		3. Sarah Lucas, Bunny Gets Snookered #10 ©Sarah Lucas. Courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London. 4. Marcel Duchamp, Fountain 1917/1964, © Succession Marcel Duchamp/ADAGP Paris/OSDEETE Athens 2010, Photo: Sotheby’s Images
		5. John Bock, Winona Ryder (2009), ©John Bock 6. Kiki Smith, Untitled, 1980-92, © Kiki Smith. Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
		7. Despina Isaia, Untitled ('You are the beautiful reflection of his love's affection' from the musical ‘Funny Girl’), 2003, © Despina Isaia. Courtesy Els Hanappe Underground. Photo: Vivianna Athanassopoulou 8. Louise Bourgeois, Fillette (Sweeter Version), 1968-1999, ©Louise Bourgeois, Photo: Christie’s Images Limited
		Keeping it Real: An Exhibition in Four Acts: Act 1: The Corporeal: The D. Daskalopoulos Collection Whitechapel Gallery (Gallery 7): 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London, UK Duration: To September 5 visit site