Hot Stuff! Jeffrey Deitch on James Murphy’s ‘Fire in the Disco’ Show at L.A. MOCA
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has scheduled an exhibition called “Fire in the Disco,” which will look at the history of disco and its impact on art, fashion and music. It will be co-curated by former LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy and the museum hopes for it to open in time for the next programming season. Word of the show was first hinted at in a New York Times profile of Mr. Murphy last week that said he had been talking with MOCA’s director Jeffrey Deitch. Mr. Deitch confirmed the news on the phone with us Monday evening.
“There aren’t that many of these cultural movements that within a few years spread all around the world,” Mr. Deitch said of the exhibition’s subject. “Like Cubism, within a few years of its invention in Paris, it’s everywhere. And disco is sort of this unlikely candidate for this. It emerges in subcultures in lofts in downtown New York and basements in Paris, but it sweeps the world very quickly and encompasses fashion, film, art, and has great social impact in addition to its musical impact. It has a tremendous impact on gay liberation, on the connection between black, white, Hispanic. It became a universal language.”