“Kristen Casaletto: The Past is Never Dead” and Contemporary Art

The exhibition “Kristen Casaletto: The Past is Never Dead” opens this Saturday, May 6, and will be on view through Sunday, July 30. The exhibition highlights the works of Kristin Casaletto, a contemporary artist based in Augusta, Georgia, and features many of her prints as well as one three-dimensional object.

Kristen Casaletto, Apocalypse, 2008

Casaletto’s work deals with contemporary American culture and identity by combining visual motifs from both the past and the present. She draws upon a historic and mythic past, employing a complex iconography of American images and ideas. Through these means, she produces an allegorically imagined exploration of life in the 21st century. The title of the exhibition comes from a quote from William Faulkner: “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” Like Faulkner, Casaletto’s work insists on the overwhelming impact of the past on the present.

Kristen Casaletto, Lost Cause: Jefferson Davis / Dead Fish, 2010

“Lost Cause: Jefferson Davis / Dead Fish” (not featured in the exhibition but shown here) exemplifies this idea. The piece currently belongs to the collection of the Georgia Museum of Art and was released in Casaletto’s “American Parable” series. The color etching features a depiction of the president of the secessionist Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, next to a dead fish, all embedded within the stars and stripes of the American flag. By positioning the visage of Davis and the form of the dead fish in parallel arrangements, Casaletto introduces a strong juxtaposition of imagery. By doing so, she presents a work open to multiple interpretations. The composition might emphasize Jefferson Davis’s now obsolete position in American culture — like that of a dead fish — while still reinforcing the way in which certain ideas and symbols become a part of a grander cultural narrative. The Confederate States of America, to most a dark part of American history, still looms large in the narrative of the American South. The stars and stripes of the American flag emphasize the role of America’s dark past in its current culture. There are many layers of allusion to the piece, each enhancing its referentially rich yet semantically ambiguous wealth of iconography.

Kristin Casaletto is a quintessential contemporary artist, which we tend to think of as an artist living and working in the 21st century. By nature, contemporary artists are engaged with the present and its cultural dialogue. They often look to current issues in their society and produce art that is engrossed in these problems. Contemporary art in the greater historical context is also defined by a lack of overarching narrative or stylistic form between artists. In other words, there is no singular, cohesive way of producing art but rather a diverse mix of individual practices. For visitors, “Kristen Casaletto: The Past is Never Dead” is an opportunity to contemplate the complex politics of the past and where we are today.

Jamie Brener

Publications Intern

Qatar: The dark horse of contemporary art

What country do you think is the biggest buyer in the contemporary art market? The United States? England? Perhaps even France? You could continue this guessing game for more than an hour and we are certain you would not have come up with the correct answer: Qatar. The small oil-rich country of Qatar is located in the Middle East and has a population hovering around 1.5 million, thus proving, without a doubt, that you don’t have to be big to be important. Over the past six years it is believed that Qatar has been behind most major sales and commissions of modern art. Just recently, Edward Dolman, the chair of Christie’s auction house of New York, was announced as an executive director in the office of the Sheikh. Dolman will join the board of trustees of the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), who oversee many of the cultural initiatives of the country. Dolman stated, “Qatar is looking to deliver a series of exciting cultural projects in time for the World Cup in 2022.” The list of purchases and planned exhibitions to take place in Qatar is astounding. The country is planning a Jeff Koons exhibition and recently was part of a $310 million deal involving the purchase of 11 Rothkos. Other major acquisitions include works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Damien Hirst and William Hoare—quite the major accomplishment for a state that only technically became an independent country in the fall of 1971.

Murakami at Versailles

Japanese artist Takashi Murakami’s current exhibition has created uproar within the art community. His manga-style, contemporary work has been placed within the 17th century setting of the Palace of Versailles.

Many people feel that this strange juxtaposition is "degrading and disrespectful," and this controversy has sparked protests outside of the Palace gates. Murakami seems undeterred by the criticism. In fact, this response may be along the lines of what he had hoped. It is his wish that the exhibition "create in visitors a sort of shock, an aesthetic feeling," and that it is a "face-off between the baroque period and postwar Japan."

The palace director, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, said that it was his duty to allow Murakami access to the palace.

This exhibition highlights a tension between contemporary artistic expression and a respect for the past. Do directors of historic cultural sites have an obligation to the public to preserve the integrity and historical accuracy of the monuments, or do contemporary artists have a right to utilize these powerful icons as tools for commentary and creative expression?

Tell us what you think!

Check out the article and pictures of the exhibition in The Guardian, and for more information about the palace and the exhibition, visit the Chateau de Versailles site.

Jeff Koons at the High

Contemporary art fans take note. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta will host a lecture by artist Jeff Koons on October 5. He will discuss the influence of Salvador Dalí on his own work in honor of the High’s current exhibition: “Dalí: The Late Work.”

The lecture will take place at 7 p.m. in Symphony Hall. Tickets are $15 for non-members, $10 for members, and $5 for students with a valid I.D. Reserve tickets through the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office at 404-733-5000 and www.High.org.

For more information about the High’s lecture series, visit http://bit.ly/ahDvlJ, and to learn more about Jeff Koons and his work, visit his site.

Image: Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog (Blue)

Monumental sculpture moving to Naples, Florida

Dawn Forest in the lobby of the Georgia-Pacific Center

Atlanta is losing an important piece of art to the Naples Museum of Art in Florida. The large, multipart installation Dawn Forest by Louise Nevelson has been in the lobby of the Georgia-Pacific Center since 1986. With the company planning on renovating the space, they considered the space with and without the piece, opting for more retail space over the monumental artwork. Promoting Dawn Forest under the stipulation that it must be displayed in one piece, the company fielded inquiries from several Atlanta locations, including the High and the Carlos Museum. However, both declined the opportunity because of space issues. This was not an easy decision for the directors, according to Carlos museum director Bonnie Speed. "That’s well and good for Naples; it’s a loss for Atlanta. It’s distressing to hear it’s leaving Atlanta. It’s unfortunate that we were unable to keep this iconic piece of public art."

Nevelson was an influential female artist in the world of contemporary sculpture and installation art. She often pieced together found wood into compositions connected by the color, either whites or blacks. Dawn Forest is the largest of Nevelson’s art. “Composed of standing columns, some as tall as 25 feet, and vertical hanging pieces, which punctuate the long lobby, as well as an 11-by-26-foot wall relief on the mezzanine,” it has quite a presence in its current location.

When director and founder Myra Daniels of the museum in Naples heard about the availability of Nevelson’s piece, she came to Atlanta right away to see it. “I committed to it on the spot,” Daniels said. “Our collection’s strength is in American modernism, and Nevelson was at the top of our wish list. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” The museum is making space in the reception area to accommodate the sculpture, including moving a Dale Chihuly chandelier. Needless to say, the Naples Museum of Art is very excited about the donation from Georgia-Pacific and MetLife.

(http://bit.ly/bqm4t2)

"Newspeak: British Art Now" Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery

Barry Reigate's Real Special Very Painting

The Saatchi Gallery in London is one of the world’s premier art spaces, showcasing up and coming contemporary artists. Charles Saatchi, art collector and global advertising mogul, opened the gallery in 1985 in North London. Currently, the art house is located in Chelsea in the Duke of York's HQ building. Saatchi’s history features artists from different areas, including US minimalists, Young British Artists (YBA) and contemporary artists from the United States, Britain and China. Many artists who show at the gallery often use the publicity to jump start their careers. On June 2, the largest show since moving to the current location opened with many exciting but still mostly unknown artists from Britain.

Called “Newspeak: British Art Now,” the show predicts what future art in Britain will be. The term “newspeak” comes from George Orwell’s chilling novel 1984, in which the language gets simplified and smaller constantly in order to create a utopian, equal society. The exhibit takes the idea of newspeak and does the exact opposite: the artists are showing how visual language can multiply and be invented by them to “explore issues such as class, consumerism and the phenomenon of instant success culture, often with a distinctly British dry wit” (http://bit.ly/a9bJR6). Artists in the first set of Newspeak include Barry Reigate, Pablo Bronstein and many others.

The Saatchi Gallery strives to reach the largest audience possible, and in the first year of being open in the Chelsea location, over 1.2 million people came to see the progressive shows. The free admission and prime location also help draw the crowds.

If you find yourself in London this summer, be sure to visit the Saatchi Gallery for really exciting and fresh art. For more information on the gallery, please go to http://bit.ly/3OifW.

New children's book about contemporary art

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (MOCA) recently published a new children’s book on contemporary art called “Breaking the Rules: What is Contemporary Art?” by Susan Rubin. According to MOCA, the book is “the first to make the museum’s world-renowned permanent collection accessible to young audiences.”

The book introduces the work of artists from MOCA’s collection, including that of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Chris Burden and Maurizio Cattelan, among others. The book uses full-color print reproductions of the pieces along with quotes, texts and artists’ biographies to give children a better understanding of contemporary art and interpretation.

MOCA director of education Suzanne Isken describes why the book stands out from other children’s art books:

“Breaking the Rules” fills a gap in the kind of art presented to young audiences. While art books for children about Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein multiply, texts about the more contemporary artists are few and far between. “Breaking the Rules” expands the canon and includes leading contemporary female artists as well as a multicultural group of some of the most groundbreaking and exciting artists of our time.

MOCA has about 6,000 works in its collection created since 1940 in all visual media. The 64-page hardcover book introduces 25 contemporary artists and “explores some of the most intriguing works in the museum’s holdings, leading young audiences to examine the creative process of artists working today.” The book showcases works that “break the rules” of traditional art.

MOCA plans to donate 200 copies of the book to Los Angeles County Schools as part of the museum’s Contemporary Art Start program (CAS). “Breaking the Rules: What is Contemporary Art?” is available online or at MOCA Store locations for $14.95.

The Library of Babel

The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place is now on view at 176 Zabludowicz Collection in London. This salon-style exhibition, with 217 contemporary works, encourages the viewer to think like a curator. There are no wall texts, essays or audio guides to help visitors through the exhibition.

Anna-Catharina Gebbers, guest curator of 176, wants each guest to interpret the exhibition in his or her own way.

“The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place questions my role as it places every visitor in the role of a curator; the sheer number of works forces the visitor to choose which works will receive attention. I am interested in how these decisions are made,” said Gebbers.

Invited professionals and visitors will get the chance to conduct tours for the public. There will also be a series of lectures and panel discussions with scientists and theorists from such varying backgrounds as neurology, psychology, linguistics and literature.

The name of the exhibition is inspired by the short story, “The Library of Babel,” by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. In the story, inhabitants of a library try to find an “absolute interpretation” of the information around them.

The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place is the largest exhibition of works from the Zabludowicz collection of over 2,000 pieces. The exhibition showcases painting, photography, sculpture and video.

All the Art in China- Installment 1

Li Shan

(image from artspeakchina.org)

This week, I’ll be posting a series of installments concerning Chinese contemporary art, its recent history, and why collectors find Chinese contemporary art not only attractive but worth spending immoderate amounts of money on. Many disillusioned types criticize this new obsession, which is both Western and Eastern, as simply a glorified “rush for riches” fueled by the allure of exoticism. Its origins however, prove that the new Chinese art movement and its following are more complex and unusual than anything we’ve seen before. 

Chinese contemporary art has been edging its way into our Western consciences—especially in the past 10 or so years. The inundation of Chinese contemporary art into museums, galleries and personal collections, recognizable from its bright colors and prolific Mao imagery, floods our markets and attentions due to the Chinese government loosening cultural policies. Although China keeps a close eye on the art being produced within its borders, its artists have recently reemerged as respectable commentators on contemporary happenings—a major advance from the Cultural Revolution, when they were punished along with many intellectuals by being sent to work in the countryside.  Little has been published in the way of edifying Chinese art criticism for English-speaking audiences until very recently, but Artspeakchina, an English-language wiki site, now contains well over 300 articles and a “multi-media timeline of historical and arts events since 1949,” according to ArtDaily, and is growing quickly. Its predecessor, Chinese-art.com, founded by Robert Bernell, also showcases innovative art from China. Like Artspeakchina, Chinese-art has an open-forum wiki setup where Chinese art experts can edit articles, but its medium is that of an online magazine. Chinese-art.com can only be viewed outside of China, as the Chinese government considers it too controversial. 

It was in reading about Artspeakchina that I became interested in writing a more in-depth article examining why Chinese art befuddles anthropologists, economists and historians as much as art critics. This topic may seem somewhat esoteric and not necessarily GMOA-pertinent, but it has affected the entire world art market and perplexed, intrigued and piqued museums, galleries, scholars and individuals. This intense global discussion began when China overtook France in art sales, ending that country’s century-long art-market reign. An article in The Economist pointed out that, “When the global art market shrunk by more than a third to €31.3 billion ($43.5 billion), compared with €48.1 billion at its peak two years earlier, the Chinese art market bucked the trend”. But the economic surprise resulting from the Chinese art boom isn’t nearly as interesting as the movement’s genesis.

Tomorrow I’ll post a short history of the movement and its immediate political and artistic predecessor.Stay tuned!

Liu Xiao Dong 

(image from www.schoeni.com)

 

Lu Hao

(image from artnet.com)

Xu Bing

(image from artspeakchina.org)

Context or Free Aesthetics?

Miller McCune online magazine has an article up right now that summarizes and comments on a study done for the journal Empirical Studies of the Arts on the influence of context on measures of how much subjects liked different works of art. The headline bluntly puts it, "In Art, Context is Counterproductive." Well, that's one way of looking at it, but it's really necessary to read at least Miller McCune's full article to see how the experiment was conducted, which, as expected, shows the results to be applicable only in a well-defined area. Psychologist Kenneth Bordens had a pool of 172 students "look at photos of two paintings and two sculptures in one of four styles: Impressionist, Renaissance, Dada and Outsider."

All participants were given a general definition of art, and a label stating the style the works represented. But half were also provided with a definition of that style, a brief history of its origins and information on the goals of the artists who worked in that style.

They were then asked to rate, on a scale of 1 to 7, not only how much they liked the work in question, but how closely it matched their personal conception of a work of art.

. . . This notion was largely supported by Bordens’ findings. “As ratings of the degree to which an artwork matched one’s internal prototype of art increased, liking ratings increased as well,” he writes. “Dada and Outsider art were rated as matching less well with internal concepts of art, and were liked less than Impressionism and Renaissance art.”

. . . “Providing contextual information led to participants perceiving examples of the various styles of art as matching less well with their internal standards than when no contextual information was presented,” Bordens writes. In other words, they were more likely to feel a piece conformed to their personal ideas about art — and thus more likely to enjoy or appreciate it — when it was presented without interpretation.

Bordens presents several possible explanations for this finding, which somewhat contradict a 2005 study by University of Vienna psychologist Helmut Leder. He writes that the contextual information presumably led to “greater conscious processing” of the pieces, which may have “led participants to be more critical.”

“In this experiment, the contextual information was very concrete, and may have encouraged participants to think concretely,” he notes. Newly equipped with a clear, rigid definition of what constitutes a certain type of art, the students were perhaps more likely to judge a particular painting as falling outside of its parameters.

So it's not as though he was throwing half his subjects into a room with Felix Gonzalez-Torres's "Untitled (Public Opinion)" (or any of the artist's other conceptual works) and asking them to respond aesthetically on the rating scale, then giving the other half information on the artist's intentions before having them do the same. Context doesn't hurt with a lot of more traditional representational art, and it's less necessary with some Abstract Expressionist pieces, which can be more intended for gut reactions from the viewer, but with a lot of contemporary conceptual art, the ideas at play can be the most important part of the work. Failing to acknowledge this variety of possibilities when it comes to the relationship between art and education is simplistic, and it's no doubt exactly what will happen in any subsequent articles that pick up on the study. Admittedly, this sort of response is what you'd expect from us, as an institution that takes education as one of the key components of its mission, and there's certainly room for interaction with art on a less intellectual level, but saying contextual knowledge actively harms one's appreciation of art seems pretty harsh!

Tino Sehgal at the Guggenheim

There have been a couple of interesting articles in the New York Times about artist Tino Sehgal recently. The latest focuses on his solo exhibition, “Tino Sehgal,” on view at the Guggenheim Museum in New York through March 10.

Visitors to the Guggenheim will first encounter “Kiss,” a living sculpture that involves two figures entwined in an embrace while lying in the middle of the ground floor of the rotunda. “Kiss” is on loan from MoMA.

Sehgal’s other work at the Guggenheim is “This Progress,” made up of a series of encounters and interactions with people serving as interpreters who approach visitors and engage them in conversations about progress.

Sehgal does not allow his works to be photographed or documented in any way. There are no labels, descriptions or catalogues produced for his works, and there are only start dates, no openings, for his exhibitions.

These restrictions may seem odd, but they derive from Sehgal’s belief that the world has too many things. The article states that:

His goal is to create a counter-model: to make something (a situation) from virtually nothing (actions, words) and then let that something disappear, leaving no potential marketable trace.

Unfortunately, in today’s society, it is harder for the artist to ensure this sense of impermanence, a point made blatantly obvious by the photograph of “Kiss” on the New York Times’ Web site, taken with a visitor’s phone.

These restrictions might lead one to believe that Sehgal’s works have no commercial value, but that would be incorrect. He does sell his works; the process is just a bit more complicated. Because he allows no documentation, the contract must be conducted orally with the presence of a witness. During the transaction, the work for sale is described, as well as the rights of the buyer to install the work under the artist’s supervision. Owners of a Sehgal must still adhere to his restrictions once a work is in their possession. If resold, it must be done under the same conditions, and the ban on any form of documentation still stands. If this ban is violated, the work’s authenticity is compromised.

For a more in-depth look at Tino Sehgal, be sure to check out this article as well.

Women Reclaim the Art World

2008, according to ArtNews, was a notable year for women in the art world. For the first time ever, the Centre Pompidou, the highest grossing, most looked at modern art museum in Paris, turned over its permanent galleries entirely to women artists. Connie Butler, now chief curator of drawings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, points out that MoMA is buying more and more work by women. “I think it is on the institutional agenda in a way that it wasn't a few years ago. Things have changed. Obama is president," she said. Nancy Spector, the Guggenheim’s chief curator, also reports drastic changes at her museum: "When I started here 20 years ago, the discourse about gender issues was not even present in the museum. Now our contemporary collections are just filled with women artists. We buy what we think is the best work, and it is very often by women." Alongside these notable institutions, the Whitney Museum of American Art has also mounted quite a few retrospectives of women artists in recent years. Art critic Jerry Saltz, writer for New York magazine, created quite a stir on Facebook last May: he counted the pieces by women in MoMA's painting and sculpture galleries and proceeded to accuse the museum of practicing "a form of gender-based apartheid. Of the 383 works currently installed on the 4th and 5th floors of the permanent collection, only 19 are by women; that's 4%. There are 135 different artists installed on these floors; only nine of them are women; that's 6%. MoMA is telling a story of modernism that only it believes." Informal studies like these, done especially by social media outlets, have raised awareness of gender imbalances in the art world. “According to the Brainstormers, there are at least half a dozen New York galleries that are now close to 50-50, including Galerie Lelong, D'Amelio Terras, 303, and PPOW. Lombard-Freid's September show, ‘The Girl Effect,’ featured work by seven international women artists” says ARTnews.

Various female artists mentioned in the ARTnews article:

Louise Bourgeois

Atsuko Tanaka

Artists mentioned in the ARTnews article whom we also exhibit at the GMOA:

Georgia O'Keeffe

Alice Neel

Art in the News

We don't know if you remember to read Art Daily on the weekends, but if you don't, you may have missed the interesting juxtaposition of two news stories, one about Pope Benedict's meeting with contemporary artists, at which he encouraged them not to forsake spirituality in their work, and the other about oft-controversial artist Tracey Emin, who just received this year's ACE Award for Art in a Religious Context. Art and Christianity Enquiry for her work "For You," a pink neon sign that resembles handwriting and reads "I felt you and I knew you loved me." Emin created the sculpture for Liverpool Cathedral. It just makes you wonder how the pope and Emin would get along...

An African-American Legacy Lost to Flames

In an article in its October 2009 issue, Art in America mourns the loss of an important African American, Latin American and Asian collection. Peggy Cooper Cafritz’s collection, which included works by artists Emory Douglas, Romare Bearden, Hank Wills Thomas, Nick Cave and Norman Lewis, was engulfed in a fire July 29. The entire collection comprised more than 300 works of art, mostly contemporary. Cafritz ardently supports new art but says she will never be able to afford the range and calliber of pieces she used to own. She says she doesn’t know when she’ll be able to purchase again but adds, “I don’t think that I can live without it. No matter on what level, and what quantity, I will definitely collect again.” Not only did her purchases amount to an incredible collection of modern and contemporary African American art, but they were highly philanthropic in nature: She bought pieces by artists not well known in order to boost their recognition and revenue. By buying important, well-established pieces, she says, you boost your collection and make an investment. Buying artwork by young, lesser-known artists, which she started doing more and more recently, is always a gamble. Cafritz says she was willing to make those kinds of risky purchases because she knew she was helping contemporary artists build a reputation. Because of the numerous fundraisers, political dinners and other social events that took place at her Washington, DC, home, being in her collection “was a measurable boost to their sense of themselves as an artist in the world,” says Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem. Cruel coincidence would have it that her collection was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine only a month after the fire. You can take a virtual tour on the magazine’s Web site.

For more information, check out the full article in the Washington Post by clicking here

The New White House Collection

The White House has a new selection—45 pieces to be exact—of modern and contemporary pieces by artists such as Mark Rothko, Jasper Johns, Edgar Degas, Giorgio Morandi, Alma Thomas and George Catlin. Michael Smith, the White House decorator, contacted Harry Cooper, curator of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and inquired about the possibility of borrowing certain pieces Barack and Michelle Obama could display in their private quarters.

We have one rule: "We won’t take anything off public display", Mr. Cooper said in a telephone interview. Nor will the museum lend a work likely to be requested for an exhibition anytime soon. “That limited us to looking at things in storage,” Mr. Cooper added. “But there’s quite a bit.

Mrs. Obama and the house curator,William Allman, picked works they found using various museum Web sites that constituted a diverse and distinct collection, never seen before in the White House. According to Kerry Brougher, chief curator at the Hirshhorn Museum, “There are some very interesting figures. It’s more interesting and shows a greater diversity of art than I’ve seen.” In an ABC interview, Harry Cooper, a trader of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery, says the Obamas’ chosen collection has what those in the art world call “wall power.”

"A lot of it is really important and pretty powerful. It has wall power. It looks powerful on the walls. Strong works which are visually arresting.” Cooper described the Obamas’ collection as “really mainstream paintings. “I think there’s a great range of work—both abstract work and figurative work and within the abstraction. There’s very clean geometric paintings as well as more expressive paintings.

Of the 45 works, I found the less known ones to be the most intriguing. Where do they come from, why did the first family decide to go with these pieces, and why are they important? I felt compelled to seek out their history and their stories, as they are now entering an important context within the walls of the White House, telling their own story and adding to the new story they are now entering. I picked two artists to talk about, portraitist George Catlin and African American expressionist painter Alma Thomas, both of whom gave voice to an otherwise voiceless community.

George Catlin whose 10 paintings are on display in the White House and is known for capturing American Indian scenes and leaders during the mid-19th century. Besides his heartfelt, thought-out renditions of American Indian life, Catlin was quite outspoken when it came to Indian rights. He saw the bloody battles leading to the demise of the tribal lifestyle and wrote about them extensively in his diaries. He produced around 600 paintings. In hopes of preserving them and the memory of aboriginal tribesmen, Catlin tried to sell his works to the U.S government, which refused to buy it. The penniless Catlin sold his entire collection to a private buyer.

Catlin would be content knowing that now more than 500 of his paintings are safe and sound at the Smithsonian, and now some have migrated to the White House to be admired and pondered, just as Catlin hoped.
Alma Thomas, an Expressionist painter, has two of her works hanging in the White House, specifically in the first lady’s office. Thomas was born and raised in Columbus, Ga., then moved to Washington, D.C., and enrolled in Howard University’s art department. Thomas was the first African American to hold an MFA from Columbia University. Her best-known work is influenced by Expressionism, but she has worked in the realm of realism. Many critics liken her work to that of Henri Matisse and Georges Seurat. Thomas had her first show at the age of 68 when she retired from teaching. She also worked as a political activist and taught in D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods, even with an advanced case of arthritis.
Perhaps this new temporary home for these paintings, will bring lauds and attention to different sorts of art as well as to historically undermined groups of people not always put in the mainstream spotlight.


Pictures from NYTimes

Clarinda Mac Low at Ciné tonight

You might know Clarinda Mac Low as the daughter of well-known mid-to-late-20th-century poet, composer and playwright Jackson Mac Low. Although her art varies in structure and medium, his influences have generated and fueled her passion for performance art. She started dancing at an early age for her father’s performances and got hooked:

Some of my earliest coherent memories are of performing with Jackson, the adrenaline surge etching the moment into my brain. The performing hasn’t stopped yet, and this is the gift I take with me—a fascination with the immediate and electric connection between me and the audience, the delight in events unfolding in real-time, communally. I mark my life with Jackson in performance intervals

Although her artistic manifestations involve more performance and less poetry than her father's, her art stays within the same philosophical canon. Both Clarinda and Jackson strive to redefine artistic boundaries and find ways to engage in various forms of conversation with the audience, whether it be through the spoken word or physical movements. Clarinda describes her intentions as a performer:

To me, performance is a form of conversation. I aim to make situations where viewer and viewed are mutually affecting and create experiences that wake up body and mind. I do this through reframing our relationship to architectural space and urban public interaction, with interventions into everyday life and infiltrations into unexpected sites in a wide variety of communities

In her latest interactive performance piece, "Cyborg Nation", she wears a costume with a built-in miniature camera, microphone, amplifier, and video projector. The Ciné web site describes the project as an investigation of how “technology both extends and limits our senses by combining remote communication in the form of email and phone messages with one-to-one conversation, providing a twenty-first-century version of the Socratic dialogue." ICE (Ideas for Creative Exploration) presents "Cyborg Nation" in Athens at Ciné. The performance will begin at 7 this evening and last till 9. Admission is free.

The Russian Art World

Although Russia was virtually free of art censorship in the late 80’s and 90’s, it has more recently become quick to dismiss and destroy pollitical and dissident art. The Russian art pax ended in 1998, 

When the artist Avdei Ter-Oganian was charged with breaking a prerevolutionary law against provoking religious tension, reactivated just for this case, after he used Orthodox Christian icons in a performance. Faced with a jail term, he fled to the Czech Republic, where he was granted political asylum.

Since then, artists and curators have been under attack by Russian governmental authorities. One case featured in ARTnews centers on two curators on trial for inciting religious hatred. 

They have been accused of breaking a law passed in 1996 against inciting religious hatred. Andrei Erofeev, the critic, scholar, and former head of the Tretyakov Gallery’s department of current trends, and Yuri Samodurov, the former director of the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Center, face fines and/or prison terms of up to five years if they are convicted.

 Apparently, one of the witnesses at trial proclaimed that the pieces featuring Christian worshippers praying to Mickey Mouse catalyzed his wife’s premature death. “Such blasphemy took away her will to live,” He said. An orthodox priest also spoke up, calling Erofeev a “servant of Satan." Erofeev and Samodurov aren’t alone in these cultural and societal “crimes." Young artists are stirring up the media and the government with a new wave of actionism, a movement based on political provocation. One group of young people have riled up the local authorities by performing “Monstrations”—flash-mob street parties carrying messages like “Where am I?”, “Return me to Mars!” and “Pigs are humans too." The artists have been charged with mass disturbances, arson, and defacement of private property, all of which they have denied. ARTnews delves into other contemporary cases involving taboo messages leading to jail time and arrests.

 It seems that the only person who has time to make statements connected to art is Prime Minister Putin. Visiting the gallery of the nationalist painter Ilya Glazunov in June, the former president advised the 79-year-old realist to lengthen Prince Oleg’s sword in a painting of the medieval princes Oleg and Igor. Putin thought the sword looked more like a knife for cutting sausage. Glazunov said he would take the prime minister’s suggestion.

Saatchi Says

The notoriously media-shy and cantankerous art collector Charles Saatchi has finally let himself be captured by ravenous journalists in an interview not limited to a series of grunts and insults. This time, Saatchi cooperates and answers an array of questions concerning his attitude toward contemporary art, collectors, critics and artists. Part of the interview focuses on the release of his book, “My Name is Charles Saatchi and I Am an Artoholic (Everything You Need To Know About Art, Ads, Life, God And Other Mysteries And Weren't Afraid To Ask)” which came out on September 8. The interview follows a similar format to the book: a straightforward question-and-answer layout, ranging from personal questions (which he usually refuses to answer) to art-related questions. There are not many reviews yet, perhaps because of the esoteric nature of the book or because the book came out only yesterday and critics are still mulling over their opinions of it. The Independent briefly comments on Saatchi’s little book: 

“Brutally frank”, says the blurb, but a recurring note is defensiveness, and the sore spot is "vulgarity". “The snobbery of those who think an interest in art is the province of gentle souls of rarefied sensibility never fails to entertain. Lord forbid that anyone in 'trade' should enter the hallowed portals of the aesthete. I liked working in advertising, but don't believe my taste in art, such as it is, was entirely formed by TV commercials!”

The Independent also remarks that Saatchi seems bitter in the interviews, but his critiques of the art world seem reasonable. In all, the book is short, but for what it lacks in length, it seems to make up in grandiloquence and spunk.

The guardian interviews Charles Saatchi

The Independent takes a look at Saatchi’s book

New Gallery in Athens

Hotel Indigo, the new boutique hotel located on 500 e Dougherty Street, had its quiet opening this past weekend. The new hotel will be among a handful of other luxury hotels in Athens, such as Foundry Park Inn and Spa and the Hilton Garden Inn. The building stands out from traditional Athens architecture, and, in fact, its contemporary design has riled up Athens’ residents. Most readers on the Athens Banner-Herald site complain that the building does not fit into the classic Roman/Greek architectural feel: “This place looks terrible in downtown Athens. No historic elements in the design at all… another developer fails to recognize why Athens is called 'The Classic City'” (ABH, Carallen). Others feel the structure blends in well, and that the hotel is a vital source of jobs in a town where employment can be hard to come by, especially now: “The new hotel looks great and is an exciting addition to downtown. And the 34 new jobs within walking distance of so many (incl. Bethel residents) is also great news” (ABH, JohnCropp). Besides the hotel’s contested presence in the Classic City, the structure boasts environmentally friendly design and energy resources, one of the first buildings in Athens meeting LEED (standards for environmentally sustainable building) guidelines. Most of us probably will not be able to afford the $130 a night for a room downtown, but there is a reason for us to rejoice! The hotel commissioned a brand new gallery, which Athens’ very own Mercury Art Works will manage. Mercury Art Works will continue to be located in the Chase Street Warehouses on Tracy St. Their first exhibition at the Indigo will be in September and all the rooms in the hotel also feature local art.


Check out Mercury Art Works’ Web site.

Indigo Hotel Web site

Athens Banner-Herald article (and its reader comments!) on the new Hotel Indigo

Contemporary art

Thanks, PICDIT, for directing us to the work of Dana Clancy, who paints the interior spaces of museums in a series she calls "Viewing Space" (currently up at Laconia Gallery and previously at the Danforth Museum). Clancy balances the presence of human figures with a focus on the interior architecture of spectacular spaces that some have complained minimize the impact of the art. We're not sure if she's taking a stance in that argument, but the paintings do provide an interesting perspective.