Marlborough Contemporary: Narelle Jubelin: Specific Objects, Common Parts

A London

George Bellows (1882-1925): Modern American Life

A London

Paul Pfeiffer: The Drives

I really do appreciate a lot Thomas Dane Gallery artists and programme, Ataman, Cruzvillegas, Gallacio, Herrera, McQueen, Moulène, etc. But I still have difficulties in grasping it fully.

Eva and Franco Mattes: Emily's Video

...and I stay there for the whole 15' 52'' laughing, waiting and wanting to see those guys' reactions and facial expressions!!!

Eva and Franco Mattes
Emily's Video (15' 52''), 2013

«Emily's Video presents the reaction of random volunteers who replied to an online call by Eva and Franco Mattes to watch "the worst video ever." The original video - sourced from the 'Dark Net', the internet's disturbing alter ego - has been destroyed, with these second hand experiences the only proof of its existence. Mimicking the format of YouTube 'reaction video', Emily's Video prompts disbelief, fear, anger, disgust, and nervous laughter. Willing participants hide their eyes, lambast the maker of the video, or simply walk away, whilst the viewer of the work eagerly awaits the next response.»

BOWIEVIRUS: David Sims

On opening days ICA is always packed with top models and other fashion related fauna. Nothing wrong about it. ICA has given me some of the best moments in town so far: art, good conversation over a bottle of wine, getting to meet new and interesting people, and enjoyable nights of raving and dancing. What can one expect more from life!!!

Paul Goodwin: Curating Beyond the Canon

Massimiliano Gioni in conversation with Ute Meta Bauer

If the 90s became to be known as the 'decade of the Biennials', the 00s as the 'decade of Art Fairs', the 10s are, definitely, the decade of gallery's franchising across the world.

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On this occasion we, Clare and I, took a packed meal from M&S and went to eat outdoors, at Regent park, while enjoying a lovely afternoon under the first spring sun' rays shining over London!

A London

Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2013

Cristina de Middel's The Afronauts did reminded me of Fontcuberta's work on the Soviet spatial exploration, "Sputink"; War Primer 2, by Broomberg & Chanarin, the resulting book, conceived by Daniel Blaufuks, from his trip to St. Petersburgo; Chris Killip, still, one of the Great Photography Masters, with What Happened - Great Britain 1970-1990; whereas Mishka Henner's Google pictures, in No Man's Land raises issues of authorship, appropriation, and about the act of photographing and the production of new work/images, as well as about anthropological research. For some moments it reminded me of Richard Prince's Cowboys series and the naked women series, but, obviously, with different aesthetics.

newsfromlondon201304

Remnants of a dinner at mine with Janni and Maria!!!

Alexander Calder : Calder After the War

Not the best Prosecco I have had ever tried...but still, a bottle just for one makes one forget all the references, recommendations and mentions. Anyway, these evenings' tend to be more packed with two kind of beings than usually. More than 50% for the matter. Sleazy financial' or legal' practitioner guys taking girls - most of the time fashion models - on cheap dates and the wannabe female curators followed by the gay friend, who is more concerned in being what he is rather then with art. Either way, both look to show an air of finesse and intellectual superiority when thinking of their own pears twins. On my side, I'm just there for the free wine. If I really want to see the art, I would came the following day, on my own. Which I did, two days latter.

Fernanda Gomes

Urban poetics on the 'from here' by the 'from there', or, in other words, the exotic exotic!

Installation view

Untitled, 2013
Crackers, 24-carat gold

Untitled, 2013
Gold Wire

the funeral of Lady Thatcher

... while unemployment has increased by 70,000 to 2.56 billion; and, while, average pay rise increased 1% (for low performers) ...

Stuart Shave Modern Art

The new Stuart Shave Modern Art' gallery is in a Georgian house at Six Fitzroy Square, owned by The Georgian Group. This elegant eighteenth century townhouse designed by Robert Adam provides a unique location for the gallery new temporary space (on the first floor), which is shared with a Yoga studio class (on the second floor), until they have their new space build. Hopefully by next year! Since it has been until recently with unauthorised occupants. An issue that has been dealt with within the proper legal procedures.

Modern Art: Tom Burr & Linder, Private View: Tuesday 16 April, 6-8pm

A London

Screening of Kutlug Ataman's 'Lola and Billy the Kid'

Kutlug Ataman's 1999 feature film entitled 'Lola + Bilidikid'.

The film, written and directed by Ataman, was shot in Berlin and deals with the Turkish subculture there, as well as the taboos of gay life, transgender and transvestite men and the concomitant effects on family dynamics. It presages many of the themes further explored in his most famous art works, such as 'Never My Soul', 'Women Who Wear Wigs', 'KUBA' and 'Turkish Delight'.

The film will be introduced by Gregor Muir, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Belief in!!! Heaven and Eva

«How can you trust one who doesn't pray. If he abandons his Maker, what makes you think he won't abandon you?»

Between you and me, "his Maker", whatever that could be, is not the best principle to follow...specially when that principle might be wrong. i.e. I don't pray, and my friend know I will never abandon them...

I agree with you on the following «'If a man abandons his mother and father in times of need, such as old age, weakness or when they need him, or abandons his spouse, i would question his loyalty to me if one day i needed him.'» But, in here, their is no reference about Him//Her/It. Him//Her/It is not a condition in the preposition. The rest, is to much speculation, to much illusionism and spectacle about something that someone (another person with virtues and vices like, possible, the person who is the subject of the sentence mentioned), a couple of centuries ago, decided to believe and make humankind to believe to - almost like a politicians, nowadays - , and, presently, it is taken as the "True Word". Basically, since our principle is not the same, I will never consider (God) "the one who made" me "first and foremost, … " in the same way you consider. Because I don't even consider him/her/it or whatever. But I agree with your way to consider whom to trust.

«If you want me to explain the flaws in atheism, from my point of view and the pros in why there is a God i can, as you don't believe in God in the first instance»

I'm not an atheist, or, even less, a nihilist. However, my being introduces questions and uncertainties in those places where formerly there was some seeming consensus about what one did or believe and how one went about it. These dynamics, this force, are for me a necessary part of my understanding of Life, for whatever it may be it is NOT an accumulative things linking to GOD, an additive project in which bits of newly discovered perspectives are pasted on to an existing structure, seemingly augmenting and enriching it, seemingly making it acceptable to the pressures of the times. 'Life' as I perceive it is precisely in the operations of recognising the limitations of one's thought for one does not learn something new until one unlearns something old, otherwise one is simply adding information rather than rethinking a structure. (Note that these last words have been taken from Prof. Irit Rogoff's text What is a Theorist? and then adapted to the context). So, no need for explanations why or why not there is a God… I believe in you and me, in the enigmatic stranger that we all are, soon to engage in affairs of any order: sexual, passionate, committed, personal, childish, innocence, reaching out…

«Many of those questions and uncertainties have been answered in the past through religion. Now having heard the answers my job is to go out and debunk or authenticate those answers using my experiences or maybe formulate new ideas using tools at my disposal such as science, logic and deep thought. It seems like you have had the same thought process as me, but the same thought process in two different men can bring them to two different conclusions. Hence my logic and reasoning tells me there is a God 100%»

I don't know which thought process you have used, as in the same way, you don't know which one's I had used. So 'saying/writing' that we had the same one is to much presumption by your side. Anyway, moving on, we, as beings, are political and religious social beings, and, as such, we all raise questions, inquires in to the world around us in a social context - irrelevantly of it being true or base on false assumptions, for the sake of the conversation. What you have been doing, from what I perceive from your words, is that you have been collecting bits and pieces of information and adding then to previous knowledge "...add and reinforce prior knowledge, strengthening it...". Being that built with a set of premises; being one of that premises 'God'. If that premise is used and determined as been the 'thing', as it is, than your conclusion would be that it is the 'thing'. That is straightforward. However, some cultures have one God (in some cultures it is a compassionate and gracious God; in others, a bloodthirsty God; and, even in others, greedy for money and earth richness), other cultures have Gods; and, even, other cultures have something else. It just depends on the geography you occupy in a particular moment in time. For the record, God is dead, since the 19th century (Nietzsche)!!! Since I don't use God as a premise my thought process will arrive to a different position in knowing. And, at least, I'm not criticising the information but, instead, rethinking a structure. So, I don't pray, and my friend know I will never abandon them… So, I believe in you and me.

Chris Bracey: I've Looked up to Heaven and Been Down to Hell

«Many of [Chris Bracey] works are self-produced neons, referencing popular culture and iconic imagery, from the streets of Soho, tattoo culture, evocative statements ... and a lexicon of retro texts and references.»

Coded Conduct: James Bridle, Lea Cetera, Anne Imhof, Edward Thomasson

What I really did appreciate in this group exhibition was the neon's, at the shop on the other side of the road, and the party that followed the opening' performance...

Lea Cetera
Balance Totem from Posturing, 2013
Video Installation, Dimensions variable

Anne Imhof

Yinka Shonibare, MBE: POP!

«Press Release: Stephen Friedman Gallery is delighted to announce a solo exhibition of new works by Yinka Shonibare, MBE.

This exhibition of all new works focuses on the corruption, excess and debauchery that have in part led to the current economic crisis. With characteristic wit and critique, Yinka Shonibare explores the contemporary worship of luxury goods and the behaviour of the banking industry while referencing well known iconography and art historical homage - most notably in his creation of a large tableau based on Leonardo da Vinci's ‘The Last Supper'.

POP! not only presents some of Shonibare's most ambitious work of late but also reflects the artist's engagement with social commentary. It heralds a new direction for the artist with large-scale self-portraits inspired by Andy Warhol's 1986 series ‘Camouflage'. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity for audiences to assess Shonibare's most recent lines of enquiry.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is the artist's largest and most complex sculptural tableau: a subverted depiction of Leonardo da Vinci's ‘The Last Supper' where Bacchus replaces the central figure of Christ. The Roman god of wine is here transformed into a headless satyr: half-man, half-goat. Surrounding him at this debauched banquet are his twelve beheaded disciples cast in poses of sexual and animalistic abandon. In homage to da Vinci, and filtered through the lens of Victoriana, the scene unravels as the Dionysiac climax of a pan-historical hedonistic party. By removing the figures' heads, a recurring motif in Shonibare's work, the artist dissuades associations of race. We are also reminded of the executions of the barbarous French Revolution: a period fittingly remembered for its corruption and excess. In direct reference to the celebratory excesses of the banking world, these debauched guests have cast their work troubles aside with no care for tomorrow; scattered across the table is the debris of a lavish feast of both glutton and luxury. This dramatic tableau is a moment frozen in time, inviting us to walk around and marvel at its exuberance.

Furthering the sense of an over-indulgent party, a sharply suited banker is displayed in another room, simulating the act of masturbation with an exploding magnum of champagne. Deliberately brash and humorous, the work combines the light and the dark inherent throughout the exhibition. The corruption caused by obscene amounts of money still carries its scars today as the hangover of the party remains to be cleared up. This contrasting depiction of celebration and depravity is continued in a new series of works entitled ‘Champagne Kids'. These youthful figures each carry a bottle of champagne ready to pop and in the place of their heads are Shonibare's trademark globes, displaying financial data relating to the global economic crisis. Combined with the carnivalesque poses of the figures, they present a powerful commentary on our current state of affairs, as generations suffer the consequences of the banks' over-indulgence.

The second part of the exhibition builds from ‘The Last Supper' by further exploring ideas around the contemporary worship of commodities. Here, the artist's most intricate wall painting is presented in alluring visual opulence. In reference to Shonibare's ‘Toy Paintings', the installation includes a number of round fabric canvases framed by a multitude of different toys. The toys relate to key themes of war, luxury and religion: toy guns, military figurines, shoes, handbags, faux diamonds, crucifixes and the Holy Grail. Spray-painted black, the toys are studded with diamantes creating silhouettes against the vivid gold of the mural behind. The multitude of swirling panels come to represent the fetishisation of war and money, as we simultaneously desire and repel such objects of glittering beauty.

Throughout the exhibition Shonibare uses his trademark wax batik fabric in the tailored outfits of the figures and the canvases of the mural. The material is a poignant interception of our modern and colonial times: inspired by Indonesian design, mass-produced by the Dutch and eventually sold to the colonies in West Africa. The fabric has become emblematic of his practice, closely tied to his own self-recognition as a ‘post-colonial' hybrid. For the first time here, the colours and patterns of the material are used in a group of large-scale self-portraits based on the iconic Pop Artist Andy Warhol's ‘Camouflage' of 1986. Militaristic and haunting, the artist's face is so closely blurred with the patterning of the wax batik that despite its immediate familiarity, he becomes instantly anonymous. As with the other works in the show, the self-portraits are a potent reminder of the illusory boundaries of protection and danger, so closely aligned with power and money.

The exhibition coincides with a major career retrospective at Yorkshire Sculpture Park which includes new and critically acclaimed work from 2002 - 2013 and runs 2 March - 1 September 2013.»

The New Sexy

Call for Proposals: September Issue

Photography on the Internet - the New Hegemony

The advent of the Internet and digitization of the image has brought about what appears to be a debatable democratization of the medium of photography. The “WWW” has expanded what images we experience and the way we experience them. It changed the avenues for the embodiment, dissemination and consumption of images, opening new channels for expression, participation and exchange.

The form and function of more traditional photography gatekeepers such as curators, book editors and publishers, museums and galleries, has been challenged by websites/galleries, blogs, and online publications as open platforms. As a result a serious viewer is now required to look harder and broader through the maze of images online.

The editors of VJIC are accepting proposals manuscript, for Issue #4 (September 2013) that address, but is not limited to, the following topics:

- The challenge to traditional institutions - what role for galleries and museums;
- The democratization of the medium of photography: implications for practice and access;
- The movement of marginalized or ghettoized voices towards visibility;
- Curators of / in the Internet era;
- Bloggers - voice or chaos;
- Erik Kessels - case study;
- Online communities - case studies: e.g. Flickr, Instagram, FlakPhoto;
- Snapshot as Art;
- Image search engines as gatekeepers (ie: Taryn Simon and Aaron Swartz ‘Image Atlas’ http://imageatlas.org/)

For proposal information refer to VJIC submissions or email issue editors:
Katarzyna Majak: majak.katarzyna [at] vasa-project.com
Rui G. Cepeda: cepeda.rui [at] vasa-project.com

Issue #4: theme issue
Proposals due June 1
Completed manuscripts September 1, 2013
Publication: September 25, 2013

newsfromlondon201304

that is why friends are for... we find them unexpectedly a couple of years later, go for a drink and finish having dinner and much more ...and then you remind yourself why you (I) decided to keep away from or stop oneself (myself) from doing something or seeing someone. There are things that are not worthy of, don't deserve the effort, attention and respect.

Marcel Dzama: Puppets, Pawns, and Prophets

Hans-Peter Feldmann

A London

Review: Manet: Portraying Life

Royal Academy of Arts (Londres)
Manet: Portraying Life

Édouard Manet, 'The Railway' (Oil on canvas, 93.3 x 111.5 cm), 1873. National Gallery of Art, Washington,
Gift of Horace Havemeyer in memory of his mother, Louisine W. Havemeyer, 1956.10.1. Photo courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London with the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio.

A retrospectiva Manet: Portraying Life é, possivelmente, um dos blockbusters menos conseguidos pela Royal Academy of Arts durante os últimos anos, quer em termos de experiência sensorial, quer em permitir visualizar novas possibilidades críticas sobre a obra do artista. A exposição, idealizada pela comissária Mary Anne Stevens, apresenta-se como um retrato da sociedade parisiense do século XIX através do olhar de Édouard Manet (1832-1883).

Manet captou com uma qualidade rara a realidade contemporânea francesa do século XIX, e, em algumas obras, apresenta uma qualidade absolutamente extraordinária, ao exceder para além do campo dos retractos que comunicam unicamente sobre as circunstâncias sociais e económicas dos retratados. O óleo sobre tela ‘A Cantora de Rua’ (‘La Chanteuse de Rue’), concebido cerca de 1862, está entre os retratos que melhor representam essa era. Um período caracterizado por convulsões sociais, culturais e políticas, como a publicação do livro A Origem das Espécies, por Charles Darwing, a queda dos impérios Espanhóis e Franceses, pelas descobertas tecnológicas e relações econômicos a uma escala mundial, como a Revolução Industrial, mas também a democratização do olhar. Apesar de não ser uma das obras mais reconhecidas pelo público, como são, por exemplo, ‘Almoço na Relva’ (‘Le déjeuner sur l’herbe’) ou ‘Olímpia’ (uma das obras não apresentada na exposição), ambas de 1863, este retrato, de uma mulher a sair de café com uma guitarra na mão, enquanto come o que parecem ser cerejas, reporta, de uma forma geral, sobre a quintessência da era moderna e, de uma forma particular, sobre a sociedade Ocidental contemporânea.

Édouard Manet, 'Street Singer' (Oil on canvas, 171.1 x 105.8 cm), c.1862.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of Sarah Choate Sears in memory of her husband,
 Joshua Montgomery Sears. Photo courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Se até ao século XVII toda a arte concebida para ser usufruída na esfera pública era com o intuito de celebrar e imortalizar, de uma forma visual, os feitos de santos e da nobreza, ou explicar acontecimentos de ordem divina. Com as sucessivas revoluções, a aconteceram desde os finais do século XVIII, o ‘olhar’ dos artistas passou, também, a estar atento a situações do quotidiano, com origem no espaço doméstico por exemplo, ou sobre a condição humana, sem a interferência sagrada ou profana. O comum, o popular, a vida mundana passa a ser um dos assuntos examinado e retratado pelos artistas ao ser-lhe atribuído uma importância e atenção que anteriormente não existia.

Manet, como muitos outras artistas de variadas épocas, olhou para e estudou as obras concebidas pelos grandes mestres – desde o Renascimento (séculos XIV e XV) até ao Romantismo (séculos XVIII e XIX), Velázquez ou Goya, em particular – e modernizou os assuntos examinados por esses artistas à contemporaneidade. Enquanto, nos retratos sociais, ‘Berthe Morisot com Violetas’ (1872), e ‘Retrato de Antonin Proust’ (1880), por exemplo, Manet subscreveu as convenções visuais determinadas para a pintura, até este momento na história da humanidade, ao comunicar sobre as circunstâncias sociais e económicas do retratado (poder, riqueza, posição e educação) de forma a ser imediatamente legível pelo observador (dado muitas das representações surgirem de comissões atribuídas pelos retratados ou alguém próximo). Em, ‘Almoço na Relva’ (1863), o pintor induz-nos para a gravura ‘Julgamento de Paris’ (c. 1515), de Marcantonio Raimondi, retirado de uma cena mitológica concebida anteriormente por Rafael, ou para a ‘Festa Campestre’ (1508), possivelmente de Ticiano, ao enquadra-los no espírito do século XIX. Em ‘O Caminho-de-Ferro’ ('The Railway') (1872-73) e em ‘A Cantora de Rua’ o pintor examina e retrata cenas do seu quotidiano, na procura de uma nova linguagem pictórica para a arte. Adiciona ao discurso em vigor novas questões sobre a humanidade.

Leonardo da Vinci, no século XV, denominou o verdadeiro artista como aquele que era o “espelho da natureza”; o que conseguia refletir de uma forma pictórica o real existente; o que conseguia reproduzir nitidamente as imagens que o defrontavam. Com a modernidade o artista passa a subverter o valor atribuído anteriormente às imagens provenientes da cultural popular. Os artistas modernos para além de continuarem a transformar imagens existentes, não só de forma a adaptar os temas principais da história da arte e a reflectir a sua contemporaneidade de um modo ‘real’, mas, também, ao atribuir a essa ‘realidade’ relativa um capital sociocultural que anteriormente não lhes era atribuído. Em particular imagens sobre a condição humana. Indivíduos anónimos ou objetos de uso diário passam a ser o objeto de atenção.

A democratização do ‘olhar’ passa a ter maior validade no discurso como consequência dos contatos interculturais a nível global. Há um estudo, compreensão e aceitação de outras formas e modos de ser e ver a realidade. Neste contexto, a ideia da importância de espaço público, e do que acontece neste espaço, surge como um rico campo de possiblidades críticas. As alterações aos valores atribuídos já não é só imposta pelas minorias governantes, mas passa, também, a ser imposta pelas maiorias governadas. Consequentemente, o quotidiano do sujeito governado passa a ser um dos assunto a ser representado pelos artistas ao lhes ser aberto um espaço e atribuído um lugar central na história da humanidade.

Images:  Édouard Manet, 'Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets' (Oil on canvas, 55.5 x 40.5 cm), 1872. Musee d Orsay, Paris. Acquis avec la participation du Fonds du Patrimoine, de la Fondation Meyer, de Chine Times Group et d un mecenat coordonne par le quotidien Nikkei, 1998. Photo copyright RMN (Musee d'Orsay) / Herve Lewandowski; e 'Portrait of M. Antonin Proust' (Oil on canvas, 129.5 x 95.9 cm), 1880. Lent by the Toledo Museum of Art; Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey. Photo Photography Incorporated, Toledo.
Published at Molduras: as artes plásticas na Antena 2: Manet: Portraying Life