| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Saturday, August 22, 2020 |
| | | TAI Modern opens an exhibition of new work by Lance Letscher | |
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Lance Letscher, Three Volcanoes, 2020. Collage, 40.50 x 58.25 in.
SANTA FE, NM.- In TAI Moderns exhibition, Old Growth: New Work by Lance Letscher, the renowned collage artist invites the viewer to join him in a bright new world as he embraces his forward motion away from several difficult years of personal stress and anxiety. My use of color has leapfrogged and has become a primary focus while in the studio, Letscher explains in an interview with Lybi Ma. I think for a while, my work was manic and somewhat dark in tone, because of my manic and dark mental landscape. Now, that it is less that way. The mood in my work has lightened, and the formal qualities, composition, use of space, and use of color, in particular, have improved dramatically. Vibrant blossoms of red and yellow contrast startlingly in Felt Suit, an irreverent wink to Joseph Beuys. The eponymous suit, hanging precariously over an ocean of blue rowboats and mens shoes, appears to be awaiting Elviss selectio ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Kunsthalle Rostock has invited Leiko Ikemura to relate her works to ones from the permanent collection at Kunsthalle Rostock as well as others on loan, to engage both East German and East European art in a dialogue with regard to East Asia. The exhibition comprises around 44 works by Leiko Ikemura from the past three decades, including paintings, watercolors, sculptures, and photographs. The latter, black-and-white photographs from the "Fiori Mori" series (2020), are being presented in an exhibition for the first time.
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| | From Ai Weiwei, a portrait of Wuhan's draconian COVID lockdown | | X-rays shed light on animal mummies' secrets | | Art Basel announces new Online Viewing Rooms concept |
Ai Weiwei in New York, Sept. 24, 2017. Christopher Gregory/The New York Times.
by Ian Johnson
LONDON (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- In January, the Chinese city of Wuhan became the first in the world to undergo a lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In many ways this crucial period remains a mystery, with few images escaping the censors grasp. A new film by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei helps fill in some of that missing history. Although now living in Europe, Ai remotely directed dozens of volunteers across China to create Coronation, a portrait of Wuhans draconian lockdown and of a country able to mobilize huge resources, if at great human cost. The audience has to understand that this is about China, Ai said in a telephone interview from Portugal. Yes, its about the corona lockdown, but it is trying to reflect what ordinary Chinese people went through. Despite early missteps, China has fared better than many other countries in taming the epidemic, ... More | |
Skeletal and soft tissue remains of a mummified Eurasian Kestrel.
(AFP).- Scientists have used 3D imaging to examine the contents of three mummified animals -- a cat, a snake and a bird of prey -- to provide unprecedented insight into how they died, all without damaging the specimens. Ancient Egyptians frequently preserved domesticated animals alongside humans in burial chambers to help bridge the gap between the realms of the living and the dead. Animal sacrifice and mummification was so widespread that an entire network of farms and transport infrastructure was required to keep up with the demand. Numerous specimens are held in museums around the world today, but their contents have until now been hard to divine without damaging the mummies. A team of Britain-based scientists used advanced 3D X-ray imaging to see into three mummified remains stored at Swansea University's Egypt Centre. The first, a house cat no more than five months old, was found to have been strangled -- as evidenced by separated ... More | |
Art Basel in Basel 2019 © Art Basel.
BASEL.- Art Basel announced new Online Viewing Rooms concept, with two freestanding, thematic editions taking place in September and October Featuring no more than 100 galleries in each edition and running over the course of four days, this new format will give Art Basel galleries the opportunity to present tightly curated exhibitions drawn from their programs, showing six works simultaneously. Live from September 23 to September 26, "OVR:2020" will be dedicated to works made this year, while "OVR:20c", live from October 28 to October 31, will exclusively feature works created in the 20th century. Both iterations will be open to proposals from all galleries that have been accepted to an Art Basel fair from 2018 onwards. Applications will be reviewed by newly formed Selection Committees that consist of prominent gallerists. The September "OVR:2020" Selection Committee comprises Sadie Coles, Massimo De Carlo, Mills Morán, Prateek Raja, Lisa Spellman and Jasmin Tsou while the Selection Committee ... More |
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| | David Altmejd represented by David Kordansky Gallery | | Pace Gallery opens an exhibition of twelve new ceramic and steel sculptures by Arlene Shechet | | Black artists look beyond 'protest art' at British shows |
David Altmejd, Spirit Transfer, 2019. Expandable foam, epoxy clay, epoxy gel, resin, wood, steel, hair, acrylic paint, quartz, glass eyes, pencil, mechanical pencil, metal wire, and glass rhinestones, 28 x 20 x 20 inches. Photo: Jeff Mclane. Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- David Kordansky Gallery announced its representation of David Altmejd. The gallery will present an online exhibition focused on a new sculpture by the Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based artist beginning this coming Wednesday, August 26, 8:00 am Pacific Time. The presentation will be on view at DavidKordanskyGallery.com through September 16, 2020. David Altmejd explores the constitution and disintegration of the self, producing sculptures that expand the range of figurative representation, and conjuring abstract regions beyond the realm of recognizability. His work is centered on the human form, which in Altmejds vision includes not only the body but the mind, the imagination, and the soul, not to mention the ways the material world is perceived and felt through these channels. To this end, each ... More | |
Arlene Shechet, Together: Midnight, 2020. Glazed ceramic, powder coated steel, 16" à 19" à 11", ceramic, 15" à 9" à 6", stand 29" à 19" à 11", overall. © Arlene Shechet, courtesy Pace Gallery.
EAST HAMPTON, NY.- Pace Gallery will present Together, an exhibition of twelve new ceramic and steel sculptures by New York-based artist Arlene Shechet at the gallerys temporary location in East Hampton. Completed at the artists home and studio in Woodstock, New York, during the global coronavirus pandemic, Together offers a window into the artists work during these past months of quarantine, exploring how art might continue to serve as a source of visual and spiritual nourishment. The beguiling forms and jewel-toned surfaces of Shechets sculptures register her ongoing search for the continued possibility of joy, even in times of extraordinary upheaval. The works, on view August 22 30, are titled after the hours of the day. Collectively, they allude to the medieval Book of Hours, offering the artist a way of marking time while inventing a new sculptural lexicon of chromatic and textural richness. ... More | |
In an undated image provided by People Dem Collective, the Turner Contemporary Gallerys exhibition Margate to Minneapolis features more than 100 signs carried by protesters at Black Lives Matter marches in Britain. People Dem Collective via The New York Times.
by Julianne McShane
MARGATE (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- When artists Kelly Abbott and Victoria Barrow Williams heard that the Turner Contemporary Gallery was hosting an exhibition focused on art associated with the civil rights movement in the American South, they felt confused. We thought they missed a trick by making it so Americanized, Abbott said in an interview. Theres a rich Black British history here. So the two, who are also the directors of People Dem Collective, a Margate-based group that supports Black and brown people across Britain, approached the museum with an idea for an additional exhibit to accompany We Will Walk Art and Resistance in the American South. Their idea would resonate more with the artists experiences as Black ... More |
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| | New world auction record for a bottle of Japanese whisky set at Bonhams | | Minneapolis Institute of Art to open "Under the Influence: Early Works by Frank Gaard" | | Southampton Arts Center to host fundraising art sale |
The oldest Japanese whisky Yamazaki-55 Year sells for HK$6,200,000 (US$795,000). Photo: Bonhams.
HONG KONG.- At Bonhams Fine & Rare Wine and Whisky Sale in Hong Kong today, Yamazaki-55 Year, the oldest Japanese whisky in history, commanded the price of HK$6,200,000 (US$795,000), establishing a new world auction record for a bottle of Japanese whisky. It had a pre-sale estimate of HK$580,000 780,000. The single-malt blockbuster was freshly released in June this year by Suntory, via a customer lottery system applicable only to residents from within Japan. Yamazaki-55 Years was distilled in the 1960s and produced in an exceedingly-limited edition of 100 bottles. Daniel Lam, Director of Wine and Whisky, Asia, commented: The stunning price sets a new milestone for the market of Japanese whisky, testament to collectors desire and determination to acquire the very best the market has to offer. We are pleased to see a keen demand for Scotch ... More | |
Frank Gaard, Untitled (For John and Alice), 1975 (detail). Acrylic on canvas.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- The Minneapolis Institute of Art will present never-before-seen sketches and prints by Twin Citiesbased painter Frank Gaard (b. 1944, Chicago). The exhibition Under the Influence: Early Works by Frank Gaard examines how the artistknown for his brash personality, idiosyncratic art practice, and vibrant color palettearrived at his iconic style. Under the Influence opens August 22 and is on view through November 29. Comprised of 30 objects, Under the Influence will include sketchbooks, prints, and drawings c. 196475, a period of intense evolution for Gaards practice, during which the artist absorbed and responded to elements of pop culture, drugs, religion, psychiatry, and art history. To further illustrate the artists progression, this early work will be installed alongside Gaards 1975 large-scale painting Untitled (for John and Alice), ... More | |
Jeff Carpenter, The Rookery, 2016.
SOUTHAMPTON, NY.- Southampton Arts Center, located at 25 Jobs Lane in the heart of Southampton Village, today announced the addition of a new benefit event, The Collectors Sale. Traditionally the season comes to a close with the highly anticipated annual SummerFest event. With current government restrictions now prohibiting gatherings of groups of more than 50, outside the box thinking and a new approach to fundraising is essential. Always striving to fulfill our mission of Community Building through the Arts, we reimagined what our annual benefit could look like, complying within the local and state guidelines. Where once SummerFest allowed us to host 450 supporters in a year end celebration, featuring 30 of our most celebrated chefs and restaurants across the East End, this year we turn our attention to the artists that we have served and supported these past eight years. We are so humbled by the ... More |
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| | Dia Beacon reopens with a sonic boom | | Jacobson House Native Art Center celebrates the cultural survival of the Anishinaabeg | | Tony Awards ceremony will go ahead, online |
Barry Le Va's Animations: Frame by Frame (1967/2019) at Dia Beacon in Beacon, N.Y., Aug. 17, 2020. Victor Llorente/The New York Times.
by Jason Farago
BEACON, NY (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Before it was converted into one of the countrys largest museums of modern and contemporary art, the building that houses the Dia Art Foundation was a box factory, built in 1929. The front galleries upstairs were once printing sheds, and still signal their lapsed function through their saw-toothed windows and unstained wood floors. But its downstairs, in the old loading bays, that you really sense this minimal monasterys industrial life. An array of concrete columns, each topped with a mushroom-shaped capital, holds up the printing plant. Clerestory windows cast shadows on a huge concrete floor. Down here, where Dia has previously presented work by Bruce Nauman, Dan Flavin, Tacita Dean and François Morellet, the museum fully foregrounds the awkward alliance of modern art and ... More | |
Dennis Esquivel, Brilliant Colors of the Dawn (Grand Traverse Odawa/Ojibwe). Acrylic, acrylic gel medium on burled wood panel.
NORMAN, OK.- The Jacobson House Native Art Center opens its door this fall to showcase Azhwakwa: Contemporary Anishinaabe Art, a group art show celebrating the cultural survival of the largest collective Indigenous group north of the Rio Grande. The exhibition will run from August 22 through October 18, 2020, with an opening reception on Saturday, August 22 from 11:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. Online artist talks will carry the imagery and conversation to those who cannot attend in person, as well. The online discussion series will launch on Monday, August 24, at 7:00 pm CDT, with Neebinnaukzhik Southall presenting on Anishinaabe Aesthetics via Zoom. The Anishinaabeg encompasses several Great Lakes tribes from Canada and the United States, including the Three Fires Council that is, the Potawatomi, Odawa, and Ojibwe as well as the Algonquin and Oji-Cree of Canada. During Indian Removal ... More | |
Adrienne Warren and Steven Booth in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, one of the shows that opened in the abbreviated 2019-20 Broadway season, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater in New York, Oct. 4, 2019. Sara Krulwich/The New York Times.
by Michael Paulson
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Tony Awards administrators have decided to hold an online ceremony this fall to honor shows that opened before the coronavirus pandemic shuttered Broadway. The American Theater Wing and the Broadway League the two organizations that present the awards announced the decision Friday morning. Twenty plays and musicals opened on Broadway during the abbreviated 2019-20 season, but only the 18 shows that opened before Feb. 19 will be eligible for Tony Awards. A revival of West Side Story that opened Feb. 20 and the new musical Girl From the North Country, which opened March 5, will not be eligible because too few nominators and voters saw them before Broadway shut ... More |
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Shorelines, 1977---A Short Film by Al Jarnow | From the Vaults
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Crescent City Auction Gallery announces 3-day Estates Auction slated for September
NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Original oil on canvas paintings by renowned Louisiana artists George Rodrigue (1944-2013) and Clementine Hunter (1886-1988), plus a fine selection of designer purses by some of the most respected names in couture, are just a taste of what bidders will find in Crescent City Auction Gallerys Estates Auction slated for the weekend of Sept. 11th-12th-13th. The painting by George Rodrigue is from the artists famous Blue Dog series and is titled Flames of Hope (1992). The signed and titled work, 13 ½ inches by 10 ¾ inches, carries an estimate of $20,000-$40,000. The oil painting by folk art legend Clementine Hunter, titled Wash Day (circa 1985), is signed lower center right. It measures 17 ¾ inches by 23 ½ inches (est. $3,000-$5,000). The selection of designer purses includes fashionable examples by names such as Chanel, ... More
The Museum of Craft and Design showcases cutting-edge custom motorcycles, physically and virtually
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The Museum of Craft and Design presents Moto MMXX, opening August 22 and on view through January 3, 2020. Originally slated to open in May of 2020, Moto MMXX was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MCD is implementing strict protective measures, including sanitation stations and directional signage to safely welcome visitors to view Moto MMXX once the state mandate is lifted. Masks will be required by everyone, including children over two years old, to enter the museum. Additionally, beginning September 1, a virtual 360 recording of the exhibition will be available at sfmcd.org. Moto MMXX is a cutting-edge custom motorcycle exhibition showcasing innovative, international builders, such as Jens vom Brauck (Germany), Jack Watkins (Poland), Jay Wen (United Kingdom), and Kurosu Kaichiroh (Japan); ... More
Masks, gel, and empty seats for Venice Film Festival
ROME (AFP).- The Venice Film Festival issued virus safety guidelines on Friday, as organisers hope the oldest such event in the world can maintain its international panache while remaining infection-free. The 10-day festival that begins next month on the legendary Lido in Venice is likely to be one of the festival's most atypical, given the masks and social distancing necessitated by the lingering threat of coronavirus. The Biennale di Venezia, as it is called in Italian, has taken on greater importance this year as film festivals across have the globe have cancelled, including Venice's main competitor, the glamorous Cannes Film Festival on the Cote d'Azur in France. But recent spikes in coronavirus cases around Europe -- including Italy -- have raised the stakes for the festival, the first major international film event to be held in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. ... More
SculptureCenter announces Curatorial Fellow
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY.- SculptureCenter announced the appointment of Katherine Simóne Reynolds to its Curatorial Fellowship position. As the Curatorial Fellow, Reynolds will organize SculptureCenters annual In Practice open call exhibition (scheduled to open in February 2021). As a curator and an artist, Katherine Simóne Reynolds practice investigates emotional dialects and psychogeographies of Blackness within the non, and the importance of anti-excellence. Her work tries to physicalize emotions and experiences by constructing pieces that include portrait photography, video works, choreography, and sculpture. In the process of making subtle changes to her practice she has learned that creating an environment built on intention brings the most disarming feelings to her work. Utilizing Black embodiment and affect alongside ... More
Catwalk: Pet clothing designer inspired by ancient Chinese beauties
CHANGSHA (AFP).- Liu Liu is a fashion designer's dream model and muse -- happy to spend hour upon hour being measured and dressed, and posing in tailored couture outfits and artistic designs. Liu Liu is also a cat. Her doting owner, Wu Qiuqiao, makes a living from designing miniature versions of traditional flowing Chinese gowns known as "hanfu" for cats and dogs that sell for up to 500 yuan ($70). After quitting her job as a copy editor last year, the 26-year-old works from her apartment in the central city of Changsha designing pet-sized dresses out of pastel-coloured chiffon and decorated with embroidery, beads, frills and motifs that she sells online. Liu Liu ably models the creations inspired by the historic costumes of the Han ethnic majority that are seeing a resurgence in popularity among young people -- and now pet owners. "Some of my ... More
Mexican rockers blend punk with indigenous soul
NEZAHUALCOYOTL (AFP).- With a unique blend of punk rock, Aztec instruments and indigenous lyrics, five brothers from a struggling suburb of Mexico City are using music to preserve their cultural heritage. "It has been an adventure," said Victor Hugo Sandoval, 31. "What we wanted when this dream of having a punk band started was sex, drugs and rock and roll, but things just happened as we went along." At a recent rehearsal for Los Cogelones in the capital city's Nezahualcoyotl district, the wail of guitars and thunder of drums mixed with the soothing sounds of a conch shell. The brothers, wearing traditional Aztec garments, sing in a combination of Spanish and the indigenous Nahuatl language, while young music students accompany on drums and brass instruments. "In 2012 we began to incorporate prayers like our Mexica (Aztec) grandparents ... More
Pakistan province pushes crackdown on publishers
LAHORE (AFP).- Publishers in Pakistan's most populous province could soon face prison if they fail to win approval from government bureaucrats before printing or importing books, pamphlets and many other written works. Lawmakers in Punjab, home to about half of the country's 215 million people, unanimously approved the measure last month as part of a sweeping bill targeting "objectionable" printed material. If implemented, the bill could gut the publishing industry in regional capital Lahore and divide Pakistan's literary world, leaving books available in one part of the country but banned in another. Proponents claim the legislation will root out blasphemous content and enhance national security. But critics say it is just the latest example of authorities pandering to populist religious pressure, and attempting to stifle debate in a culture of ever-increasing ... More
NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery explores Avant-Garde UAE artist community from 1980s
ABU DHABI.- The NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Art Gallery will launch its sixth digital archive, But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988-2008, as part of its TRACE: Archives and Reunions series, on Tuesday, August 25. To mark this special TRACE event, The NYUAD Art Gallery will host a Zoom gathering in Arabic and English, with live translation. Art historian Dr. Aisha Stoby will lead a conversation with Nujoom Alghanem, Khalid Albudoor, Mohammed Kazem, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Abdullah Al Saadi, Vivek Vilasini, Adel Khozam, Ebtisam Abdulaziz, Abdulraheem Sharif and Cristiana de Marchi. They will be joined by the curatorial team of the exhibition: NYUAD Chief Curator, Maya Allison, Associate Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Bana Kattan, and Assistant Director of Publications and Education at The NYUAD ... More
We heard our first live music in months. Nothing beats it.
MORRISTOWN (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Live performance ended abruptly in March as the coronavirus spread around the world, putting musicians out of work and audiences out of concert halls. Artists have taken to the internet, sending out livestreams, prerecorded streams, streams from the archives almost all with the implied caveat that nothing beats the real thing, the real sound. That sound is slowly, cautiously re-emerging. On Thursday evening, two of our classical music critics, Joshua Barone and Zachary Woolfe, did what they used to do several times a week: They went to a concert. The JACK Quartet was appearing as part of the modest Lot of Strings Festival in the parking lot of the Morris Museum here the series continues Aug. 27 and Sept. 3 and the critics chatted the next morning about how an everyday experience had become ... More
One of the most iconic pre-Comics Code covers, 1953's Chamber of Chills No. 19, heads to auction
DALLAS, TX.- Sixteen years ago, Heritage Auctions sold a highly graded copy of Chamber of Chills No. 19 for $126.50 in retrospect, an outright steal. In July of this year, the very same title, bearing a far lesser grade, realized $6,070.80 during Heritages summer Comics & Comics Art event. And in 2018, a far better copy of the 1953 book sold for almost twice that amount. As prices escalated over the years, and with Chamber of Chills No. 19 threatening to overtake far more famous and familiar horror titles, collectors and prospectors flocked to the message boards. They debated, often at great length, what accounts for the marked increase in price and interest in this once-obscure issue published by Harvey, best known for its childrens comics such as Richie Rich and Little Dot. And time and again, the answer has remained the same: ... More
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PhotoGalleries
Bharti Kher
Turner Bursaries
Old Royal Naval College
Ren Hang
Flashback On a day like today, French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson was born August 22, 1908. Henri Cartier-Bresson (August 22, 1908 - August 3, 2004) was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He was an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography. He helped develop the "street photography" or "life reportage" style that has influenced generations of photographers who followed. In this image: A man looks at images at the opening of a photo exhibit Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2004, at The Museum of The City of New York, which features the work of photographers from the Magnum photo agency. At right is Harlem,1947 (Easter Sunday) by Henri Cartier-Bresson.
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