ART NEWS:May 03

Following the scientific examination and conservation carried out in 2015 on Jackson Pollock’s “Alchemy” (1947), the conservation department of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, has initiated an important project on another major painting in the museum, “L’Atelier” (1928) by Pablo Picasso. This is made possible by the generous support of BSI Bank, Institutional Patron of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection since 2001. In April examination of the work by the conservation department was initiated in order to understand Picasso’s technique, studies necessary also to establish the correct procedures and the appropriate materials for selectively and gradually removing the unwanted surface accretions.

“The Coloured Sky: New Women II” by Yang Fudong, is the sequel to “New Women” (2013), and is the first digital film in color produced by the artist. New Women was an homage to the silent film with the same title produced by director Cai Chusheng in 1935. The two films in Yang’s series are both based on the Shanghai modern style, which sprouted under the influence of Western culture as it was introduced into China in the ‘30s. Though the sequel the artist portrays the desires of young women dreaming to become models or movie stars, and implies an unstable future, the artist demonstrates his consistent pursuit of “aesthetics of existence” in this work as well. Info: Platform-L Contemporary Art Center, 11 Eonjuro-133gil, Gangnamgu, Seoul, Duration: 12/5-7/8/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Thu & Sun 11:00-19:00, Fri-Sat 11:00-20:00, http://platform-l.org

“And Nothing But the Truth” is the title of the solo exhibition by Folkert de Jong. The exhibition’s title refers to the promise of a man to himself to continue to improve and to grow as a person. The idea of ​​morality as a guide to tame chaos through technology and science in order to conquer death and decay at the expense of our human values. De Jong is known for his idiosyncratic use of insulation materials such as polyurethane and Styrofoam. Recently, he has broadened his material palette. For instance with transparent Plexiglas vitrines, enclosing foam assemblages of body parts and objects, as if preserved in formaldehyde. Although the psychedelic, brightly coloured plastic seems to radiate light, it also hermetically seals off its contents and filters reality. Info: Brand New Gallery, via Carlo Farini 32, Milan, Duration: 18/5-22/6/16, Tue-Sat 11:00-13:00 & 14:30-19:00, www.brandnew-gallery.com

The exhibition “Some Dimensions of my Lunch” with works of Roelof Louw, is the first exhibition in series of four, examining the history of Conceptual Art in Britain. The title of the exhibition series pays homage to an unknown work by Ed Herring. His pyramid of 8,000 oranges, “Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges)”, first shown in 1967, continues to cause a sensation wherever it is shown. The exhibition brings together Louw’s two contributions to the seminal conceptual exhibition of 1969, “When Attitudes Become Form: Park Lane”, which was exhibited at the Kunsthalle Bern, and “Rope Piece”, which will be installed for the first time since it was exhibited at the ICA, London, in 1969.  Info: Richard Saltoun Gallery, 111 Great Titchfield Street, London, Duration: 19/5-17/6/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, www.richardsaltoun.com

The exhibition “Machine Vision”, by Steina and Woody Vasulka presents examples of their analogue videos and experiments with lens-based media and digital processors from the early ‘70s to the early ‘80s reveal how the Vasulkas’ methods anticipated the virtual modes of image-making that are dominant today. The artists are pioneers of electronic and digital image production. In their ongoing dialogue with machines, from cathode-ray televisions to digital computer systems,  they consider the electronic signal as artistic medium. The electro-optical-mechanical installation “Machine Vision” (1978) implicates the body of the viewer and demonstrates her poetic conception of time, the scientific analysis of video technology is evident in “Waveform Studies” (1977-2016). Info: Curators: Amy Budd and Kristín Scheving, Raven Row, 56 Artillery Lane, London, Duration: 19/5-5/6/16, Days & Hours: Wed-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.ravenrow.org

The exhibition “The Hacienda must be rebuilt” continues Bruno Peinado’s installation of the same name on the façade of the Mrac by playing with a dialogue between the interior and the exterior of the museum. The exhibition, conceived as a landscape which we must “rebuild,” offers a parallel between the creation of the communal space, and its own construction, inspired by the idea of the Hacienda. The hacienda motif comes from a manifesto written in the 1950s by the Russian situationist thinker Ivan Chtcheglov, which would give its name to the legendary Manchester nightclub created by Joy Division and Factory Records. Info: Musée régional d’art contemporain Languedoc-Roussillon, 146 Avenue de la Plage, Sérignan, Duration: 21/5-9/10/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 10:00-18:00. Sat-sun 13:00-18:00, http://mrac.languedocroussillon.fr

“The Concrete Utopia: Ivan Picelj and New Tendencies 1961–1973”, is an exhibition that explores the neo avant-garde of the ‘60s and ‘70s via the work of Croatian artist Ivan Picelj. As one of the founders of the New Tendencies movement, Picelj’s work presents an opportunity to re-examine this exciting period. The exhibition highlights the central role played by the artist, whose work and artistic explorations range from painting to architecture to the graphic design of posters, catalogues and magazines. Picelj produced a number of graphic design projects for his friends, artists, architects and “spiritual masters”, including Jean Arp, Pablo Picasso, Victor Vasarely, Raphael Soto and Bruno Munari. Info: Curator: Ilaria Bignotti, Cortesi Gallery, 41 & 43 Maddox Street, London, Duration: 26/5-22/7/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat 12:00-18:00, www.cortesigallery.com

The solo exhibition by Arash Nassiri features different video displays that refer to the entertainment industry techniques. The subject of the show is inspired by events that use light for entertainment. The exhibition includes the screening of “Tehran-geles”, a fictional vision of Tehran, set within the urban landscape of Los Angeles. Through an aerial journey, we discover an architectural transposition of the two cities. While flying over the boulevards of L.A., personal migrant testimonies echo the collective story of the Iranian capital. Downtown, the buildings are saturated with neon signs pulsating with voices that take us on a hallucinatory trip. Info: Fundació Suñol, Nivell Zero, Rosselló 240, Barcelona, Duration: 26/5-11/6/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 11:00-14:00 & 16:00-20:00, Sat 1:00-20:00, www.fundaciosunol.org

In his new exhibition “The pig and other stories”, Stratos Kalafatis presents photographs created during the last years and which he describes as ‘intermediate’ images.  The photographs of Stratos Kalafatis are narrative. Twenty years ago, in the island of Skopelos, the artist began to photograph in a daily basis, creating a calendar format and recording landscapes, coastlines, people and every detail of life. With the use of the medium, square format, Kalafatis uses a palette of saturated colors, imposing seductively the flash even during daylight. Info: Bernier-Eliades Gallery, 11 Eptachalkou Street, Athens, Duration: 26/5-12/7/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 10:30-18:30, Sat 12:00-16:00, www.bernier-eliades.gr