ART NEWS:Feb.02
Daniel Birnbaum and Kim West’s essay “Life on Sirius: The Situationist International and the Exhibition After Art” is the third volume in the series “All the King’s Horses”, published by Sternberg Press. The book launched in Moderna Museet’s on 10/2/17 in conjunction with the exhibition “Comparative Vandalism: Photography from the Asger Jorn Archive”. The essay explores the relationship that the Situationist International developed with the museum, more specifically the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and with the idea of the exhibition in general. Through some speculative and inconclusive juxtapositions, it attempts to gauge the consequences of this relationship, characterized by unease, for artistic production on the one hand and the art institution on the other. All the King’s Horses is a series of exhibitions, seminars and events that investigate the legacies and the actuality of the Situationist movement. It poses two general questions: what are the histories of this movement, understood as an international network of associated groups and fractions? And in what ways do Letterist, Situationist and Post-Situationist concepts, theories and techniques continue to inform current cultural production?
The group exhibition “The Intersectional Self” is on presentation at The 8th Floor, an independent exhibition and event space established in 2010 by Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation. The exhibition is centered on gender and feminist politics in the age of trans-identity, both explores how notions of femininity (and alternately, masculinity) have shifted in the context of newly defined gender identities and how family structures have been reimagined and reshaped through relatively recent advances in reproductive medicine and evolving gender roles. Ultimately examines how feminism in its many forms has changed the world as we know it. The participating artists: Janine Antoni, Andrea Bowers, Patty Chang, Abigail DeVille, Ana Mendieta, Catherine Opie, Adrian, Piper, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Cindy Sherman, and Martha Wilson, expand on the possibilities of gender expression and fluidity, they make clear there is no single approach to feminist transformation, aside from the agency to engage with sexual identity on their own terms. Info: The 8th Floor, 17 West 17th Street, New York, Duration 9/2-19/5/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 11:00-18:00, http://the8thfloor.org
Over seven weekends Raven Row celebrates Gallery House, one of London’s most influential and extraordinary contemporary art spaces in the 1970s. Through performances, screenings and discussions, accompanied by a changing presentation of artworks and archival material, the exhibition “This Way Out of England: Gallery House in Retrospect” charts Gallery House’s exceptional programme. For only sixteen months in 1972-73, Gallery House hosted exhibitions, residencies, performances and events as well as pioneering ‘expanded cinema’ and much new film and video work. For many of the featured artists Gallery House would prove a formative experience. Neither a survey nor an archival exhibition, “This Way Out of England” seeks to emulate the spirit of Director Sigi Krauss’ and Assistant Director Rosetta Brooks’ space by inviting a number of artists to rethink their original interventions at Gallery House. The episodic nature of this survey acknowledges the impossibility of framing what was an ephemeral experiment. Info: Curators: Antony Hudek and Alex Sainsbury, Raven Row, 56 Artillery Lane, London, Duration: 9/2-2/3/17, Days & Hours: Fri-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.ravenrow.org
On the occasion of the opening of the Elbphilharmonie, the Deichtorhallen Hamburg presents the exhibition “ELBPHILHARMONIE REVISITED”.For many centuries, artists have directly reacted to architectural contexts and attempted to blur or even dissolve established boundaries between visual art, architecture, and design with their works. Artists themselves often traverse the boundaries between these areas. The exhibition follows in this tradition of artistic reflection on and adaptation of architecture. In their works, which were developed especially for this exhibition, the artists deal with their relationship to architecture in general and the Elbphilharmonie building in particular as well as the building’s relationship to people. They are at home in a wide variety of media, ranging from photography to large-scale installations and sculptures to film. Even though the building was the occasion and origin of the idea for the exhibition, the artists developed their works entirely independently of it. Info: Curator: Dirk Luckow, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Deichtorstraße 1-2, Hamburg, Duration: 10/2-1/5/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.deichtorhallen.de
Whether in the form of delivery drones, smart sensors, or Industry 4.0, in recent years, robotics has found its way into our everyday lives, changing them in fundamental ways. Design has a central role to play in this process, for it is designers who shape the interfaces between humans and machines. The Vitra Design Museum presents a major exhibition that examines the current boom in robotics in detail for the first time. The exhibition “Hello, Robot. Design between Human and Machine” comprise more than 200 exhibits from the fields of design and art and will include robots used in the home, in nursing care, and in industry as well as computer games, media installations, and examples of films and literature in which robots feature. It will show the wide variety of forms that robotics takes today and at the same time broaden our awareness of the associated ethical, social, and political issues. Info: Curator Amelie Klein, Vitra Design Museum, Charles-Eames-Str. 2, Weil am Rhein, Duration: 11/2-14/5/17, Days & Hours: Daily 10:00-18:00, www.design-museum.de
Videonale, founded in Bonn in 1984, is the international platform for video art and time-based art forms. With VIDEONALE.16, Videonale is opening itself to related art forms such as video installations, performance and virtual reality. In addition to presenting established international artists Videonale particularly focuses on the promotion of aspiring young artists. Initially at home in the Bonn Kunstverein, Videonale has been using the splendid rooms of the Bonn Kunstmuseum since 2005. A comprehensive festival programme offers an extensive insight into current artistic practice, but also into current discussions of video art and developments on the art market. Numerous events and exhibition projects will enliven both the Kunstmuseum and the City of Bonn during the festival. Info: Artistic Director: Tasja Langenbach, VIDEONALE.16, Kunsmuseum Bonn, Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 2, Bonn, Duration: 16/2-2/4/17, Days & Hours: Mon-Tue & Thu-Sun 11:00-18:00, Wed 11:00-21:00, http://v16.videonale.org
The 5th edition of Cape Town Art Fair (CTAF) returns to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). Positioned as the leading art fair in Africa, CTAF 2017 includes galleries from South Africa, the African continent, and abroad. The list of over 70 exhibitors in the Main section includes galleries that are the most representative of Africa’s global contemporary art scene ascension. Also new is the introduction of the Unframed section, which presents large-scale, museum-quality sculptures and new media installations. Once again, Tomorrows/Today presents solo presentations by emerging artists from Africa and the diaspora. The programme also includes the Cultural Platforms section, showcasing art institutions and non-profit organisations, as well as curated walkabouts and talks by art professionals. Info: Cape Town Art Fair 2017, The Cape Town International Convention Centre, Convention Square, 1 Lower Long Street, Cape Town, Duration 17-19/2/17, Fri-Sun 11:00-19:00, www.capetownartfair.co.za
Manif d’art 8 – Quebec City Biennial brings together artists from Quebec, Canada and abroad who reflect upon the meaning of the theme, “The Art of Joy”. A vast circuit of interrelated exhibitions will take place throughout the city. Altogether, 42 artists from 7 countries are exhibiting their works at 29 sites. For the first time in the history of the Biennial, the central exhibition unfolds in an institutional setting. In keeping with its innovative spirit, Manif d’art 8 occupys the four temporary exhibition galleries of the Pavillon Pierre Lassonde of the MNBAQ. The exhibition features over 15 artists, including BGL, Annette Messager, Carlos Amorales and Christian Boltanski. In addition to the central exhibition at MNBAQ, 13 co-presenters exhibit works chosen by the artistic committee. The only winter biennial in North America, Manif d’art 8 is proud to present more than 10 works of public art. These projects were undertaken by artists who are familiar with Quebec winters, as well as those experiencing it for the first time. Info: Curator: Alexia Fabre, Manif d’art 8 – Quebec City Biennial, Main Location: Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, 179, Grande Allée Ouest, Quebec, Duration: 17/2-14/5/17, Days & Hours: Tue & Thu-Sun 10:00-17:00, Wed 10:00-21:00, http://manifdart.org
Rosa Barba presents her solo exhibition “Elements of Conduct” at Malmö Konsthall. Rosa Barba’s medium is film and her work relates in various ways to filmic methods and genres. The artist’s interest in the narrative techniques of cinema is highly important in her works. It results in a series of experimental approaches in which all elements can work together and become conveyors of meaning, the purely visual, the technical equipment and the sound. In this digital age Rosa Barba further develops the analogue film, approaching sculpture and installation. In Malmö Konsthall one expression of this method is the large, centrally placed structure. Entitled “Blind Volumes”, this construct functions as a platform and vertical stage for several works, orchestrated in a spatial layout, whilst simultaneously being able to liaise with the exhibition hall’s extensive volume and with the architecture. The installation is complemented with projections in several formats (70, 35 and 16 millimetre), in which the film equipment itself is exhibited and becomes part of the work. Info: Malmö Konsthall, S:t Johannesgatan 7, Malmö, Duration: 18/2-14/5/17, Days & Hours: Mon-Tue & Thu-Sun11:00-17:00, Wed 11:00-21:00, www.konsthall.malmo.se
“Jason Rhoades: Installations1994-2006” is the first major Los Angeles exhibition devoted to the politically charged, darkly exuberant art of Jason Rhoades. This comprehensive survey, comprising a group of six enveloping installation works, constitutes a long-overdue tribute to the artist in his own hometown. While Rhoades’ groundbreaking works found early recognition in Europe and New York, the artist spent the entirety of his career in Los Angeles, where he lived and worked until his untimely death in 2006 at the age of 41. The exhibition at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel is conceived to share and celebrate his unwavering vision of the world as an infinite, corpulent, and lustful universe of expressive opportunity. Assertively pushing against the safety of cultural conventions, Rhoades broke accepted rules of public nicety and expanded the frontiers of artistic opportunity through unbridled, brazenly ‘Maximalist’ works. In short, Rhoades brought the impolite and culturally unspeakable to the center of the conversation. Info: Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, 901 East 3rd Street, Los Angeles, Duration: 18/2-21/5/17, Days & Hours: Wed & Fri-Sun 11:00-18:00, Thu 11:00-20:00, www.hauserwirth.com