ART NEWS:June 02
The first retrospective of Wim Delvoye in Switzerland is on presentation at Museum Tinguely. Since the late ‘80s, Delvoye has been known for works that rest on intelligently witty admixtures of the profane with the sublime, where tradition clashes with utopia, and craftsmanship with high-tech. Probably his best known works are his “Cloacas”, which mechanically reconstruct the physiological processes that take place inside the human body between ingestion and excretion and so visualise one of the basic constants of our existence. The artist’s more recent replicas of construction machinery and trucks using Gothic-style ornaments attest to his delight in aesthetic experimentation and monumental works based on professional constructions and built out of laser-cut steel plates. Info: Museum Tinguely, Paul Sacher-Anlage 1, Basel, Duration: 14/6-1/1/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.tinguely.ch
Widely associated with a re-emergence of the figurative in contemporary painting, Lisa Yuskavage has developed her own genre of portraiture in which lavish, erotic, angelic and at times grotesque characters are cast within fantastical landscapes or domestic spaces. Seamlessly blending contemporary cultural imagery and classical pictorial language, Yuskavage marshals color as a conduit for complex psychological constructs. The exhibition includes several works that continue Yuskavage’s exploration of the dynamics of intertwined couples, while also furthering her interest in using color as a vehicle for ideational content. Begun in the 2000s with dual portraits of female figures, she has in recent years created a series of symbiotic depictions of a female and male couple. Their relationship appears determined by carefully selected color harmonies or contrasts—in some cases, one figure is cast in vibrant hues, while the other is in neutral tones. Info: David Zwirner Gallery, 24 Grafton Street, London, Duration 7/6-28/7/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.davidzwirner.com
With a sarcastic disposition, Andrea Savva names his in situ installation in ArtWall “What a wonderful, wonderful world…” in an effort to describe the world we live in. He creates a web out of barricade tape, to suggest danger, whose knitting starts from scattered pieces of buildings and roads of the city, connected with the development of the Greek state. More precisely, for the artist the fragments originating from the neoclassical buildings are strongly associated to the independent and newly established Greek state of the 19th Century, whose aim was, on the one hand, the connection with its classical past, and on the other, its absorption in a more European context. Our need to be part of Europe and the West, together with our economic and political dependence on them, is still evident. Info: Curator: Stratis Pantazis, ARTWALL Project Space, 26 Sofokleous Street, Athens, Duration: 7/6-5/7/17, Days & Hours: Tue & Thu-Fri 18:00-21:00, Sta 13:00-16:00, https://theartwall.wordpress.com
Shown for the first time in a public institution in the United Kingdom, the solo exhibition of paintings by of Monique Frydman. Soft lines are produced through frottage, a technique for which the artist rubs pastel on to an unstretched canvas that has been placed over a tangle of cord or string, then often completes a work by adding pigment to the surface. The elegant arabesques of lines created by this process blend into the color-saturated canvas. Only from the ‘80s onwards did Frydman start to use intensely rich colors, especially deep dark reds and blues, in her work. By the latter part of that decade she was making works of dazzling luminosity, paintings that have a subtle relationship to the works of artists she admired, such as Claude Monet, Pierre Bonnard and Matisse. Info: Curator Ziba Ardalan, Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, 14 Wharf Road, London, Duration: 7/6-12/8/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 12:00-17:00, http://parasol-unit.org
In “EU”, Satoshi Fujiwara prespresents some of the most significant along with “5K Confinement” a commission realized for “Belligerent Eyes,” an experimental media research project on image production hosted at Fondazione Prada in Venice in Summer 2016. Satoshi Fujiwara initiates a pressing and critical action on the gazer, through the focal length set from portrayed subjects and the heterogeneous definition of his photographs, diverting from the standards of photo-journalism and from an exclusively documentary dimension, thus producing a new emerging lexicon. The exhibition offers an alternative to the representational regimes which have set the ground for the current European photographic identity. Info: Curator: by Luigi Alberto Cippini, Fondazione Prada, Osservatorio, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan, duration: 7/6-16/10/17, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 14:00-20:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-20:00, www.fondazioneprada.org
“MIRALDA MADEINUSA” recovers the work of Antoni Miralda performed during his long stay in the US since the mid-1970s. Some of the most important installations from his personal archive which correspond to that period have been rebuilt, and a wide selection of materials has been made available to the public, so that they can submerge themselves in the genesis of his work: audio visual recordings of actions and events, drawings, sketches, photos and other documentary materials, most of which is unpublished. With a great capacity for symbiosis, his work establishes a dialogue with the artist’s own socio-cultural context. Info: Curator: Vicent Todolí, Azkuna Zentroa, Arriquíbar Plaza 4, Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao, Duration: 7/6-1/10/17, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 8:00-22:00, Sat-Sun 9:00-22:00, www.azkunazentroa.eus
The exhibition “Calder: Hypermobility” focuses on the extraordinary breadth of movement and sound in the work of Alexander Calder. This exhibition brings together a rich constellation of key sculptures and provides a rare opportunity to experience the works as the artist intended, in motion. Regular activations will occur in the galleries, revealing the inherent kinetic nature of Calder’s work, as well as its relationship to performance and the theatrical stage. The exhibition will feature an expansive series of performances and events, including a number of episodic, one-time demonstrations of rarely seen works, as well as new commissions, which will bring contemporary artists into dialogue with Calder’s innovations and illuminate the many ways in which his art continues to challenge and inform new generations.Info: Curators: Jay Sanders and Greta Hartenstein, Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street, New York, Duration: 9/6-23/10/17, Days & Hours: Mon, Wed-Thu & Sun 10:30-18:00, Fri-Sat 10:30-22:00, http://whitney.org
Earlier this year, the new monument for J.R. Thorbecke at The Hague’s Lange Voorhout was unveiled. The exhibition “A Matter of Time. Thom Puckey and the Thorbecke monument” presents a selection of works from Thom Puckey’s oeuvre. It is intended to shed light on the imagery used in this striking new memorial and the connections between the Thorbecke monument and Puckey’s other work. In 2017, the City of The Hague wanted to present Thorbecke as architect of his times – someone who reads the different threads that run through our history and uses these insights to develop a perspective on political structures. A viewpoint that is based on knowledge and science rather than the issues of the day. In Thom Puckey’s design, a 19th-century ideal and iconography are brought in contact with the 21st century – like a journey through time. Info: Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague, Duration: 10/6-27/8/17, Days & Hours: Wed-Sun 12:00-17:00, www.stroom.nl
The Milano Arch Week, a week full of events dedicated to architecture with the artistic direction of Stefano Boeri, will be characterised by the presence of top-level architects, including: the Catalan office RCR Arquitectes, winners of the 2017 Pritzker Prize, Peter Eisenman, Liz Diller and Francis Kéré, an emerging African architect in charge of designing the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2017. A section of the Milano Arch Week, located in the Triennale gardens, will be dedicated to young emerging Italian and international groups, such as, Fosbury Architecture, Raumplan, Baukuh, Parasite 2.0 and the Waiting Posthuman Studio. Milano Arch Week will host various debates concerning the problems of contemporary cities—the suburbs, poverty, social inequalities—urban transformation and the vast theme of rebuilding Central Italy, with the presence of Commissioner Vasco Errani and the coordinator of Casa Italia Giovanni Azzone. Info: Milano Arch Week, Duration 12-18/6/17, http://www.milanoarchweek.eu/index.html
For its 22nd edition LISTE Art Fair is continuing to pursue its consistent application policy, the jury has once again selected the 79 most promising galleries from 34 countries, 14 of which are participating for the first time at LISTE. The past 20 years have seen many (then unknown) artists make their debut at LISTE, including: Wilhelm Sasnal, Jim Lambie, Elizabeth Peyton or Francesco Vezzoli. A visit to LISTE has become a “must” for the most important Private and Institutional Collectors, Curators, Museum People and art lovers. Thus, each year LISTE serves as the meeting place for members of the international art world who are interested in this new generation of galleries and artists. Info: Liste Art Fair 2017, Burgweg 15, Basel, Days & Hours: Mon (12/6/17) 12:00-17:00, (only by invitation), Tue-Sat (13-17/6/17) 13:00-21:00, Sun (18/6/17) 13:00-18:00, Admission: Single entry: CHF 20, Reduced entry: CHF 10 (Students / seniors / AHV), Kids up to 16: Free, After 20:00: Single entry CHF 6, Students / AHV free admission, www.liste.ch
“The Body Politic: Video from The Met Collection” present 4 works created between 1995 and 2015. Alternately provocative, poignant, and absurdist, all of them explore the relationships among power, performance, and moving images. Here, the role of the camera is paramount. Besides a mediating agent and a framing device, the camera also serves as a witness, representing acts of injustice as well as moments of rebellion. The exhibition title functions in two ways. Historically, “body politic” has been used to describe a community comprising disparate individuals. According to this analogy, responsibility for the overall health of the body politic is shared equally among citizens. Today, the phrase connotes more generally the politics of the body, that is the way individual bodies not only suffer political violence but also wield political authority, especially as it has bearing on their race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Each of these meanings is relevant to the works to be featured in The Body Politic. Info: Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met Breuer, 945 Madison Avenue, New York, Duration 20/6-3/9/17, Days & Hours: Days & Hours: Tue-Thu & Sun 10:00-17:30, Fri-Sat 10:00-21:00, www.metmuseum.org