NEW YORK, NY.- Susan Inglett presents “Bearded”, new work from GREG SMITH in his third solo exhibition with the gallery from 30 April to 29 May 2010. A reception for the artist will be held Friday evening 30 April from 6 to 8 PM. The Universe is built from a simple form. That form is commonly understood to be an atom and the shape of that form is commonly understood to be a sphere. For my purposes, I would prefer to see that shape as a beard, or at least a caricature of a beard. For better or worse, there are associations that go along with the beard: disguise, masculinity, Santa Claus, homosexuality, survivalism, fundamentalism, and wisdom, for example. My beard shape is used to build objects, mechanical devices, and a set; these in turn are used to construct a range of scenarios, including those that are well outside (and perhaps even antagonistic toward) these familiar associations and
George IV’s Tastes in Dutch Art on Show in Edinburgh, Scotland
EDINBURGH (REUTERS).- The French Revolution of 1789 and the Napoleonic wars opened up a massive European art market, and some of the British royal purchases of the time are featured in a new exhibition of Dutch landscape and marine paintings in Edinburgh. The exhibition of 42 works by 17th century Dutch artists from the royal collection runs at the Queen’s Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse from Thursday through to January 9 2011. Desmond Shawe-Taylor, surveyor of the Queen’s pictures who curated the exhibition, said 34 of the paintings were bought by the Prince Regent (subsequently King George IV) between 1809 and 1820. “A lot of major collections of Dutch art around the world were formed around that date. The French Revolution and the invasion of Holland which followed released into the market huge quantities of fabulous works
New Photography Exhibit at BYU Presents Sly Examination of Suburban Life in 1970s America
PROVO, UT.- At the end of the 20th century, more Americans resided in suburbs than in cities and rural communities combined. The vast suburban expansion following World War II provided social mobility and increased autonomy, space and comfort for families and individuals. “Bill Owens: Suburbia,” a new exhibition at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art, is a sly photographic study of suburban life in the 1970s—the second generation of the post-war suburban movement. This exhibition of 65 black and white photographs subtly illustrates the incongruities of a consumer culture that has culminated in the American lifestyle of the 21st century. This exhibition will be on view in the Warren & Alice Jones and Paul & Betty Boshard galleries on the lower level of the museum from Friday, April 30, 2010 through Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010. Admission is free of charge. The museum will host a “Neighborhood Block Party”
Denise Grünstein Exhibits Four Series of Photographs at Kiasma
HELSINKI.- The first extensive Finnish exhibition by Denise Grünstein (b. 1950), one of the best known Swedish photographic artists, showcases approximately 40 large works of photographic art and one video installation. The show exhibits four series of photographs, offering a cross-section
of Denise Grünstein’s work in the 2000s. She finds the subject matter that is used from her personal experiences, memories, and roots. The lyrical, atmospheric photographs have a strong relationship with art history, romantic painting, and surrealistic photography. The artist works with traditional film and uses an analogue large format view camera. She emphasises stage-like, artificial ambiance in her photographs. The Figure Out series, after which the exhibition is named, emphasises hair, behind which the characters in the photographs are mysteriously veiled. The series includes Grünstein’s first video installation All Flesh is Grass. The name refers to the perishing, temporary na
Pictures, Objects, Concepts from the Collection of Herman and Nicole Daled at Haus der Kunst
MUNICH.- “Je déteste le décor” – this remark made by Herman Daled illustrates his refusal to hang art on the wall, thereby misusing it as decoration. In 1966, the Brussels-based Belgian doctor Herman Daled (b. 1930) and his wife at that time, Nicole Verstraeten (b. 1931; lawyer), began building their collection of conceptual art. The couple did not simply purchase artists’ works, but also allowed them to create their art beyond the conventional mechanisms of the art market. Herman and Nicole Daled funded projects, financed publications and even paid artists a salary. Their principles for collecting art included: • never buy works by deceased artists • never purchase works on the secondary market • never re-sell works. Herman und Nicole Daleds’ aim was by no means just to accumulate art works. The works in their collection can be regarded as the remnants of the couple’s active participation in the local and international art scene of the late 1960s and early 1
Group Exhibition Curated by Gao Minglu Opens at Contrasts Gallery
SHANGHAI.- Contrasts Gallery will present Maximalism in Contrasts, an exhibition curated by Gao Minglu that will feature work by Zhu Jinshi, Zhang Yu, Lei Hong and He Xiangyu. The exhibition will be open to the public April 30th – June 17th at Contrasts Gallery, No 181 Middle Jiangxi Road, g/f, Shanghai, China. The focus of the exhibition is Maximalism, the philosophical core of Chinese abstract art. Maximalism places an emphasis on the spiritual experience of the artist in the process of creation. Its primary objective is to question and overthrow assumptions about the meaning of art. This exhibition is in keeping with Contrasts Gallery’s mission to present art influenced by Chinese literature and art theory. In Maximalist theory, the meaning of a painting is not expressed by its surface or subject matter and a painting is not considered a unique and privileged product of human culture containing commonly hel
Anna Artaker Continues Her Work on Death Masks at the Secession
VIENNA.- Anna Artaker’s works examine visual production in the context of how history is written: she analyzes images that have been used in the construction and communication of history and have thus become part of a specific historiography. In recent years, Artaker has closely studied the death masks created by the Armenian-Soviet sculptor Sergei Merkurov (1881–1952). Merkurov was a “National Artist” of the young Soviet Union and sculpted numerous monumental statues of the country’s heroes. In addition, he took death masks of prominent figures in Soviet history. These casts—of the faces of Lenin and his wife Nadezhda Krupskaya, of Sergei Eisenstein and Maxim Gorky, but also of party functionaries such as Felix Dzerzhinsky, director of the dreaded secret police, and Andrei Zhdanov, who was responsible for the repressive cultural policy and censorship under Stalin, among many others—became part of the official Soviet historiography. Given the
George IV’s Tastes in Dutch Art on Show in Scotland
EDINBURGH (REUTERS).- The French Revolution of 1789 and the Napoleonic wars opened up a massive European art market, and some of the British royal purchases of the time are featured in a new exhibition of Dutch landscape and marine paintings in Edinburgh. The exhibition of 42 works by 17th century Dutch artists from the royal collection runs at the Queen’s Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse from Thursday through to January 9 2011. Desmond Shawe-Taylor, surveyor of the Queen’s pictures who curated the exhibition, said 34 of the paintings were bought by the Prince Regent (subsequently King George IV) between 1809 and 1820. “A lot of major collections of Dutch art around the world were formed around that date. The French Revolution and the invasion of Holland which followed released into the market huge quantities of fabulous works — émigrés needing to support their émigré habit, loot sort of getting into circulation again — so it was an incredibly good time to be buying,” he
Landscapes by Liebermann, Corinth, and Slevogt at Wallraf-Richartz Museum
COLOGNE.- Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth and Max Slevogt: three names that are representative of German impressionism. Three artists whose creative works captivate a broad public. Three masters who are united by one great passion: landscape painting. It is to this passion that the Wallraf is devoting its very own special exhibition in summer 2010. Under the title “Liebermann, Corinth, Slevogt – The Landscapes” the museum shall be exhibiting around 90 works of these three German impressionists. Most of the loans will come from internationally renowned institutions such as National Gallery in Berlin, the Städel Museum in Frankfurt and the Belvedere in Vienna. The exhibition will demonstrate how the “triumvirate of German impressionism”, free from commissions and constraints of all kinds, developed its creativity best of all in landscape painting. With great dedication and without falling into
Soho’s the Vinyl Factory Releases Exclusive Art & Vinyl Edition by Grace Jones & Chris Levine
LONDON.- The collaboration between pop icon Grace Jones and light artist Chris Levine continues with a stunning art & vinyl edition and a series of limited edition prints, which will be released by The Vinyl Factory on 29th April. The Vinyl Factory, which is hosting Grace’s first ever London art exhibition, will be taking preorders for the bespoke art & vinyl edition, which includes the Hurricane LP, Grace’s first album of new material in nineteen years. Limited to just 500 copies, Grace Jones by Chris Levine: Hurricane will be presented in a beautiful gatefold sleeve with unique screen-printed front cover artwork of Grace Jones by Chris Levine. Inside, along with two super-heavyweight 200-gram records, mastered for vinyl, and released on record for the first time, will be a Giclee fine art print of Chris Levine’s ‘Superstar’ image of Grace Jones. In addition, each of these art & vinyl editions