KUNSTMASCHINE
Contemporary art news wherever it may happen.
Contemporary art news wherever it may happen.
KUNSTMASCHINE - Contemporary Art News, Reviews, and Events
ILLUMInazioni – ILLUMInations, la Biennale di Venezia, 54th International Art Exhibition, June 4th – November 27th 2011
Everything takes a bit longer in Venice. The small, north-Italian city is car-free, the only modes of transportation are so-called Vaporettos—boat-buses—or water taxis, both hard to find and slow. Walking is usually the fastest solution, as long as one does not get lost in the city’s maze of canals and narrow alleyways. I arrive at three in the afternoon—I am here to attend the opening of ILLUMInazioni – ILLUMInations, the 54th Venice Biennial—by the time I get to the apartment I am staying in, it is ...
<< MORE >>20th National Exhibition: Los Angeles Printmaking Society
November 5, 2009
by Bryson Strauss
LOS ANGELES – Peter Frank pulled off another impressive curatorial feat for the “20th National Exhibition of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society” this weekend. Opening last Sunday at the L.A. Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park, the show featured a spectacularly diverse and competent body of work without being overly schizophrenic or myopic.<< MORE >>
LA BIENNALE – Chasing Baldessari – Day Three
Photos by Ashley "Holiday" Eaton
June 7, 2009
by Bryson Strauss
VENEZIA – Waiting for entrance to Bruce Nauman’s installation “Topological Gardens” at the American Pavilion, I was sideswiped by not one but three camera people breaking through the lines in pursuit of a shot or sound bite of Yoko Ono, who had just received a Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement from the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. It was a real paparazzi moment, Hollywood style!
LA BIENNALE – “The Birds Nest” – Day One
Photos by Ashley "Holiday" Eaton
June 5, 2009
By Bryson Strauss
VENEZIA - On Friday June 5, 2009, the 53rd Biennale opened to private audiences with a bang that rivaled the World Series. Set among the gorgeous alleyways and waterways of Venice, art poured out of every crevice as throngs of artists, collectors, consultants, gallerists, and writers flooded the streets headed for the Arsenale and Giardini, where countries from around the world curated their best artistic talent.<< MORE >>
LOOP FAIR 2009, “The Place for Videoart Lovers” May 21-31, 2009
June 1, 2009
by Bryson Strauss
BARCELONA – LOOP Fair in Barcelona this weekend demonstrated the spectacular possibilities for video art. Now in its seventh year, and claiming to be the first dedicated video art fair, LOOP is clearly creating one of the most advanced and active dialogs about the creative opportunities (and veritable obstacles) for video art in the contemporary art world.
Hark, I Hear the Cannons Roar
May 29, 2009
BARCELONA – With the Jean Wells exhibition the following night at Imaginart*, LOOP Fair opening, and with the Venice Biennale and Art Basel around the corner, it may seem odd to launch into a European art blog with a story about a futból game. Given the severity, however, it would definitely be a cultural misstep to ignore what happened when Barcelona Club and Manchester United squared off in Rome and Barcelona was shooting for a triple cup.
KEHINDE WILEY: The World Stage: Brazil at ROBERTS & TILTON
I think painting can be a bloodsport. I try to paint as though it were.
KEHINDE WILEY
The World Stage: Brazil
ROBERTS & TILTON Gallery
LOS ANGELES – Even if the work is starting to seem conceptually tired, the hype surrounding Kehinde Wiley is not unwarranted. Ever since Wiley exploded in 2005, following his Brooklyn Museum exhibition and subsequent appearance on the cover of Art in America, he has steadily staked out more turf in the contemporary art world while helping to put figurative painting back into play in a major way.
His new exhibition at ROBERTS & TILTON in Culver City, entitled The World Stage: Brazil, maintains that trajectory, demonstrating that Wiley’s craftsmanship and vision continue to evolve and translate into paintings that possess incredible visual and intellectual stamina.
<< MORE >>
- Kehinde Wiley
KEHINDE WILEY
ROBERTS & TILTON Gallery
LOS ANGELES – Even if the work is starting to seem conceptually tired, the hype surrounding Kehinde Wiley is not unwarranted. Ever since Wiley exploded in 2005, following his Brooklyn Museum exhibition and subsequent appearance on the cover of Art in America, he has steadily staked out more turf in the contemporary art world while helping to put figurative painting back into play in a major way.
His new exhibition at ROBERTS & TILTON in Culver City, entitled The World Stage: Brazil, maintains that trajectory, demonstrating that Wiley’s craftsmanship and vision continue to evolve and translate into paintings that possess incredible visual and intellectual stamina.
<< MORE >>
GOOD TO GO EXHIBITION - NEWSPACE GALLERY
I'm interested in the digging out of each artist, to dig out their
innermost capacity for feeling, for empathy, for reductiveness, to
translate human values and frailties into art.
-Joni Gordon
Good to Go
Newspace Gallery
5241 Melrose Avenue
September 16 – December 16, 2006
LIGHT AND SPEED EXHIBITION - BEVERLY HILLS
October 25, 2006
Light and Speed
460 Degrees Gallery
Beverly Hills
Installation art and car sales meet like rock stars and amplifiers at the 460 degrees exhibition called Light and Speed at 269 N. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Arne Quinze's wild, wooden sculpture, Miranda Lichtenstein's sober, meditative photography, and Pascual Sistos's öber-urban, interactive, video installation add curiously beautiful lines and movement to the showroom of the new Lexus LS. Yes, it sounds crass but it works. Very cool.
Continuing the tradition of blurring the lines between capitalistic exploits and artistic creation, curator Sabastien Agneessens from Formavision with assistance from Shamim Momin of the Whitney Museum of American Art, orchestrated a hotshot exhibition and car show that marries sound, structure, vision, and motion to create a unique future-tech environment for which to showcase the new Lexus (which itself is an insane work of art, if not an overkill exercise in conspicuous consumption. More on that below.).
Arne Quinze's installation is sick! His three linear miles of 2 x 3s (Canadian odd-cut) woven, nailed, and strapped into a giant undulating form is a perfect execution of controlled chaos. The sculpture appears to be spilling like a wave of blond pixie sticks out of control, rushing through the room in a sweeping graceful gesture that dives under air ducts and leaps over walkways. Thousands of sticks crammed into that relatively small space lifts you up, carries you around the room and deposits you right at the vehicle.
Quinze is not an upstart. He's part one of Quinze & Milan, a modish design firm based in the U.S. and Belgium. Earlier this year, Quizne garnered some attention for his similar, though grossly larger, structure at Burning Man. This time using nine linear miles of the same boards, he erected a ginormous monster in the desert called Uchronia, measuring almost 200 feet long, 100 feet wide and nearly 50 feet tall. Photos and gossip suggest it was an amazing and explosive site, if not a criminal waste of natural resources. They burned it, of course. All in the name of art, baby!
Bolstering Quinze's sculpture in Light and Speed between the wooden waves, and crashing boards, are two ten-foot opposing video screens set about three yards about. Created by Pascual Sisto, each screen features a montage running in a seamless, continuous loop. One screen shows vehicles on a nighttime freeway flowing into the space while the other pictures vehicles flowing away. The images are spliced and cut as to create a 360-degree montage of smooth, flowing, almost meditative movement and flickering light. The affect is almost hypnotic.
On another wall, Sisto projects a video using a super-groovy, high-tech projector called a Reactrix. This machine allows Sisto to generate moving pictures on the screen that can interact with viewers. Button-like images with the names of each artist float across the screen. When the visitor touches the "button," a short video about the artist and the installation starts up. According to the Reactrix website, the projector is a combination of animation and motion detector technology. The images, as they drift across the screen, are synced up with the motion detector and thus when someone breaks the beam, it triggers the animation component. In this case, it makes it far more interesting then static video and more closely approximates, or rather caters to, the internet-style experience. Click and run. Click and run.
The final component of Light and Speed, is Miranda Lichtenstein's zen-like photography. Packed off in a corner that doesn't seem to altogether go with the show, as the "feng shui" of this little sitting area seems all wrong in relation to the rest of the installation. The photos, which in their own right are knock-out, are mostly of people in contemplative/meditative states or places. Lichtenstein is excellent with space and the human form and here she creates a comfortable tension between the two. This calming sensation is consistent with the whole peace within chaos vibe of the show, but a little out of whack with the light and speed concept. (Also, check out Lichtenstein's Polaroid show at the Hammer. http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/103/).
If all the energy and movement of the combined efforts of these artists is to highlight those sleek, calming qualities of the Lexus LS, it's a success. The installation almost stands alone but the vehicle remains a key grounding stone to the experience (and I swear I don't work for Lexus or any automotive affiliate). This modern day hotrod lists for $70,000 to $85,000 and according to the literature and demos, it actually drives itself. The parking feature is the most talked about, where a clumsy parallel parker simply pulls aside an empty spot, pushes a couple buttons on the LCD, and the car steers into the space by itself. I love gadgets so hyper-futuristic, I-Robot style driving gets me all jittery. It's a sweet ride. Look here: http://www.lexus.com/models/LS/.
Light and Speed is successful as both an art piece and a marketing tool. Obviously, the installation helps to elevate the consumer product to the level of fine art but the vehicle holds its own. After all, this is not a Ford Taurus we are talking about here. The Lexus LS is Fat City! Here the work of Quinze, Sisto, and Lichtenstein, draws attention the artistry of the automotive designers and engineers, who unfortunately remain anonymous. I suspect shows like this will become an endemic model for contemporary art, where the creative classes are plugged into technology and commerce while big companies with deep pockets vie for innovative ways to infiltrate recalcitrant, artsy, technologically savvy, and very slippery, young consumer groups.
-bryson strauss
Light and Speed
October 21 - November 3, 2006
269 North Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
888.747.4504
www.460degrees.com
Light and Speed
460 Degrees Gallery
Beverly Hills
Installation art and car sales meet like rock stars and amplifiers at the 460 degrees exhibition called Light and Speed at 269 N. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Arne Quinze's wild, wooden sculpture, Miranda Lichtenstein's sober, meditative photography, and Pascual Sistos's öber-urban, interactive, video installation add curiously beautiful lines and movement to the showroom of the new Lexus LS. Yes, it sounds crass but it works. Very cool.
Continuing the tradition of blurring the lines between capitalistic exploits and artistic creation, curator Sabastien Agneessens from Formavision with assistance from Shamim Momin of the Whitney Museum of American Art, orchestrated a hotshot exhibition and car show that marries sound, structure, vision, and motion to create a unique future-tech environment for which to showcase the new Lexus (which itself is an insane work of art, if not an overkill exercise in conspicuous consumption. More on that below.).
Arne Quinze's installation is sick! His three linear miles of 2 x 3s (Canadian odd-cut) woven, nailed, and strapped into a giant undulating form is a perfect execution of controlled chaos. The sculpture appears to be spilling like a wave of blond pixie sticks out of control, rushing through the room in a sweeping graceful gesture that dives under air ducts and leaps over walkways. Thousands of sticks crammed into that relatively small space lifts you up, carries you around the room and deposits you right at the vehicle.
Quinze is not an upstart. He's part one of Quinze & Milan, a modish design firm based in the U.S. and Belgium. Earlier this year, Quizne garnered some attention for his similar, though grossly larger, structure at Burning Man. This time using nine linear miles of the same boards, he erected a ginormous monster in the desert called Uchronia, measuring almost 200 feet long, 100 feet wide and nearly 50 feet tall. Photos and gossip suggest it was an amazing and explosive site, if not a criminal waste of natural resources. They burned it, of course. All in the name of art, baby!
Bolstering Quinze's sculpture in Light and Speed between the wooden waves, and crashing boards, are two ten-foot opposing video screens set about three yards about. Created by Pascual Sisto, each screen features a montage running in a seamless, continuous loop. One screen shows vehicles on a nighttime freeway flowing into the space while the other pictures vehicles flowing away. The images are spliced and cut as to create a 360-degree montage of smooth, flowing, almost meditative movement and flickering light. The affect is almost hypnotic.
On another wall, Sisto projects a video using a super-groovy, high-tech projector called a Reactrix. This machine allows Sisto to generate moving pictures on the screen that can interact with viewers. Button-like images with the names of each artist float across the screen. When the visitor touches the "button," a short video about the artist and the installation starts up. According to the Reactrix website, the projector is a combination of animation and motion detector technology. The images, as they drift across the screen, are synced up with the motion detector and thus when someone breaks the beam, it triggers the animation component. In this case, it makes it far more interesting then static video and more closely approximates, or rather caters to, the internet-style experience. Click and run. Click and run.
The final component of Light and Speed, is Miranda Lichtenstein's zen-like photography. Packed off in a corner that doesn't seem to altogether go with the show, as the "feng shui" of this little sitting area seems all wrong in relation to the rest of the installation. The photos, which in their own right are knock-out, are mostly of people in contemplative/meditative states or places. Lichtenstein is excellent with space and the human form and here she creates a comfortable tension between the two. This calming sensation is consistent with the whole peace within chaos vibe of the show, but a little out of whack with the light and speed concept. (Also, check out Lichtenstein's Polaroid show at the Hammer. http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/103/).
If all the energy and movement of the combined efforts of these artists is to highlight those sleek, calming qualities of the Lexus LS, it's a success. The installation almost stands alone but the vehicle remains a key grounding stone to the experience (and I swear I don't work for Lexus or any automotive affiliate). This modern day hotrod lists for $70,000 to $85,000 and according to the literature and demos, it actually drives itself. The parking feature is the most talked about, where a clumsy parallel parker simply pulls aside an empty spot, pushes a couple buttons on the LCD, and the car steers into the space by itself. I love gadgets so hyper-futuristic, I-Robot style driving gets me all jittery. It's a sweet ride. Look here: http://www.lexus.com/models/LS/.
Light and Speed is successful as both an art piece and a marketing tool. Obviously, the installation helps to elevate the consumer product to the level of fine art but the vehicle holds its own. After all, this is not a Ford Taurus we are talking about here. The Lexus LS is Fat City! Here the work of Quinze, Sisto, and Lichtenstein, draws attention the artistry of the automotive designers and engineers, who unfortunately remain anonymous. I suspect shows like this will become an endemic model for contemporary art, where the creative classes are plugged into technology and commerce while big companies with deep pockets vie for innovative ways to infiltrate recalcitrant, artsy, technologically savvy, and very slippery, young consumer groups.
-bryson strauss
Light and Speed
October 21 - November 3, 2006
269 North Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
888.747.4504
www.460degrees.com
LAUREN GREENFIELD - EXHIBITION FAHEY/KLIEN GALLERY LOS ANGELES
Lauren Greenfield's exhibition THIN at Fahey Klein is a disturbing,
schizophrenic experience where one suddenly feels something like Faye
Dunaway in Chinatown yelling "My daughter, my sister. My daughter, my
sister," until someone slaps you out of it. Photography is inherently glamorous, especially fine art photography at a major Los Angeles gallery. Therefore, a photo exhibition featuring young women struggling with eating disorders and life-threatening low self-image is not just a little bit challenging. It's seriously confrontational.
Here, Greenfield's work beautifully documents an ugly truth using one of the same mediums that is in part responsible for creating the illnesses in the first place. And we, as consumers and critics of art, find ourselves alternating between feeling sympathy, sadness, and guilt for the subjects to actively objectifying the "models" as perfect tools for creating remarkable, memorable, emotionally evocative, and timeless works of art. The feeling is not unlike what happens when facing Diane Arbus' images from the mental asylum just before her death. Gorgeous, horrible, gorgeous, horrible.
Greenfield, however, is an expert, not only as an empathic
anthropologist documenting "Girl Culture, " which she has been doing
for more than a decade, but as an artist as well who can turn the most
unsettling image into a stand-alone masterpiece. This latter point is
perhaps the biggest hurdle with THIN. Greenfield's portraits are indeed
magic. They have that inexplicable something that makes photos magnetic
but which cannot be grasped by common language or taught to other
artists. It's that final element after an artist has harnessed a vision
and mastered a craft that breaths the final life into a work of art. It
is nothing less than the artist herself. 
Pushing past any hesitation toward the subject matter, this show is
definitely worth seeing. The accompanying book helps frame the
experience more compassionately than I would and apparently, the film
by the same title is being celebrated worldwide. -bryson strauss
Check it out at:
Fahey/Klien Gallery
148 North La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 934-2250
http://www.faheykleingallery.com/
