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Michael Craig-Martin at Gagosian

admin — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 09:10:19 +0000

From his early box-like constructions of the late 60’s he moved increasingly to the use of ordinary household objects, playing against the logic of his sources. In 1974, he exhibited his iconic piece “An Oak Tree”, consisting of a glass of water standing on a shelf high on the gallery wall. In the accompanying text, he asked himself questions to assert that, despite appearances, he had changed the glass of water into an oak tree.

photo db-artmag.com

In the late 70’s he began to make line drawings of ordinary objects, creating over the years an ever-expanding vocabulary of images which form the foundation of his work to this day. Craig-Martin continued working in various mediums, always maintaining an elegant restraint and conceptual clarity. During the 1990s the focus of his work shifted decisively to painting, with the same range of boldly outlined motifs and luridly vivid color schemes in unexpected combinations applied both to works on canvas, and to increasingly complex installations of wall paintings.

photo michaelcraigmartin.co.uk

photo arteverywhere.org.uk

photo artnet.com

photo artsinspiration.files.wordpress.com

photo artsy.net

photo multimedialab.be

Jun 12 – Aug 16, 2014
Hong Kong

via gagosian.com

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Robin Rhode at Lehmann Maupin

admin — Thu, 29 May 2014 09:02:06 +0000

Lehmann Maupin presents having been there, Robin Rhode’s debut exhibition in Hong Kong. Continuing the artist’s engagement with complex social and political issues, this exhibition also explores Rhode’s notions of permanence and ephemerality as seen through his unique marks and gestures. In addition to a selection of photographic works and wall drawings, Rhode will premiere a new animation created specifically for his Hong Kong exhibition.

Rhode, who was born in South Africa and is based in Berlin, engages a variety of visual forms including photography, performance, drawing, and stop-motion animation to create engaging and poignant narratives. Rhode’s experience as a member of one of the first post-apartheid generations in South Africa has been a major influence on his work, leading him to approach topics such as poverty and violence from a personal perspective. His work features imagery of everyday and consumer objects, such as paper clips, light bulbs, and champagne flutes, found in desolate urban settings as a reference to his upbringing, but also to broader universal ideas including desire, luxury, and the influx of consumerism into South African society. Working within the contexts of Johannesburg and Berlin—cities undergoing significant social and political changes—Rhode’s artworks embrace a vibrant spontaneity and are infused with both the language of the street and the dynami cs of body-based performance art of the 1970s.

photo artinasia.com

The exhibition title is a reference to a quotation of cultural theorist Roland Barthes who wrote, referencing the depiction of photographic subjects, “photography set up, not a perception of the being there of an object…but a perception of its having been there.” Rhode’s photographs, in which he increasingly appears, though often in disguise, explore this idea further. By inserting himself into the photographic image and through his mark making, Rhode creates records and traces of “having been there.”

photo walkerartcenter.org

via artinasia.com

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Erwin Blumenfeld at 10 Corso Como

admin — Wed, 28 May 2014 10:47:08 +0000

Erwin Blumenfeld Photography Exhibition

10 Corso Como Shanghai Gallery – Top Floor

Erwin Blumenfeld is one of the most innovative and influential photographers of the 20th century. A singular artist with a unique perception of art, fashion, advertising characterized by a relentless experimentation.

photo copypasteculture.com

photo filmsnotdead.com

via cityweekend.com.cn

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ALASDAIR MACINTYRE AT SULLIVAN + STRUMPF

admin — Thu, 01 May 2014 11:05:14 +0000

The stormtroopers, in the epic Star Wars films, were a collective of military personnel. They carried out Imperialist duties, prescribed by the evil Lord Vader, with cool efficiency. This is an interesting choice of imagery, for an artist of politically subversive and culturally critical means. For Alasdair Macintyre, his shiny white warriors are emblematic of universal marching armies, such as the Red Guard and the Nazis – brainwashed and unquestioning, disturbing in their indoctrinated order. They are, for these reasons, a vehicle for Macintyre’s social commentary and creative engagement with art history, theory and practice.

photo sullivanstrumpf.com

Macintyre is known for his pastiches, his visual puns that hold underlying political sway. He builds small dioramic mise-en-scène and scaled models of the white cube gallery, wherein his sculpted art world inhabitants perform their one-act plays. His sculpture has consistently been an intelligent and philosophical account of the state of aesthetics and the hierarchies of the art world. This latest series of works, using the Star Wars emblem of clean order, continue his developing interest in popular culture, as totems of subversive disorder, within an enclosed and dramatic environment.

photo sullivanstrumpf.com

Macintrye’s latest trope, the stormtrooper, has become a symbol of clone-like behavior or action, as a cautionary reminder for us to think for ourselves. He warns us not to fall prey to economic or social dogma. The artist is also making a comment on the ‘army of similar art’ that relentlessly marches through our galleries and museums, with deafening thuds. The artist is a philosopher of sorts; his art practice is his methodological art tool, used to interrogate the state of active being in the world. For over a decade, Macintyre’s work has grappled with the curious nature of our lives, political conventions and social systems. Why must some of us beg on the street, while others will never fear starvation? Why do some artists prosper, yet others do not? Why must we submit to political policies that are inherently immoral? In the past, Macintyre’s character, Aecap, has led us on a merry art world dance through these sticky issues. Popular culture and art world propaganda have been both his source and his target.

photo sullivanstrumpf.com

via sullivanstrumpf.com

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