Artwork Resource

Friday links

Modern Art Notes — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:27:35 +0000

Time's Richard Lacayo Q&As with MoMA chief curator Ann Temkin;
Glasstire's Titus O'Brien makes an art trek to the Texas panhandle. The best stuff -- on Cadillac Ranch/Amarillo Ramp enabler Stanley Marsh, his un-Gorky and such -- is about halfway down.
The Washington Post's Blake Gopnik sees a real estate ad and Barbara Kruger.
A Yale MFA student was kicked out of school because she "listened too much to her instructors' advice?"
If you have or read a particularly smashing post that you want to make sure I consider for linkage, email it to LinksforMAN-blog (at) yahoo(dot)com. Don't just email the address of your blog. Call my attention to something specific.

The NYT and the peril of manufactured news

Modern Art Notes — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:42:03 +0000

Three months ago, when I was working on a major story about the future of the National Gallery of Art, the NGA's cursory attention to contemporary art was a major point of discussion between the NGA's curators and me. In both on-the-record conversations I had with an NGA spokesperson present and in on background chats I had with a range of sources, curators and staff pointed to an upcoming Leo Villareal project as proof of the NGA's commitment to contemporary art. Except no one was allowed to point to it publicly -- the NGA's spokesperson forbade it. Rarely has a more open secret been treated as something to cover up.

What was happening was clear: Regardless of how it impacted the museum and the presentation of the museum's interest in contemporary art (in the first major magazine story on the NGA in years), regardless of the damage to her own credibility, the NGA's chief spokesperson wanted the Villareal item to debut in the NYT. This week, as NYT reporter Carol Vogel returned from her annual August sabbatical, all kinds of news suddenly, magically appeared in the Times: Ann Temkin's promotion and a Braque acquisition at MoMA, the NGA Villareal.

It was a week in which the implicit bargain between the NYT and arts institutions was made clear: In return for receiving stories first, the NYT provides coverage. The obverse of the rule is also abundantly clear: If the NYT doesn't discover major arts news stories first, it doesn't report on them. (The subtext to this unofficial deal is even more unfortunate: Cooperate with us, the NYT tells the institutions it's supposed to cover, and we may take it easy on you if anything untoward happens...)

Accordingly, the NYT has completely failed to report on the two major visual arts news stories of the summer: The University of Iowa regents' interest in assessing the University of Iowa Museum of Art's great Jackson Pollock Mural for possible flood recovery-related sale, and the Denver Art Museum's deaccessioning scandal, the most questionable art museum sale in half a decade (and the first time in the same period that the museum industry association has investigated same). Both stories have been extensively covered by major national news outlets such as Time and the Wall Street Journal, by regional media, and by industry press.

(The NYT ran an unreported 'roundup' item on the DAM affair, and later a correction on the faulty roundup item. The end result was the NYT crediting the proper outlet with breaking the story, while getting the rest of it precisely wrong.)

I can't imagine a week in which the NYT's approach to cultural coverage could be clearer: Either they get the press release first, or they don't cover the story at all, no matter the import or newsworthiness. That's beyond shameful and that's beyond un-journalistic. It's negligence with a side of cronyism.

Yevgeniy Fiks @ Winkleman Gallery (and Shane Hope in Project Space)

Edward_ — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:11:00 +0000

Yevgeniy Fiks

Adopt Lenin

September 5 - October 4, 2008

Opens September 5 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Winkleman Gallery is very pleased to present “Adopt Lenin,” our first solo exhibition of new work by Russian-born New York artist Yevgeniy Fiks. Continuing his exploration of the post-Soviet dialog and the legacy of attitudes about Communism in the West today, Fiks presents a critique of the commodification and fetishization of the Russian Revolution’s legacy and imagery.

Over the 15 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, revolutionary memorabilia, including Lenin’s memorabilia, have become a fetish of the post-Communist era, something that has a clear market value, a “Communist antiquity,” sold for souvenirs. In this project, Fiks attempts to free Revolutionary icons, with a particular focus on Lenin’s memorabilia, from the market and negate their market value.

Throughout 2008 Fiks has been purchasing Lenin’s memorabilia at his own expense, including Lenin’s busts, small statues, posters, photographs, etc. These objects will be on display at the gallery from September 5 – October 4, 2008. Over the course of the exhibition (except during the opening reception), visitors can place a reserve on any available object, on a first-come—first-served basis, and then take it away for free, after the show closes. The reserved objects will remain on display for the duration of the exhibition. To place an object on reserve, however, a visitor will have to sign an agreement between Winkleman Gallery and his- or herself certifying that he or she will never sell, or otherwise enter this object in the market, or make any profit from this object in any shape or form. A copy of the signed agreement will be also exhibited as part of the exhibition.

In a statement about the exhibition, Fiks noted, “The choice to adopt Lenin on the part of an audience member is not a manifestation of her/his subscription to communist ideology, but rather an acknowledgement of Communism as one of defining features of the 20th century historical narrative.”

ADOPT LENIN REGULATIONS

You can receive any (one) of the available Lenin memorabilia objects from the “Adopt Lenin” exhibition at no cost.
After selecting an object from the installation, let a Gallery representative know. The Gallery will then place the object on reserve. Objects can be put on reserve anytime during the exhibition except for the opening reception (Friday, September 5, 6-8 pm). The object will remain on display for the remainder of the exhibition.
At the end of the exhibition (the last three days: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 2-4, 2008), you can return to collect the object you selected.Objects not collected are returned to the artist.
In exchange for the object, you must sign an agreement between yourself and Winkleman Gallery certifying that you will never sell, or otherwise enter this object in the market, or accept money in exchange for this object, or donate it for a tax deduction, or make any profit from this object in any shape or form.
Copies of the agreement will be signed by both visitors and Winkleman Gallery. A copy of the agreement form will be retained by both the visitor and Winkleman Gallery.
Winkleman Gallery’s copy of the agreement will be exhibited as part of the “Adopt Lenin” exhibition.

Yevgeniy Fiks was born in Moscow in 1972 and has been working in New York since 1994. Among his projects on the subject of the Post-Soviet dialog in the West are “Lenin for Your Library?” in which he mailed V.I.Lenin’s text “Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism” to one hundred global corporations as a donation for their corporate library; “Communist Party USA,” a series of portraits of current members of Communist Party USA, which he painted from life in the Party’s national headquarters in New York City; and “Communist Guide to New York City,” a series of photographs of buildings and public places in New York City that are connected to the history of the American Communist movement. Fiks’ work has been shown in solo exhibitions at Common Room 2, NY (2008); Contemporary City Foundation, Moscow, Russia (2008); Marat Guelman Gallery, Moscow, Russia (2007); Lenin-Museo, Tampere, Finland (2007); State Museum of Russian Political History, St. Petersburg, Russia (2006); ARTStrelka Projects, Moscow, Russia (2005). Selected group exhibitions include Biennale of Sydney (2008); Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art (2007); and Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2007 and 2005).

For more information, please contact Edward Winkleman at 212.643.3152 or info@winkleman.com

______________________________________

In the Schroeder Romero / Winkleman Gallery Project Space

Shane Hope

Hyper-Spatial Sentient Sopper Serum Scillystrations of Morph-Feral-Foglet-Fabbed Smart-Gels and Quacker-Cast Dataclouds of Public Panopticon Powder on Airborne Algorithmicracked-Out Recreational Diseases

September 5 – October 4, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, September 5, 2008
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11 to 6 PM

The Schroeder Romero / Winkleman Gallery Project Space is very pleased to present “Hyper-Spatial Sentient Sopper Serum Scillystrations of Morph-Feral-Foglet-Fabbed Smart-Gels and Quacker-Cast Dataclouds of Public Panopticon Powder on Airborne Algorithmicracked-Out Recreational Diseases,” an installation of works by New York artist Shane Hope.

Known for his research-based, “speculativernacular” art projects that use futurological technologies and transhumanist narratives, Hope here offers a series of “drawcuments” (hand-drawn documents) of museum-like placards used as placeholders for artwork that has been temporarily removed from its location for some institutional purpose (either for conservation or due to a loan to another institution). Upon reading the placards, though, it becomes obvious that the media used to create these conveniently unavailable artworks doesn’t yet exist, as neither does the post-singularity reality that might make them possible, highlighting the wonderfully imaginative approach to conceiving not only the promise emerging technologies hold for improving human life in numerous ways, but also the potential intersection of such advances and art.

Shane Hope, if one is to believe his resume, received (or rather will receive) his BFA in Geekonomic Scillustration from the Yöü-Ünix Klüster Koördinator U. in 202_? &/or 2034-ish; his MFA in Junk DNA Sculptural Ontogenesis from the Accelerationistas School of Noocytes vs. Computronium in 2041 and 2.22… zeptoseconds; and his PhD. in Cronomordant Extratemporal Studies from the Thought Barrier Overclocking Thinking Recycling Think Tank 2.0, in Wheneverland and Ever Aftermath. He has exhibited (verifiably) at Virgil de Voldere Gallery in New York; Project Gentili, in Prato, Italy; and iMAL (interactive Media Art Laboratory) in Brussels, Belgium.

For more information, please contact Edward Winkleman at 212.643.3152 or info@winkleman.com

Prisoner Executed and Fed to Fish

Woopidoo — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:38:00 +0000

I couldn't work out if I found this story funny, revolting, or just insane.. it's probably a little of all three.

Chilean born Danish shock artist Marco Evaristti has made a deal with death row inmate Gene Hathorn to be fed to fish after his death.

Evaristti told the Art Newspaper that "My aim is to first deep freeze Gene’s body and then make fish food out of it. Visitors to my exhibition will be able to feed goldfish with it."

The 47 year old Gene Hathorn is on death row in Livingston, Texas, USA after being convicted of killing his father, step-mother, and step-brother.
>> Controversy News

More screaming for ice cream

Modern Art Notes — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:55:25 +0000

This morning I posted about Spencer Finch going all 31 flavors on St. Louis. He's not the only ice cream-artist out there: Check out The Center for Tactical Magic's Tactical Ice Cream Unit (and here).

You know what I did last summer

Modern Art Notes — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:01:19 +0000

As ye return from summer, here's a glimpse of what you may have missed on MAN while you were recreating...

A Q&A with artist Robyn O'Neil about her work and the American Folk Art Museum's Dargerism show: Part one, two, three, four.
Rethinking Sam Francis' spectacular Basel Mural I at the Norton Simon.
The Chinati Foundation is building a major Robert Irwin.
The best contemporary show of the summer may have been the Baltimore Contemporary's Cottage Industry: Intro and parts one, two, three, four.
Andrea Zittel created a swap meet of sorts, complete with a surprise.
MAN broke the news of an AAMD investigation into a questionable Denver Art Museum deaccessioning. Last I checked, the situation was still unresolved.
Despite not having expanded in 30 years, the National Gallery is having a hard time finding a place to grow.
The Cleveland Museum of Art's re-opening of its 1916 building is a hit.
What Richard Diebenkorn was doing in New Mexico: Part one, two.

Ben & Jerry’s vs. Spencer Finch

Modern Art Notes — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:02:25 +0000

I love Spencer Finch. I love ice cream. So how cool does this sound: As part of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts' 'Light Project,' Spencer Finch is making ice cream.

Sweet. Because if I were to eat a typical Spencer Finch I'm pretty sure it would taste like fluorescent lights, which are not as tasty as ice cream. Even cooler: Finch and the Pulitzer, in partnership with the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, are giving away the ice cream every day but Monday. (That's either the cows' day off, or Ted Drewes threatened to sue.)

This being a Finch, there's an atmospherics related tie-in: The ice cream is made with solar panels and some ice-cream making equipment, and it involves something Finch calls an "edible monochrome," a color that has something to do with the St. Louis sunset. (If your dog ate your McCracken that would make it an edible monochrome too. And just wondering: Does the sun shine on Finch wherever he goes? That would be awesome.)

The picture at left is an Arthur Dove-recalling Finch watercolor that references a St. Louis sunset. The image above is of the first test of ice cream making and shows two guys eating the finished product. (And, as the The Light Project's Spencer Finch page says, they are "saving some for later.")

Check out more at this fantastically complicated and absorbing Light Project website. (Other Light Project artists include Ann Lislegaard and Jason Peters.) And if you can't head down Grand Ave. for some ice cream of your own, subscribe to the ice cream's RSS feed. There's also more at this Pulitzer blog post and at this Contemporary blog post.

McCain on Arts Funding

Edward_ — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:55:00 +0000

We've gone a few rounds on whether federal arts funding is a good or bad thing here, but on the eve of John McCain's acceptance speech as the GOP Presidential nominee, I thought I should look a little more closely at what his position on the matter is.

There is nothing at all about arts funding (or the importance of the arts to the nation) on his website that I could find.

There are several blog posts about his long-standing rejection of the notion that federal dollars should ever be spent to support organizations like the NEA, and this article from the University of Southern California:

McCain... has a historical track record of supporting anti-arts legislation, including the 1999 Smith-Ashcroft Amendment, which would have cut all funding for the NEA; and the 1989 Helms Amendment, which aimed to deny funding to art considered “obscene.” McCain doesn’t have an arts policy, other than a desire to eliminate spending directed toward the arts.

In fact, in one analysis of how a McCain administration would spend federal money, the arts are singled out among a long list of other possibilities as the only place he would entirely eliminate funding. He'd increasing funding for police and military needs, but for arts, and according to this source, arts alone, it's a total elimination:

AIDS programs
Environmental programs
Foreign aid
Housing projects
Job training programs
Medicaid & Medicare
Student loan programs

Education (K-12)
Law enforcement
Military & Veterans Benefits
Border Control

NASA
Welfare

Arts funding

I know that will endear him to some readers here, but in light of how he's approaching some other "entitlement" programs, this strikes me as a virtually hostile position toward the arts (not to mention, not at all likely to offset the tax cuts for the wealthy he proposes making permanent).

In response to this attitude toward a government's involvement/responsibility in supporting the arts, I would point out that among the more conservative people I spoke with recently about how they liked (or didn't like the 2008 Summer Olympics), and there was plenty of bellyaching about what they assumed must be unfair judging or under-age athletes, not to mention human rights abuses, by the host country, the one thing they all agreed that they truly loved was the artistry and pageantry of the opening and closing ceremonies. That's what they remembered most fondly about the games, what they marveled at, what softened their otherwise harsh opinions of the Chinese: their art.

We can't afford a president who doesn't understand how the arts go hand in hand with improving your image abroad. Forget that this is the man who didn't have the wherewithal, especially among his staff, to avoid letting this photo happen...

...not understanding that one of America's remaining areas of dominance is its culture makes him uniquely unqualified to lead us into the 21st Century, where images are increasingly the new lingua franca and art one of the most powerful tools for diplomacy. I think it's fine to debate whether federal dollars should be spent on the arts, but McCain has no position on our cultural heritage, other than eliminating arts funding, that I can find. Anyone else knowing otherwise, please share.

_____________________
Postscript.

Watching the acceptance speech of Vice-Presidential nominee, Governor Sarah Palin (R, Alaska) last night, I couldn't help but think about this scene from the short-lived TV show, Commander in Chief, in which a woman Vice-President is told, upon the death of the President, that she had been put on the ticket merely as theater, and that the right thing for her to do was to step down now.

I actually loved the first three or four episodes of this show. The fire and strength of Geena Davis' character and the joy of seeing her work through the problems facing the nation with a mixture of wisdom and compassion was a wonderful antidote to the real-life White House situation in 2005. But somehow the show lost its way and eventually fizzled entirely. I think it had something to do with their main writer leaving the show, or perhaps it was just that there simply were not enough epiphanies that comes to one over the breakfast table as a mother with rambunctious teenagers and a husband who seems somewhat resentful at the role of first spouse that then provide insight into actionable solutions to international turmoil. In other words, if the shows writers hadn't relied as heavily on that device as they did, they might not have written themselves into a corner.

I won't predict how well Sarah Palin might do as President if it came to that. I truly hope, for the sake of America, she doesn't get the VP job.

Dakis Joannou’s Jeff Koons Yacht

Woopidoo — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:40:00 +0000

The Greek billionaire businessman and art collector Dakis Joannou has had the exterior of his 114 ft luxury yacht designed by Jeff Koons. The owner called his yacht "Guilty" after a Sarah Morris text painting according to the Monaco Eye website.

Joannou launched the yacht with get-together that included art world notables like Nicholas Serota, Jeffrey Deitch, Larry Gagosian, Marian Goodman, Maurizio Cattelan, and Ashley Bickerton.

The closeup of the luxury yacht looks more Roy Lichtenstein than Jeff Koons, but the artist said he was more influenced by WW1 camouflage patterns.

It's different. I'm not sure Jeff Koons would be my first choice if I had a giant yacht to paint. I might choose Jeff Koons to trim my hedges into giant puppy dogs or to hang hoovers and household items on the wall, but I wouldn't let him touch my yacht. I would probably call in a minimalist artist and tell him or her to paint it white.
>> Jeff Koons News

The first links of fall

Modern Art Notes — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:26:32 +0000

Don't miss the Walker Art Center's UnConvention.
I wrote about this for Smithsonian magazine last year, and now there are pictures (and more): Trenton Doyle Hancock designs for Ballet Austin.
Two years ago Sarah Palin was the mayor of Wasilla, AK, pop. 5,469. Take a look. Doesn't Wasilla look like '70s-era Stephen Shore?
The NY Sun's Kate Taylor reports that Richard Armstrong is close to being named director of the Guggenheim, and that the Met is down to four.
New MoMA chief curator Ann Temkin has stopped by MAN on occasion: Part one, two, three of MAN's art after 9/11 series.
And I'm starting something new on the links front: The sheer number of good arts blogs has blown by my ability to keep up with them all, and I know I'm linking to many of the same blogs too often. So if you have or read a particularly smashing post that you want to make sure I consider for linkage, email it to LinksforMAN-blog (at) yahoo(dot)com.