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SAATCHI ONLINE DAILY MAGAZINE

Every day Saatchi Online Magazine publishes the latest news, exhibition previews and reviews, party pictures, diaries, essays from internationally respected writers, tips on how to build your own art collection, the best new art and photography books, talks and events not to miss, photographs of artists' studios, plus regular blogs from key figures in the art world.

Every Monday we feature an artist from Saatchi Online and an art student from Stuart. We publish a regular round-up of news every Friday, and each week we feature an emerging artist and a critic's choice of 10 favourite artists from Saatchi Online. We also have a regular weekly video slot where we show artists' films and videos of the latest exhibition openings.

If you are searching for information about a particular artist, exhibition, event, book, gallery or museum, scroll down to the Search box at the bottom of the Contents menu and enter the relevant key word(s), or click on the relevant city or country in the Contents menu where you’ll find reports on exhibitions and events.

If you would like to contribute reports on art events taking place where you live or send in news stories and press releases please email the editor Rebecca Wilson.

Editor: Rebecca Wilson
Contributors (click to read):
News editor: Anthony Haden-Guest
New York: Jerry Saltz  Doug McClemont  Morgan Falconer
London:   Matthew Collings   Ana Finel Honigman   Rebecca Geldard
Los Angeles: Emma Gray
Berlin: Alix Rule  April Elizabeth Lamm
Beijing: Stacey Duff
Paris: Steve Pulimood
Videos: James Kalm

May 14, 2008

MATTHEW COLLINGS PREVIEWS A MAJOR RETROSPECTIVE OF ROTHKO AT THE KUNSTHALLE IN HAMBURG

When I think of Mark Rothko I think of a figure in the modern art sale rooms whose paintings can fetch $60m. I think of a sort of social mannerism that goes on at certain levels of the art world, where you're supposed to be so deeply moved by a Rothko that you break down and cry. And I think of a painting style that comes from the 1950s, which is about creating a subtle but powerful impression of a kind of inner glow. Rothko committed suicide in 1970 in a particularly violent and horrific way; he was found lying on the floor of his studio in a pool of blood, the tendons in the inside of his elbows cut nearly to the bone. A cult of Rothko has grown up around this distressing fact of his life story. Formlessness is seen as brooding foreboding, and Rothko becomes a modern Van Gogh, too sensitive for this world but a great artist of pain who leaves us a painted testimony of profound humane tragic sadness. But a striking feature of the present Rothko touring retrospective (which opens at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg today and tours to Tate Modern in September) is how careful and serious Rothko really is as an artist compared to the hysterical and hasty things that are said about him. rothko1957TINY.jpg

NEWS: TURNER PRIZE SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

The Tate has announced the four artists who have been shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2008. The artists are Runa Islam, Mark Leckey, Goshka Macuga (nominated work below) and Cathy Wilkes. The Turner Prize, which comes with a prize of £40,000, will be announced at Tate Britain on 1 December 2008 during a live broadcast by Channel 4. installation3TINY.jpg

ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT, MUSEUM FOLKWANG, ESSEN

Atelier van Lieshout became internationally well-known in the 1990's with the production of mobile houses and "covers", the conception of which was based on the freedom of movement, flexibility of design and the subversion of government planning approval. Their latest project, 'Slave City', on view at the Museum Folkwang until 6 July, is a utopian urban project designed to maximize rationality, efficiency and profit in a highly modern achievement-oriented society. atelierslavecityfTINY.jpg

VIDEO
WOMEN THROUGH THE AGES
Click to play the video
This three-minute video created by EggMan consists of images from 500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art.
Click here for archive

THIS WEEK'S OPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD

This week, the second edition of Barcelona's international contemporary art fair, SWAB, takes place between 15th and 18th May. Also, there's new drawings and sculpture by Chloe Piene in New York, and new work by 2008 Cartier Award winner Wilfredo Prieto in Amsterdam, while in London there's new animated work by Sebastian Buerkner and a group sculpture show for Markus Müller, Sam Porritt and Alexander Wolff.

SAATCHI ONLINE TOP 10 CHOSEN BY REBECCA WILSON

Saatchi Online Magazine editor Rebecca Wilson selects 10 of her favourite artists registered on Saatchi Online.

Angelika J  Trojnarski

Angelika J Trojnarski

Christine  Kisorsy

Christine Kisorsy

Dominika  Dratwa

Dominika Dratwa

Erik  De Bree

Erik De Bree

Giacomo  Brunelli

Giacomo Brunelli

Levi  Van Veluw

Levi Van Veluw

Magdalena  Sadziak

Magdalena Sadziak

Marcin  Cienski

Marcin Cienski

marco  salvetti

marco salvetti

Truc-anh  Hua

Truc-anh Hua

Click here for Archive


May 13, 2008

ALIX RULE'S ROUND-UP OF THE BEST SHOWS ON IN BERLIN THIS MONTH

On view this month in Berlin is a debut show for American photographer Joel Sternfeld who is exhibiting works from his series on American utopias (below); plus queasy-making paintings by Frank Nitsche, Martin Assig's coloured 'auratic house objects', psychedelic painting-collages by Israeli artist Tal R, and two new projects by Carsten Nicolai inspired by scientific forays of the past. sternfeldbuchmannTINY.jpg

ANNE HARDY IN CONVERSATION WITH ANA FINEL HONIGMAN

Decay, mess and chaos are everywhere in the scenes Anne Hardy presents in her crisp yet uncanny imagery. At first glance, the unoccupied rooms that she photographs appear neglected but normal. In the spaces Hardy shows us, there are usually signs of rough repairs, but the furniture and settings simply appear beaten down and worn out by excessive, careless use. But in actuality, none of those objects have been manhandled or clumsily placed. In fact, no one but Hardy herself is responsible for their appearance and location. Because while her images seem to depict happenstance and irresponsible ownership, the objects were all built in her studio for the sole purpose of being photographed. AH_Cipher2007TINY.jpg

MIROSLAV TICHY AT MICHAEL HOPPEN, LONDON, AND CENTRE POMPIDOU, PARIS

For thirty years, Miroslav Tichy took up to 100 photographs a day, pursuing his artistic obsession of the female form. Dressed in rags and using a homemade camera, Tichy captured the universe of people in the small town of Brno in the Czech Republic. He is one of the great photography 'finds', an unknown artist who worked for years in complete isolation on the periphery of the art world. Tichy, who won the 'New Discovery Award' at Arles in 2005, will have a show at the Michael Hoppen gallery (opening 12 June) to coincide with a major exhibition of his work at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, which opens on 24 June. tichy1TINY.jpg

SHANA LUTKER AT SUZANNE VIELMETTER, LOS ANGELES

Entitled "The Commiffioners", Shana Lutker's first exhibition at Suzanne Vielmetter centres around a newspaper ad taken out by Thomas Jefferson and the Capitol commissioners to find an architect for the Capitol building in Washington DC. Lutker uses the word play in the title (until the 19th century, the letter "s" often appeared to look like the letter "f") to continue a strategy of confusion and displacement that is characteristic of her work. Lutker_109_115_GroupFormations_overall2_loresTINY.jpg

May 12, 2008

NORMAN ROSENTHAL ON JULIAN SCHNABEL AT ROBILANT + VOENA, LONDON

In an open letter to Julian Schnabel (below), whose latest series of paintings are on view at Robilant + Voena in London until 22 May, Norman Rosenthal celebrates the life-affirming quality of Schnabel's extensive body of work. 'Your new paintings evoke that moment that all of us will in all probability one day feel at the moment of agony, a strange feeling of translucence in the hours before death, when we become ourselves, as it were, God as man or woman. Each painting is an altarpiece - an x-ray shroud that seems to be projected onto your polyester canvas and then covered with jet black ink configurations. They aim ambitiously to reveal what normally remains invisible. For it is only in illness or being close to death that we become aware of the inside of our own body - that complex machine that, for all its common structure shared with others, is unique unto itself and full of chance as is nature itself.' schnabelstudioTINY.png

SHOWDOWN: THE FINALISTS OF ROUND FIVE ANNOUNCED

Congratulations to the two finalists of the fifth round of the SHOWDOWN competition, Marcelo Jacome (top) and Wenqin Chen (bottom). They will now go head-to-head until 9am next Monday, during which time you can vote on their two artworks. Click here to vote on these two finalists. Artists also are now able to load up their work for the next round of Showdown. 1jacomeTINY.jpg 1chenTINY.jpg

May 10, 2008

AOIFE ROSENMEYER ON TRIS VONNA-MICHELL AND MARIO GARCIA TORRES AT KUNSTHALLE ZURICH

The curators at Zürich's Kunsthalle have presented Tris Vonna-Michell and Mario Garcia Torres' work as two interwoven solo shows. Although their works vary enormously in form and content, they share a common seam of enquiry into how history is recorded, delivered and interpreted. CalendarWorksHamburg06TINY.jpg

IRA BAND ON KATHERINE DOLGY LUDWIG AT AIR GALLERY, NEW YORK

Artist Katherine Dolgy Ludwig is all about music, and undergoing a feverish dance workout in her Brooklyn painting studio, bopping till she drops with the Ramones, Ice T, Patti Smith blaring. Bending, pulling, stretching, she's hard at work framing her lavishly large and bold collection of new watercolor paintings. kdlTINY.jpg

SAATCHI ONLINE ESSAY SECTION: BARBARA POLLOCK ON CHI PENG

Visit our ESSAY section to read Barbara Pollock's article on Chinese artist Chi Peng, published today. Chi Peng was born in 1981, and is already an internationally recognized artist, known for his surrealistic photographs, altered and invigorated through the glories of Photoshop. To read Barbara Pollock's essay in full click here. chipengTINY.jpg

May 09, 2008

MORGAN FALCONER ON JOSEPHINE MECKSEPER AT ELIZABETH DEE, NEW YORK

Josephine Meckseper's latest outing has a very grave and chiliastic air. Its centrepiece is 'Ten High', a stage set-cum-catwalk-cum-shop display comprising a large, glossy black base and an arrangement of symbolically loaded objects: three mannequins (one attired in an armed services' veterans shirt); a smashed mirror; a bottle of whiskey; cigarettes and ash-tray; a bible; a Zimmer frame and cane and various other oddments. Bible-belt morality is up for sale. JM_EDGTINY.jpg

LUCIFER'S GREATEST WORK OF ART, FRED, LEIPZIG

In September 2001 at a press conference for the Hamburg Music festival the avant-garde German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen was asked to comment on the 9/11 attacks. They were, he said, "Lucifer's Greatest works of Art", a remark which led to widespread criticism as well as to the cancellation of his upcoming tour. In this now infamous statement, Stockhausen alludes to the visual impact of stilled representations of major world events, acknowledging the split between the reality of momentous happenings and their visual representation. This exhibition explores the way that both artistic and media images relating to key or extreme political events often manifest a sense of transcendence, even a beauty (at once overwhelming and terrible), altogether different to the reality of the event itself. jo1TINY.jpg

PREVIEW: HENRY HUDSON AND LAURENCE OWEN, COSA GALLERY, LONDON

Described by Richard Dorment as 'astonishing young painters', Laurence Owen and Henry Hudson follow the back roads and dirty alleyways into the dark recesses of the English psyche, toying with our national treasures in an unsettling way. What we esteem in the artistic canon Owen merrily defaces, what we cherish as innocent and pure Hudson sullies with all the guilt and perversity of our adult desires. Nursery rhymes are married with porn, Renoir's little girl gushes menstrual blood. A show of their recent paintings opens on 22 May. laurenceowenAPortraiofTheArtistTINY.jpg

THIS WEEK'S NEWS ROUND-UP

Ilya Kabakov (below) receives his first major retrospective in Russia thanks to oligarch and metal Tycoon; Miami property developer Craig Robins launches free art program; the Armory Show expands to include both Contemporary and Modern art; London turns down gift of Anthony Caro sculpture; Pace Wildenstein opens in Beijing; and Indian artist N S Harsha wins the Artes Mundi Prize. kabakovTINY.jpg

May 08, 2008

JANE NEAL INTRODUCES FOUR EMERGING HUNGARIAN PAINTERS AT FA PROEJCTS, LONDON

Zsolt Bodoni, Roland Horváth, Péter Sudar and Dorottya Szabo are part of a unique generation that knew communism in childhood, witnessed its disintegration during adolescence and experienced Hungary's transition into democracy in early adulthood. Yet while it is possible to find evidence of how such an eventful growing up has shaped and influenced the artists' awareness of the changing world around them (most notably perhaps in Horváth's sensitive, even reverential treatment of the most mundane domestic appliances or tacky ephemera), it is equally possible to see how the weight of Hungary's great imperial past has impressed itself on the minds of its artists, such as in Szabo's strange depictions of heads coupled with images derived from the popular decorative stone work of the imperial period. zoltanTINY.jpg

CALL FOR ENTRIES: FRIEZE MAGAZINE WRITERS' PRIZE

frieze magazine writer's prize is an annual award to discover and promote new art critics. This year's award will be judged by Tate Triennial curator Nicolas Bourriaud, frieze co-editor Jennifer Higgie and Guardian critic Adrian Searle. The closing date for entries is 23 June. Read on for more details. writerTINY.jpg

KENT ROGOWSKI AT JEN BEKMAN, NEW YORK

Kent Rogowski's collages are created with pieces of puzzles which are cut from the same die but depict different, unrelated images. Using these photographic fragments as his palette, Rogowski creates entirely new compositions by his careful mapping of their collisions. The intermixing of these glossy idealizations of flowers, bucolic scenery and man-made wonders results in disorienting and unique fractured fantastical landscapes. Puzzle-W-4TINY.jpg

SYMPOSIUM: ART WRITING BEYOND CRITICISM

In the light of recent debates addressing the so-called crisis of criticality and criticism, the ICA in London is hosting an event on 17 May to examine the problems of contemporary art criticism and alternatives to standardised forms of professional art writing. ica.png

May 07, 2008

REBECCA GELDARD'S TOP 10 LONDON SHOWS

Among the shows not to miss in May are: Tim Renshaw's abstract paintings that push the boundaries of what might constitute an image; American artist Paul P's London debut; Isa Genzken's critique of contemporary consumption; Tal R's strict pictorial dimensions and palette; the launch of the ICA's six-month programme of exhibitions and events, 'Nought to Sixty'; and a survey charting the urban history of photography. parkinsonTINY.jpg

WALTER ROBINSON IN CONVERSATION WITH ANA FINEL HONIGMAN

As the early creations of a pre-eminent critical figure in today's American art scene, the paintings that originally earned Artnet Editor Walter Robinson's place in the Manhattan art world of the 1980s are guaranteed to be of great interest. His "80's paintings" show at Chelsea's Metro Pictures (which also represents Cindy Sherman, Tony Oursler and Mike Kelley) is the first time that his "Romance Paintings" have been on view since the series was shown at Metro Pictures in the 1980s. wrwaityourturn1979TINY.jpg

ALONA HARPAZ AT NICOLE KLAGSBRUN, NEW YORK

Alona Harpaz' seductive surfaces negotiate the rift between figural and abstract through implied, dramatic shifts of scale. Like fractals revealing the intricately repetitive structures of organic forms, the compositions unify portraiture and ornamentation by fluidly transitioning between micro and macro views. Harpaz, whose work Richard Prince once described as 'Matisse meets Polke meets punk', opens her second show at Nicole Klagsbrun on 9 May. alonaharpazTINY.jpg

SIMON WILLEMS AT MARK MOORE GALLERY, LOS ANGELES

Taking its title from the name given to New Age meditation music, 'Cloud Music', Simon Willems' upcoming show in LA expands on earlier themes within the artist's work that pertain to the notion of, as he terms it, "contemporary vulnerability". willems3TINY.jpg

May 06, 2008

STEVE PULIMOOD'S TOP 10 PARIS SHOWS

On in Paris this month are solo shows by Sam Durant, Alkis Boutlis, David Renggli (below), Valerie Belin, Alec Soth, Lothar Hempel and Kader Attia. davidrenggliTINY.jpg

KENNY SCHACHTER ON PHILLIPS DE PURY'S CONTEMPORARY DESIGN SALE, LONDON

Simon de Pury (below) is the Buster Keaton of auctioneers; he is not so much a physical comedian but uses his voice physically like a musical instrument, and coaxes bids with ad hoc, boisterous humor. De Pury presided overPhillips' first foray into design sales in London on April 24th at the auction house's Howick Place showrooms. The sale made £2,282,513, comfortably over its high estimate of £2 million - no easy feat in today's jittery (to say the least) market. The mid-century and contemporary design offerings included major works by French designers Jean Prouve, Charlotte Perriand and Le Corbusier, and "important" contemporary works by Marc Newson, Ron Arad and the upstart Martino Gamper. simonedepuryTINY.jpg

MITCH EPSTEIN: VIETNAM AT BRANCOLINI GRIMALDI ARTE CONTEMPORANEA, ROME

A pioneer of colour photography, Mitch Epstein has been making pictures, films, and photographic books for 35 years. His Vietnam pictures from the 1990s offer the artist's characteristic balance of formal rigour and nuanced wit. The photographs were taken between 1992 and 1995, as Vietnam started to open its borders to outsiders after two decades of isolation. mitch1TINY.jpg

DEBATE: PHILOSOPHY OF THE OVERLOOKED - COLLECTING AT THE ICA, LONDON

As part of its series exploring the structures of lived experience and modes of human existence, the ICA in London brings together collector Anita Zabludowicz (pictured below with artist Keith Tyson) and philosopher John Sellars to discuss what can be learned from other people's experience of things we rarely think about - in this case collecting. AnitaZabludowiczwithKeithTysonTINY.jpg

May 05, 2008

JERRY SALTZ ON DAN FLAVIN AT ZWIRNER & WIRTH, NEW YORK

Works of art often last forever, or nearly so. But exhibitions themselves, especially gallery exhibitions, are like flowers; they bloom and then they die, then exist only as memories, or pressed in magazines and books. Unless someone has the time, money, and obsession to regather the work, research how it appeared, and rehang a show--and the Zwirner & Wirth gallery has all those things, plus the understanding that forays into recent history burnish the reputation. flavinTINY.jpg

CAROLINA A FONTES WINS ROUND FOUR OF SHOWDOWN

Congratulations to the winner of the fourth round of the SHOWDOWN competition, Carolina A Fontes. Her artwork will compete with other SHOWDOWN finalists to find an overall winner after the 12 rounds of SHOWDOWN have been completed. Voting is now open for the next round of SHOWDOWN and artists can also now load up their work for the next round as well. fontesTINY.jpg

BERNHARD HILDEBRANDT: SAATCHI ONLINE CRITIC'S CHOICE BY STEVE PULIMOOD

Bernhard Hildebrandt creates work at the centre of a conceptual duality between what is seen and what remains to be seen, between the static and streaming. In his Stereo series a painting and a photo of it, printed at an identical scale, are paired in diptych format. The viewer is caught stepping between the transient surface reflections playing out on polyurethane enamelled Plexiglas and the reflections captured in its alter-ego, the narcissistic photograph. hildebrandtTINY.jpg

May 03, 2008

KATARINA HORROX ON WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE CURATORS WHO WISH TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS, AT SEVENTEEN GALLERY, LONDON

Experimental exhibitions are epidemic these days, so it's not surprising if you feel slightly bored when you come across yet another gallery with some new-fangled 'modern' concept behind its show. However, it's also a nice surprise when you come across an experimental exhibition that illustrates exactly why such exhibitions can be so rewarding. The curators of this show have selected 10 artists to be in it but only one artwork is exhibited in the main gallery space at any one time. 17paulbTINY.jpg

REYKJAVIK EXPERIMENT MARATHON

From 15 May to 24 August Reykjavik Experiment Marathon will bring together over 40 renowned artists, architects, film-makers, and scientists from the international community for a two-fold event at the Reykjavik Art Museum--Hafnarhús: a large-scale, three month-long exhibition and a laboratory conducting its work before the public during the opening days of the exhibition. Among the artists, architects and musicians taking part int he event, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Olafur Eliasson, are: Marina Abramovic, David Adjaye, Fia Backström, John Baldessari, Brian Eno, Jimmie Durham, Hreinn Fridfinnsson, Gabríela Fridriksdóttir, Yona Friedman, Jonas Mekas, Gustav Metzger, Matthew Ritchie, Tomas Saraceno, Katrín Siguoardóttir, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. reykTINY.jpg

MARTIN PARR, HAUS DER KUNST, MUNICH

In this exhibition, which opens on 7 May, British photographer Martin Parr presents a new series with images of art fairs, horse races and fashion shows, alongside his own personal collections of strange everyday objects decorated with photographs, postcards and works by important British and international photographers. parr1TINY.jpg

Saatchi Online Artist Of The Day

R.  Toporoff

'Sonny in Paris'

Saatchi Online Stuart Artist Of The Day

Wong Kin ying

Joanne Chilton

Saatchi Online Photographer
Of The Day

Joanne Chilton

Alter in the Jardin

Vince Briffa

Saatchi Online
Video Artist
Of The Day

Vince Briffa