| JERRY SALTZ'S BOOK LAUNCH AND DAVID HOCKNEY AT PACE WILDENSTEIN, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm makes a pilgrimage of fandom to the book launch party for Jerry Saltz's latest literary endeavor 'Seeing Out Louder'. The sequel to 'Seeing Out Loud', this edition features reviews, essays and thought pieces that display the wit and observational acuity that have established Saltz within the top 50 most influential individuals in the contemporary art world.
Going on the DL (Down-Low), James Kalm ventures into Pace/Wildenstein to record unauthorized footage of David Hockney's first painting show in New York in 12 years (until 24 December). The artist has returned to his native Yor... read more and play video... |
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| URS FISCHER AT THE NEW MUSEUM, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm braves fall showers and trains his way to the Bowery's New Museum for the first major museum exhibition by Urs Fischer. Lionized as one of contemporary art's most distinctive talents, Fischer earned the New York spotlight in 2007 by cutting a hole in the floor of Gavin Brown's Enterprise and digging out tons of dirt leaving a gaping crater for visitors to climb into and explore. As an astute observer of spatial perception, and a master of digital technology with a mischievous sense of humor, the artist uses the most advanced commercial printing techniques to tweak space and challeng... read more and play video... |
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| STEVEN CHARLES AT MARLBOROUGH GALLERY, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm treks into Marlborough Chelsea for the second one-man show by the eccentric abstract painter Steven Charles (until 4 November). Three days earlier, your reporter biked to West Harlem for an impromptu studio visit and interview with the artist. Charles discusses his recent investigations of figurative subject matter and accumulative sculpture. |
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| CAVE PAINTING Curated by Bob Nickas at GRISHAM’S GHOST, NEW YORK |
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"Cave Painting," organized by Bob Nickas, brings together works by 40 artists who are engaged with picture-making manifested within a painting practice. This show follows another with the same title that was presented in Berlin at PSM Gallery in June 2009 that evolved as a result of Nickas's research for his book, Painting Abstraction, published by Phaidon Press.
CAVE PAINTING INSTALLMENT #1
Oct 2nd - Oct 31st 2009
Gresham's Ghost
New York |
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| FRANK STELLA AT PAUL KASMIN, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm has been watching the work of Frank Stella since his days as a student in the far West. This icon of New York Modernism presents Polychrome Reliefs as his statement of where painting is today. Though not properly reliefs, nor paintings, these extravagant works employ the latest in high tech composites, stainless steel and lustrous lacquers. These works juxtapose curving organic forms with pierced and engineered struts and ribbing, contrasting the mechanical with the romantic and continuing Stella's theoretical investigations of color and form. James Kalm's film includes comments by... read more and play video... |
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| PATTI SMITH AT ALISON JACQUES, LONDON |
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The Saatchi Gallery's Art & Music Magazine went along to film a performance by Patti Smith on Tuesday 13 October at Alison Jacques Gallery in London. Smith was in London to celebrate the opening of an exhibition of works by her friend Robert Mapplethorpe which is at the gallery until 21 November 2009.
www.alisonjacquesgallery.com |
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| KARA WALKER AND MARK BRADFORD AT SIKKEMA JENKINS, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm makes a must-see stop during the opening night of the 2009 season in Chelsea for this double bill. Both Kara Walker and Mark Bradford have gained recognition for their work with paper, cut silhouettes for the former and grand scaled collage for the latter. Walker weaves a narrative derived from the history of slavery and repression, while Bradford imbues his work with an abject elegance capturing the essence and life of contemporary urban neighborhoods. This film includes an interview with Kara Walker who discusses the painterly direction of some of her recent work. |
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| ALLAN KAPROW YARD, Reinvented by William Pope L at Hauser & Wirth |
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James Kalm climbs to the top of the pile of tires in this reinvention of Allan Kaprow's Yard at the debut exhibition of Hauser & Wirth New York. William Pope. L adds his own narrative text using a Barack Obama imitator, and flashing lights in this restaging. Upstairs we tour an in-depth collection of posters, prints and documentation tracing the historic arc of this Happening which was originally created in this very location in 1961.
Allan Kaprow YARD 23 September – 24 October 2009 Hauser & Wirth New York
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| GEORGIA O'KEEFFE'S ABSTRACTION AT THE WHITNEY, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm partakes in the press preview for this icon of American Modernism. Over 20 years in the making, this exhibition surveys the lesser known but perhaps more profound side of O'Keeffe's work, her abstraction. Beginning with her discovery and eventual relationship with Alfred Stieglitz in 1916, O'Keeffe was thrust in to the stratosphere of the New York art scene. She was at the forefront of pursuing a type of organic abstraction that Stieglitz championed as America's contribution to Modernism. Examples of O'Keeffe's paintings covering nearly 50 years of development are on view. This film... read more and play video... |
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| TAUBA AUERBACH AND KEHINDE WILEY AT DEITCH PROJECTS, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm drifts into Soho to kick off the new season with a pair of highly anticipated exhibitions. Tauba Auerbach's HERE AND NOW/AND NOWHERE presents five bodies of work that are all related to the duality of space, the here, and, time, the now. Illusionistic paintings are contrasted with Auerglass, a custom made pipe organ. Kehinde Wiley explores the photographic medium with Black Light, a series of digitally manipulated photos that continues his studies of young black males. Using various lighting sources, decorative backgrounds, gestures and poses that relate to medieval religious iconog... read more and play video... |
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| CHELSEA OPENINGS, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm, despite the daunting task of trying to capture the grand spectacle of 113 openings, muddles on, and brings viewers a select few of the exhibitions on offer. Drawings and recent paintings by Raoul De Keyser and the Afro Margin drawings by Chris Ofili begin our tour at David Zwirner. Heading north, we pop in for a glance at the double shows of Kara Walker and Mark Bradford at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. and then slip in at Sonnabend to catch a look at the Photo-Realistic Surrealism of Matthew Weinstein. Trying to beat the clock we get an oh so brief look at Maya Lyn's installation,Three Wa... read more and play video... |
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| THE FEMALE GAZE AT CHEIM & REID, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm endures sweltering heat, and summer ennui to bike to the center of Chelsea for this blockbuster show. The inequality of female representation within museum collections is an almost endemic refrain. Though not reconciling this state of affairs, The Female Gaze does provide examples of some of today's most influential and accomplished artists' work. From stalwarts of Post-War American art like Louise Bourgeois and Joan Mitchell, to the Essential Feminist works of Lynda Benglis, to the Post-Modern Conceptual works of Cindy Sherman, Jenny Holzer and Deborah Kass, this exhibition display... read more and play video... |
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| WARD SHELLEY AT PIEROGI, BROOKLYN |
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James Kalm catches up with conceptual artist Ward Shelley on the closing day of his exhibition 'Who Invented the Avant-Garde and other half truths'. This exhibition presents three bodies of recent work: 'Archive', an installation of hundreds of idea boxes that represent an externalization of the artists mind, 'Sleeper Experiment' in which the artist is exposed to a computerized voice repeating donated texts from viewers, and the 'Timeline Paintings' which trace the developments and derivations of various cultural happenings in graphic form.
The video includes extended explanations of the work... read more and play video... |
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| DENNIS OPPENHEIM AND ALLAN D'ARCANGELO |
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James Kalm combines a couple of exhibitions that have yet to find a slot in the roster. Dennis Oppenheim is a stalwart of the Soho art community, a participant in Land and Body Art. This show at Janos Gat Gallery features proposals for large-scale public works that hover somewhere between sculpture and architecture. Mitchell-Inness & Nash presents Allan D'Arcangelo Paintings 1962-1982. D'Arcangelo (1930-1998) is one of the greatest if under recognized Pop masters. This is his first New York retrospective since 1979. Employing images from everyday life and the media, D'Arcangelo melded a simpli... read more and play video... |
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| JAMES ENSOR AT MOMA, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm anxiously pursues this enlightening exhibition by one of the masters of the Modernist canon. Although he stayed near home, and rarely sought out the avant-garde, James Ensor became the Godfather of Northern Expressionism. His unique subject matter, brilliant draftsmanship, and sensitive yet urgent use of materials and colour distinguish him as an inspiration of much 20th century art. Organized by Anna Swinbourne, Assistant Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA.
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| PICASSO AT GAGOSIAN, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm celebrates the 300 episode of the Kalm Report by inviting viewers once again to join him on the down low challenging not only the strictly enforced no photo policy of New York's most powerful art gallery, but teaming throngs of perusing art lovers. Curated by the worlds pre-eminent Picasso scholar, John Richardson, 'Mosqueteros' highlights the late, often derided paintings of this twentieth-century master. It will certainly be judged as one of the season's most influential and well attended exhibitions. |
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| JAMES KALM ON BLACK ACID CO-OP AT DEITCH, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm has been watching the progress of this extensive installation for weeks. Black Acid Co-Op is the collaboration of Justin Lowe and Jonah Freeman, and this piece explores the dark manic recesses of meth-lab culture and its analogues relationship to middle America and the glamorous New York art world. Entering the basement, visitors ascend through a labyrinth of burned out trailers meth-labs and art galleries in a journey through an hellatious environment of cultural debris. |
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| VENICE BIENNALE 2009 GERMAN PAVILION: LIAM GILLICK |
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Liam Gillick is an unlikely choice for the German Pavilion in the Giardini. He has described himself as 'a European Socialist' and over the past two decades has developed a way of working characterised by an open yet critical orientation towards the social context of art. Interdisciplinarity, collaboration and a focus on production process are some of the other notable qualities of his work, which he discusses here. |
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| VENICE BIENNALE 2009 ICELANDIC PAVILION: RAGNAR KJARTANSSON |
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Ragnar Kjartansson's (b. 1976, Reykjavík, Iceland) multifaceted artistic practice is rooted in a tradition of acting and performance, with an existential and absurdist sensibility. 'The End' features a tableau vivant of the artist and his model lasting for the entire six-months of the Biennale, along with a monumental video and music installation. Kjartansson has transformed the Palazzo Michiel dal Brusà into a makeshift studio for the Biennale, in which the artist paints the image of a young man posing day after day against the backdrop of the Grand Canal.
ICELANDIC PAVILION: RAGNAR KJ... read more and play video... |
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| WALDEMAR JANUSZCZAK INTERVIEWS GERRY FOX AT THE VENICE BIENNALE 2009 |
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Filmmaker Gerry Fox has been visiting Venice over the last three years to capture the rituals and pageantry that are still very much part of the city's life today. In this multi-screen film installation he shows us the various sides of Venice: the Regata Storica, with its flotilla of stunning Venetian boats and traditional costumes, the stately priestly procession of the Festa Della Madonna Della Salute, hidden empty waterways, the Rialto market, and the Biennale itself.
For more information about Waldemar Januszszcak visit www.zczfilms.com
GERRY... read more and play video... |
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| AN INTERVIEW WITH PAE WHITE |
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The American artist Pae White explains her work at the Venice Biennale 2009 and its connection with the central exhibition 'Making Worlds'. |
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| WALDEMAR JANUSZCZAK AT THE VENICE BIENNALE 2 |
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Waldemar Januszczak gives us a whistle stop tour of the big players at this year's Venice Biennale, including Elmgreen & Dragset who have combined forces in the Danish and Nordic Pavilions, Liam Gillick representing Germany, and Claude Leveque at the French Pavilion.
For more information about Waldemar Januszszcak visit www.zczfilms.com |
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| WALDEMAR JANUSZCZAK INTRODUCES THE 2009 VENICE BIENNALE |
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In the first of several films we'll be showing on Saatchi Online TV Waldemar Januszczak introduces this year's Venice Biennale. In this film the broadcaster and chief art critic of the Sunday Times talks to the artist Steve McQueen about his film, "Giardini", on view at the British Pavilion.
For more information about Waldemar Januszszcak visit www.zczfilms.com |
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| BANKSY AT BRISTOL ART MUSEUM, UK |
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Banksy takes his work off the streets for his first museum show in his hometown of Bristol. This unique collaboration between the city's foremost cultural institution and one of the region's most infamous artists is already attracting thousands of visitors with waiting times of up to an hour to enter the exhibition.
Banksy Versus Bristol Museum
Until 31 August
Bristol Art Museum
Queen's Road
Bristol BS8 1RL
FREE EXHIBITION |
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| JONATHAN BOROFSKY AT DEITCH PROJECTS, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm drifts through Downtown Manhattan and records a couple of exhibitions of interest. Jonathan Borofsky has been a presence on the international art scene since the late 60s. His installations and counting practice were unique, but with Five Large Paintings he's given up counting and taken up the paint brush. Across town we drop in for the opening of Carrie Moyer. This recent selection of paintings displays Moyer's sense of elegance and a knowing employment of painterly devices recalling biomorphic Surrealism, with a Postmodern distance. A cameo appearance by sand painter Wayne Coe beg... read more and play video... |
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| BANKS VIOLETTE AND JESSICA STOCKHOLDER IN NEW YORK |
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James Kalm brings viewers along as he peddles through a Thursday night double bill. Banks Violette is one of New York's most provocative young artists. Deriving much of his imagery from the banality of Heavy Metal cliché, the main piece for 'Not Yet Titled' at Team Gallery is 'Zodiac', a ghostly recreation in cast salt of the motorcycle his friend Steve Parrino drove to his death.
Across town in Chelsea we slip in to see Jessica Stockholder's 'Sail Cloth Tears' at Mitchell, Innes & Nash. Stockholder constructs gerry... read more and play video... |
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| UNVEILED: NEW ART FROM THE MIDDLE EAST, THE SAATCHI GALLERY, LONDON |
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If you didn't have the chance to see the Saatchi Gallery's exhibition of new art from the Middle East, here's a video tour of the show which presented the work of over 20 of the region's most exciting artists. With thanks to Sam Edwards of Dynamind productions.
UNVEILED: NEW ART FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
30 JANUARY – 6 MAY 2009
SAATCHI GALLERY |
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| CHUCK CLOSE: PAINTINGS AND TAPESTRIES AT PACE WILDENSTEIN, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm makes his way to the Thursday night power-opening of Chuck Close. These massive portraits are Post-Modern icons that meld ideas about photography, abstraction and celebrity worship into a heady mélange of color line and inside the art world politics. Recent paintings include the artist's daughters and the former president Bill Clinton. Larger black and white wool tapestries reproduce examples of the artists photo portraits, and present huge images that are as rich in velvety texture and detail as they are in historical precedent (being produced in Belgium using 400 year old techniq... read more and play video... |
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| ROBERT LONGO AT METRO PICTURES, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm visits the latest offerings from a well-known proponent of the Pictures Generation, Robert Longo. Coming on the New York scene like gangbusters in the late 70s, the cool kids of the Pictures Generation were seen as fashionable radicals melding deadpan representation appropriated from photos and the mass media with a hermetic post conceptual theory. With this body of drawings, the artist has moved away from his large figures and is instead focused on the effects of atmosphere in landscapes and large interior spaces, presenting a Post-Modern Romanticism.
Robert Longo
Until 30 May... read more and play video... |
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| NEW SHOWS BY WILLIAM POWHIDA AND JENNIFER DALTON IN NEW YORK |
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James Kalm goes west, to bring viewers an exhibition double bill. Jennifer Dalton and William Powhida have created a stir that reverberates throughout the New York art scene. Though working with unique individual means, their excruciating examinations of art world norms reveals the faults and foibles of our materialistic and celebrity obsessed view of current artistic success. Dalton's installation questions the basic notions of value, while Powhida probes the structures of power assigned by the media. Both present a poignant and comic depiction of Institutional Critique. |
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| THE PICTURES GENERATION AT THE MET, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm anxiously returns to the Metropolitan Museum for the debut of The Pictures Generation. As a young artist he witnessed the rise of this group first hand. Deriving their images from photographic sources, their philosophic underpinnings from the French Deconstructionists and their attitudes towards presentation from commercial and corporate campaigns, the Pictures artists ascended the heights of art world stardom in short order. Their assimilation of the mass media and use of nontraditional means is a prime influence on today's new media. Featuring comments by Douglas Eklund, Associate... read more and play video... |
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| JOHN WATERS AT MARIANNE BOESKY, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm joins throngs of celebrity seekers and connoisseurs of the crappy in paying tribute to the Crown Prince of Kitsch, John Waters. 'Rear Projection' is the latest selection of Water works combining his love of cinema, and his unique take on Pop Art, larding it with a wickedly perverse sense of humor. Presented along with the photographic works are several sculptures that display a sardonic appreciation of everyday products. BONUS FEATURE: Allegiance to Satan. Are there dark unseen forces controlling the New York art world? This brief video explores the possible influence of "Satanic Ma... read more and play video... |
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| WAS THE NEW MUSEUM PUNKED? |
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IT WENT VIRAL! Due to popular demand, James Kalm is releasing 'Was the New Museum Punked' into general circulation. After its appearance on facebook (site of its exclusive debut) Hrag Vartanian, scooped a flurry of local bloggers who ran the story, many of whom, without properly crediting their source. Its description at facebook is: A banner stating "Please New Museum Show My Work" was hanging from the buildings facade at the press preview for 'Younger than Jesus'. It was soon removed, but across the street a painting with the same plea was seen on the ground. Was this a successful scam? |
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| THOMAS TROSCH AT FREDERICKS & FREISER, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm slides through the night to the Chelsea opening of 'Spring in Park Lane', recent paintings by cult favorite Thomas Trosch. With an exhibition resume stretching back years, Trosch is still an acquired taste. Combining the unlikely elements of fashionable high society damsels, narratives that might be borrowed from British soap operas, and a sumptuous technique, the artist produces works redolent of history and oil paint. With an underground reputation among painters, Trosch's works nevertheless deserves a wider consideration. |
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| PIERO MANZONI AT GAGOSIAN, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm slips in five minutes before closing and goes on the LD (Low-Down) to bring viewers a brisk walk-through tour of this historic Manzoni Retrospective at Gagosian Gallery. Piero Manzoni is perhaps one of the most influential proto conceptualists. This exhibition places his groundbreaking work in a chronological context with other artists like Yves Klein, Alberto Burri and Willem de Kooning. Probably best know for his Artists Shit (Merda dartista) and Base of the World Manzoni died at age 30. Because of the tight security and a strict no-photo polocy at the gallery no commentary was po... read more and play video... |
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| DANA SCHUTZ: MISSING PICTURES AT ZACH FEUER, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm slips into Chelsea to capture a brief glimpse of 'Missing Pictures', the latest series of paintings by Dana Schutz. Since her emergence, Schutz has attracted the attention of critics, curators and collectors with her endearingly quirky expressionistic views of daily life and take-offs on classic Americana. The new work features the inclusion of acrylic staining accentuated with oil paint, creating a fluid membrane reminiscent of watercolor. Featuring an interview with Brett de Palma.
Dana Schutz: Missing Pictures
13 March - 25 April
Zach Feu... read more and play video... |
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| JAMES KALM ON ERIK PARKER AT PAUL KASMIN, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm slides into Chelsea for an intimate preview of 'Crisis Creation', Erik Parker's latest selection of works at Paul Kasmin. The new work features intense color and a new precision in the rendering of cavorting figures that dissolve into masses of psychedelic pattern. Returning for the opening we glimpse Leo Koenig trying on a cape, and interviews with Simon Cerigo and Erik Parker (who, due to half-assed production values, was recorded at Dana Schutz's opening a week later).
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| JAMES KALM AT MARTIN KIPPENBERGER, MOMA, NEW YORK, PART 2 |
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James Kalm returns with viewers to take a more concentrated look at Martin Kippenberger’s estimable legacy as a painter. Receiving his first recognition in the late seventies as a painter and draftsman and despite the various projects and installations he engineered, Kippenberger maintained a consistent practice as a painter. This exhibition chronicles his graphic versatility as well as his masterful facility with the medium. These talents were incorporated in Kippengerger’s provocative challenge to the status quo and the art world establishment. Features an interview with Ann Goldstein, S... read more and play video... |
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| JAMES KALM AT KENNETH ANGER, PS1, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm wanders through the unusual installation of Kenneth Anger bringing viewers along for a brief glimpse of the first major survey of his work in over ten years. Kenneth Anger (b.1927) has been a cult classic, producing some of the most legendary underground films of the last half century. As a native Californian with deep ties to Hollywood, Anger's innovative use of saturated color, Pop, and Rock and Roll soundtracks and mysterious allusions to rituals, celebrity and subcultures, have distinguished him as a harbinger of societal evolution.
Kenneth Anger
Until 14 September
read more and play video... |
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| JAMES KALM AT MARTIN KIPPENBERGER, MOMA, NEW YORK, PART 1 |
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James Kalm is graciously allowed to document this, the first major retrospective of Martin Kippenberger at MoMA. This exhaustive survey covers works from the early eighties to shortly before Kippenberger's death in 1997. In Part I, Kalm focuses on the installations, and highlights the artists influential status in what has currently been termed Pathetic or Abject Art. Featuring an extended interview with Ulrich Strothjohann, Kippenberger's longtime collaborator and project consultant.
Martin Kippenberger
Until 11 May
MoMA
New York |
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| JAMES KALM AT LISA YUSKAVAGE'S OPENING, DAVID ZWIRNER, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm scurries through a busy Thursday night of gallery openings in Chelsea to document this debut of Lisa Yuskavage's recent paintings. Presenting lusciously painted images of young voluptuous women, the content balances precariously between the obviously pornographic and cutesy sweet realm of girly pulp. This ambiguousness has provoked critical attention and prompted Yuskavage to be considered at the cutting edge of contemporary figuration. Featuring interviews with Lisa Yuskavage, Jerry Saltz, Rick Prol and Wolfgang Petrick.
Lisa Yuskavage
Until 28 March
read more and play video... |
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| JAMES KALM AT ELLSWORTH KELLY, MATTHEW MARKS, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm scuttles between three galleries to bring viewers a brief overview of the recent paintings and older drawings of Ellsworth Kelly. Kelly is a seminal figure within New York's formalist abstract tradition. His simplified shapes and pure color were a harbinger of Minimalism's reductivist tendencies, but his sensual palette and organic forms set him apart as a unique force in establishing a more austere version of abstraction. The drawings from the late fifties and early sixties show the influence of Matisse yet establish Kelly as a designer with his own distinct aesthetic.
Ellswort... read more and play video... |
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| JAMES KALM AT METAPHOR CONTEMPORARY ART AND HOGAR COLLECTION, BROOKLYN |
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James Kalm gets into a Brooklyn vibe with this doubleheader gallery visit. Second Nature, a three-person show at Metaphor Contemporary Art, features artistic interpretations of our relationship to the natural world. Painters Lauren Gohara, Timothy McDowell and Amy Talluto use diverse means to depict their takes on our environmental and psychological bonds to the planet. Scooting to Williamsburg's Hogar Collection, viewers are invited to examine the unusual paintings of Peter Fox. With a personal technique that reduces all imagery to a series of self-aware drips, Fox mines the art history canon... read more and play video... |
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| JAMES KALM ON PETER CAINE AT DEREK ELLER AND MICHAEL WAUGH AT SCHROEDER ROMERO, CHELSEA |
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James Kalm makes a short Friday night tour of West 27th Street and captures views of some of todays most provocative artists. Dropping in first at Derek Eller Gallery, we ogle the amusing, sometimes shocking sculptural installation of Peter Caine. Space aliens, Yetis and mechanical ape-people all huddle in an igloo performing unmentionable rituals. In the back gallery we were treated to a couple of paintings by the Swedish artist Per Enoksson. These examples display a disturbing yet humorous confluence of Nordic Expressionism and the Abject. Running on to Schroeder Romero, we glimpse the lates... read more and play video... |
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| SAATCHI ONLINE TV AT UNVEILED: NEW ART FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AT THE SAATCHI GALLERY, LONDON |
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Saatchi Online TV reports from the opening of 'Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East' which is on view at the Saatchi Gallery until 6 May. The exhibition, a cutting edge survey of recent painting, sculpture and installation, features the work of over 20 of the region's most exciting artists, Diana Al-Hadid, Halim Al-Karim, Ahmed Alsoudani, Kader Attia, Nadia Ayari, Ali Banisadr, Shirin Fakhim, Shadi Ghadirian, Barbad Golshiri, Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Khaled Hafez, Wafa Hourani, Hayv Kahraman, Jeffar Khaldi, Laleh Khorramian, Farsad Labbauf, Tala Madani, Ahmad Morshedloo, Sara Rahb... read more and play video... |
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| PETER DOIG AT GAVIN BROWN'S ENTERPRISE, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm is caught doing late night recon on the installation of recent paintings by one of today's most accomplished and recognized artists, Peter Doig. Kalm returns for the opening to bring viewers a glimpse of the works and the attendant crowd of art world dignitaries and well-wishers. Using diverse means, and sources, Doig paints with a spontaneous and inventive hand achieving layers of translucent color that recalls Rothkos scrims of pigment and the simplified figure in landscape compositions of Milton Avery.
Peter Doig
Until 14 March
Gavin Bro... read more and play video... |
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| MARLENE DUMAS AT MOMA, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm trips to Midtown's Museum of Modern Art to witness the North American debut of 'Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave'. Dumas has received increasing attention for her heartfelt and sensitive renditions of the pageantry of the human condition. In 2005, one of her paintings was auctioned at Christies London for $3.34 million, establishing her as the highest priced living female artist. Between the prices, and Dumas's racially charged erotic and off kilter depictions, she has become a favourite target of comments within the cultural media. This video features an interview with Marle... read more and play video... |
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| SAATCHI ONLINE TV AT INDIAN HIGHWAY, THE SERPENTINE, LONDON |
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Saatchi Online TV visits 'Indian Highway', an exhibition of new art from India at the Serpentine. The culmination of extensive research across India, this group exhibition is a snapshot of a vibrant generation of artists working across a range of media, including artists such as Dayanita Singh, Subodh Gupta, Bharti Kher and the Raqs Media Collective who have curated a special 'show-within-a-show'. Saatchi Online TV presenter Sasha Nicholl interviews Bharti Kher, Subodh Gupta, Sheela Gowda, Nikhil Chopra and Monica Narula from the Raqs Media Collective, as well as Gunnar B Kvaran, the co-curato... read more and play video... |
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| CHELSEA GALLERY OPENINGS, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm risks giving viewers whiplash, as he attempts to report on five shows in ten minutes. With the coming holiday season, Chelsea is swamped with an embarrassment of riches. This high-speed tour begins with the abstractions of Tomma Abts at David Zwirner. From there we jog to 303 and breeze through the recent painting by Djordje Ozbolt. A respite is called for as we contemplate the large painterly works of Terry Winters at Matthew Marks, just before we catch our breath and head for a glimpse of the mirrored panels of Michaelangelo Pistoletto at Luhring Augustine. We wrap up with a zippy... read more and play video... |
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| SAATCHI ONLINE TV AT FUTURE MAP 08, DAVID ROBERTS FOUNDATION FOR ART, LONDON |
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Saatchi Online TV makes a trip to the opening of Future Map 08 at the David Roberts Art Foundation in London's Fitzrovia. Future Map 08 showcases twelve new emerging talents from the University of the Arts London, and Vincent Honore, the curator at the Foundation, hopes that it will offer people the chance to see some of the best up-and-coming artists based in London. The selection of artists was made by Honore, Assistant Curator at Arts London Medeia Cohan, and ICA Director, Ekow Eshun.
Saatchi Online TV interviews Vincent Honore about the show and some of the artists in this year's Futur... read more and play video... |
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| KIM KEEVER AT KINZ TILLOU + FEIGEN, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm stumbles into a unique display of photographic invention with this exhibition of Kim Keevers recent work. Using an original technique of building and photographing underwater dioramas, Keever is able to create fantasy scenes that capture all the mood and mystery of the Romantic landscape painters most specifically the Hudson River School. Combining the photos with his original music and video, Keever engulfs the viewer in a personal world of faux-natural beauty exploiting the audiences desire for a return to a perfect, allbeit synthetic, world. Featuring an interview and a studio vi... read more and play video... |
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| RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA'S JG READS AT GAVIN BROWN'S ENTERPRISE, NEW YORK |
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During the summer of 2008 Rirkrit Tiravanija installed himself and a small film crew to produce a film document of John Giorno’s poems, memoirs, and music works. 'JG Reads' spans five decades of work, creating an essential portrait of one of New York’s seminal bohemian figures and, by extension, a record of a New York that now exists only as an idea – in the imagination of all those still willing to see it. Shot on location in the hallowed ground of Giorno Poetry Systems, with the indefatigable Bowery only a few feet away, 'JG Reads' marks a pivotal moment in the history of this creative... read more and play video... |
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| RON GORCHOV AT NICHOLAS ROBINSON GALLERY, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm makes a pilgrimage to west Chelsea and takes in a viewing of recent paintings by New York icon Ron Gorchov. In a career that spans nearly fifty years, Gorchov has pursued his vision of pure painting. With his unique touch and innovative intuition the artist has developed an unmistakable form that combines the pictorial with the sculptural. His saddle-shaped canvases transcend the novelty of the gimmick and miraculously acquire a universal correctness that is timeless in its elegance.
Ron Gorchov: Recent Paintings
Until 6 December
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| SAATCHI ONLINE TV AT GSK CONTEMPORARY, ROYAL ACADEMY, LONDON |
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Saatchi Online TV presenter Sasha Nicholls visits a new exhibition at the Royal Academy in London which marks a departure from the RA's curatorial policy. 'Molten States', the first part of 'GSK Contemporary', explores the links between art, performance and experimental theatre in contemporary art. Saatchi Online TV talks to GSK Contemporary's curator David Thorpe as well as to several of the artists in the exhibition.
GSK Contemporary comprises more than 20 art exhibitions, 40 live events and 100 film screenings, and provides a unique platform for contemporary art within London's West End.... read more and play video... |
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| MARY HEILMANN AT THE NEW MUSEUM IN NEW YORK |
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James Kalm slinks back to the Bowery to report on the first retrospective exhibition of Mary Heilmann. Presenting over forty years of work, 'To Be Someone' gives viewers a chance to examine the themes, mediums and developments that Heilmann has consistently worked with. From her earliest pieces Heilmann has taken an insightful understanding of modern formalist conventions and tweaked them with a whimsical nonchalance that is nonetheless elegant and innovative. Richard Flood, Chief Curator, organized the presentation of the exhibition at the New Museum. Featuring comments by Julian Dashper.
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| ELIZABETH PEYTON AT THE NEW MUSEUM IN NEW YORK |
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James Kalm wakes up early to peddle in for the press preview of 'Live Forever', Elizabeth Peyton's first museum retrospective. Since her appearance on the New York scene, Peyton has stirred controversy, with her pretty pictures. Eschewing the macho dictums of large scale, heavy paint and profound formalistic dogma, she has rather produced intimate works of a light, fresh and jewel-like quality that reflect her personal world of art historic heroes, Rock-n-Roll stars, friends, family and lovers in domestic settings. This exhibition organized by Laura Hoptman, Kraus Family Senior Curator, docume... read more and play video... |
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| SAATCHI ONLINE TV AT THE OPENING OF THE NEW SAATCHI GALLERY, LONDON |
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The new Saatchi Gallery opened its doors for the first time on Tuesday evening, with celebrities and art world stars arriving in their droves for the art event of the season. The 70,000 sq ft gallery was packed by 7pm with a queue quickly forming along the King's Road. Guests such as Mica Parish, Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk and Ruby Wax joined collectors Anita Zabludowicz, Ivor Braka and Daria Zhukova to see the new gallery and inaugural exhibition of Chinese contemporary art. Julian Schnabel, whose paintings are on display in the Phillips de Pury & Company space on the third floor of the gallery,... read more and play video... |
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| JOHN H OCONNOR AT PIEROGI, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm circles back to central Williamsburg's Pierogi gallery to bring viewers a report on the recent drawings of John J. OConnor. Using the humble materials of pencil on paper, OConnor expands both the scale and content of drawing and achieves some of todays most captivating abstraction. Combining brilliant color, obsessive patterning, bizarre correlations of data and a whimsical compositional sense, these drawings are sterling examples of what I've termed Meta -Drawing, a recent development in graphic practice that is extending the boundaries of what drawing can be. The video features an... read more and play video... |
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| MARY HEILMAN AT ZWIRNER & WIRTH, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm motates to the Upper East Side for an intimate viewing of three decades of painting, by Mary Heilman. Some Pretty Colors is a selection of works that display the qualities which have attracted and increasing amount of critical and curatorial attention. With a seeming ease boardering on the nonchalant, Heilman constructs compositions with sophisticated structure and vibrant color. Recognized as a major influence on young abstract painters, shes also inspired artists of all stripes with her long-term commitment. Featuring an interview with Bobby G.
Mary Heilman
Until 25 October
Z... read more and play video... |
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| CHRIS JOHANSEN AT DEITCH PROJECTS, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm sneaks a peak at the installation and returns for the opening of "Totalities" at Deitch Project space in Soho. Hailing from Northern California's Bay Area, Johanson has been aligned with the local Skate-Punk scene as well as the street art community. "Totalities" is an ambitious project that seeks to represent a utopian conglomeration of environmental awareness, and a desire to recapture innocence through recycling and responsible employment of resources. Included are a "space temple" with rotating gray crystal, a skin-tone checkerboard wall, and a drawing gallery, all fashioned fro... read more and play video... |
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| 5 IDENTITIES, 5 DESTINATIONS |
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James Kalm takes a summer Friday and zips to the eastern edge of Williamsburg to bring viewers a glimpse of "5 Identities, 5 Destinations". Andrew Ford has curated a selection of work by five female artists that presents a cross-section of what might be called Pop Surrealism, Chick Art or Low Brow. While each artist displays their unique vision, there are commonalities that unify these artists within an enclave of contemporary painting. Featuring interviews with Amy Crehore, Jenn Porreca and Ewelina Ferruso and works by Lizz Lopez and Molly Crabapple. |
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| FRESH MEAT AT FACTORY FRESH, WILLIAMSBURG |
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James Kalm returns to MoJo (East Williamsburg/Bushwick) to introduce viewers to the district's newest arts venue, Factory Fresh. 'Fresh Meat' is a group show of works by gallery artists with a diverse selection of media and intentions that nonetheless displays shared sensibilities from within the community's youngest practitioners. Featuring a complete performance by E. Greem, and brief glances at works by Dresden Pawlick, Nora Lee, Autumn Marie, Jena Kane Lindsey Elsaesser and others. |
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| SAATCHI ONLINE TV AT FREEZE20 AND MADDOX ARTS, LONDON |
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This week Saatchi Online TV presenter Sasha Nicholl talks to The Hospital Club Gallery curator Duncan Cargill about the current 'Freeze20' exhibition, which celebrates the achievements and influence of the original Freeze artists over the past two decades. Plus we go to the private opening of Maddox Arts Gallery's Summer Show, where artists Julian Wild and Emi Miyashita chat about their work, whilst curator Edward Cutler and owner Mario Palencia enjoy the party.
Special thanks to Sasha Nicholl and Zoe Kalus. |
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| JESS: PAINTINGS AND PASTE-UPS AT TIBOR DE NAGY, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm ignores the sweltering heat wave to visit this astounding exhibition of works by legendary San Francisco artist Jess. Since rejecting a career in nuclear physics to pursue his unique vision of art, Jess (Burgess Collins, 1923-2004) has created one of the most influential reputations on the West Coast. With an independence of thought, Jess evolved an unmistakable painting style, as well as carried the tradition of collage to new heights of richness and complexity. This is the first New York gallery show in over 20 years and the first in-depth presentation of the work since the Whitne... read more and play video... |
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| CANCELLED, ERASED & REMOVED AT SEAN KELLY GALLERY, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm heads to North Chelsea to take in this intriguing selection of work. As a snow machine churns out fake flakes over the summer streets, we walk in on a performance by Titus Kaphar wherein he excises a classic figure from a painting. Robert Rauschenberg's 'Erased de Kooning' is parodied by Mike Bidlo, and John Baldessari alters a Richard Avedon photo of Marilyn Monroe. Laurie Anderson makes a cameo appearance with pithy remarks by Jeffrey Cyphers Wright. |
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| SAATCHI ONLINE TV AT ERNESTO CAIVANO: WHITE CUBE, AND MATTHEW HIGGS: WILKINSON, LONDON |
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The Saatchi Online TV team visit Ernesto Caivano at White Cube, Hoxton Square (until 30 August), and Matthew Higgs: Art Is To Enjoy and Unrelated group exhibition curated by Higgs at the Wilkinson Gallery (until 10 August) on Vyner Street. With interviews from both Ernesto Caviano and Matthew Higgs, this week's presenter Zoe Kalus gives a sneak opening night preview of these new exhibitions.
Special thanks to Sasha Nicholl, Zoe Kalus, Caroline Marsden, White Cube, Wilkinson Gallery, Ernesto Caviano and Matthew Higgs.
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| BERLIN GALLERY OPENINGS |
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Saatchi Online TV presenter Emilie Trice tours the latest gallery openings in Berlin, along the way taking in an interview with Artists Anonymous. Up first is Jarmuschek + Partner gallery which is showing new works by Dieter Lutsch (until 26 July), then BodhiBerlin where Shilpa Gupta's exhibition 'Blindstars Starsblind' is on until 3 August, and finally Galerie DUVE Berlin where 'The Bruce High Quality Foundation: The Great Wall' can be seen until 9 August.
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| SUSAN HEFUNA AND VITO ACCONCI AT ALBION, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm slips into Soho to view the debut exhibition of Susan Hefuna's, 'Knowledge is Sweeter than Honey' and the Fluorescent Furniture and Archival Works of Vito Acconci. The screens and drawings of Egyptian/German artist Hefuna elaborate a concept of the hidden and the unhidden, and elicit various levels of interpretation. Experimental furniture that blurs the boundaries between functionality and sculpture and archival documents of pioneering performances make up the portion of the exhibit presented by Vito Acconci, and the Acconci Studio. Featuring an interview with Vito Acconci. |
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| HILARY HARKNESS AT MARY BOONE, NEW YORK |
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James Kalm pedals to 57th Street to view the Harkness exhibit in its last week. Hilary Harkness employs a hyper-detailed technique that recalls the works of old masters Bosch, Altdorfer and Bruegel. Placing many of her paintings in WWII settings, these pieces also present an over the top depiction of female sexual fantasy with blatant references to Lesbianism, Sadomasochism and dominatrix practices. |
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| LOUISE BOURGEOIS AT THE GUGGENHEIM, NEW YORK PART 2 |
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James Kalm battles Manhattan's morning rush hour, peddling twelve miles, to pay homage to the Grand Dame of the New York Art World, Louise Bourgeois. This remarkable retrospective gathers the most extensive selection of Bourgeois works to date, and features her major sculpture, installations, paintings, drawings and graphics. Viewers will see the arc of stylistic development form the early Surrealist to the Biomorphic, assemblage and the installations with sexually charged images that makes Bourgeois an essential Feminist artist. Part II traces the artist's developments from the mid sixties to... read more and play video... |
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| LOUISE BOURGEOIS AT THE GUGGENHEIM, NEW YORK, PART 1 |
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James Kalm battles Manhattan's morning rush hour, peddling twelve miles, to pay homage to the Grand Dame of the New York Art World, Louise Bourgeois. This remarkable retrospective gathers the most extensive selection of Bourgeois works to date, and features her major sculpture, installations, paintings, drawings and graphics. Viewers will see the arc of stylistic development form the early Surrealist to the Biomorphic, assemblage and the installations with sexually charged images that makes Bourgeois an essential Feminist artist. Part I presents works from the early 1940s till the mid 1960s. T... read more and play video... |
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| LOS ANGELES GALLERY OPENINGS |
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Lia Trinka-Brown tours a selection of shows currently on in LA. 'From Panic to Power!' is a witty, yet almost tongue-in-cheek show curated by Brian Bress whose comedic videos are on view at the California Video show at the Getty. Bress takes on the concept of risk and failure with the works chosen, utilizing a younger generation of artists to convey an abandonment of the 'safe route'. The show is on through 19 July at the Angstrom Gallery (www.angstromgallery.com). The second show on the video is the first solo show by Bret Nicely, titled 'Pass the Poverty Please'. Nicely's formula for this ex... read more and play video... |
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| Jonathan Meese at Bortolami, New York |
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James Kalm encounters yet another of the "Young German Painters" who have monopolized sizable chunks of Chelsea's exhibition space during the last two months. Jonathan Meese along with André Butzer, Daniel Richter and Neo Rauch, all seem focused on restoring a type of massive painterly expressionism which has been sourly lacking from kowtowed New York artists. DICTATORBABY... is Meese's parody of an assimilation of politics by art. These heavily pigmented mixed media works present a whimsical take on cultural hegemony with startlingly fascistic implications. Meese fashions his works with an a... read more and play video... |
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