A Whirlwind Glance Back at ArtWeek Miami 2016.

A R T W E E K    M I A M I    2016

Life imitates art? – A visitor to the SCOPE art fair, beside the piece “Luxury Dinner” by Philippe Shangti, at the Art Angels booth, in Miami Beach, on Sunday, 12/4/16.

TAKING A WHILRWIND GLANCE BACK AT ARTWEEK MIAMI 2016.

(I originally wrote this article back in 2016 and it got stuck in my Drafts Folder when other life events hit my plate. Jut thought I’d go ahead and post what I’d written so it could finally see the light of day.)

MIAMI ~ Seeing everything on view during ArtWeek Miami is a seriously impossible task. With more than 20 official fairs, countless galleries, random gatherings, and pop-up street events, it’s just too much to take in, even if you can get early VIP previews and media access.

In this article, we’ll take a whirlwind tour, stopping to highlight just a fraction of the seemingly infinite events that were vying for viewers on the first weekend in December 2016. Before our more in-depth reviews, (to follow later), we’ll take a quick look at the following events. ArtMiami, Superfine, Wynwood Walls, Peter Tunney Experience, Goldman Global Gallery, Wynwood District Street Art, Aqua Art Fair, INK Miami Art Fair, and Secret Walls Miami. I also covered the The Raw Project at Hartner Elementary School, ArtBasel Miami Beach, and SCOPE Art Fair. But who knows If I’ll ever get to posting those reports.

~ ArtMiami

First up is the Art Miami fair. Located at 3101 NE 1st Ave. in Midtown.

As the longest-running contemporary art fair in the city, this fair showcases modern and contemporary art from 125 international galleries. It strives to provide “an intimate look at some of the most important work at the forefront of the international contemporary art movement.” Housed in a huge tent on a lot between the neighborhoods of Wynwood and Beverly Terrace, it made a good starting point, or base station for exploring most of the other events, especially since it offered a free shuttle service to its sister events CONTEXT Art Fair, just a block away, and AQUA Art Miami on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach.

Their post-fair press release stated they had 78,000 attendees combined for Art Miami and CONTEXT, and hosted 10,500 guests at their VIP Preview.

Art Miami 2016 had all the powerhouse names you’d expect in a Modern and contemporary show, like this Damien Hirst “5-Hydroxyuridine” (above) from Galerie Von Vertes. This Zurich gallery had an impressive booth, with several works by other heavy-hitters like Alexander Calder, Josef Albers, and Robert Rauschenberg.

There were Warhols and Hairings and Banksys and their followers around every corner, but there were definitely some lesser-known gems to be discovered.

Daniel Cherbuin, The Shrimp (groß), 2015, mixed media, edition of 8, video loop: 55 min. 11 sec., 73 x 63 x 3 cm

I was lucky enough to meet the artist Daniel Cherbuin at the booth of Galerie von Braunbehrens. His mixed media “video paintings” were definitely drawing crowds. Their whimsical nature combined with retro iconography, feel like the next step toward the inevitable future of art. Check back later to read my interview with this intriguing artist from Zurich.

Gordon Parks – At Segregated Drinking Fountain, Mobile, Alabama, 1956
2016 – Archival pigment print, Edition of 7 – 34 x 34 inches; 40 3/4 x 39 3/4 inches framed

The New Orleans based Arthur Roger Gallery had a number of unexpected finds. Some incredibly relevant color photographs by groundbreaking photojournalist Gordon Parks, and other wonderful pieces by James Drake, Troy Dugas, and George Dureau.

Detail from “Portrait Group” by Maurizio Anzeri. Embroidery on found photographs.

Another exciting find was the colorful, stitched work by Italian-born London artist Maurizio Anzeri at Haines Gallery out of San Francisco. Using thread and yarn seems to be one of the current fads in contemporary art, but Anzeri definitely puts the medium to an effective use and his embroidery on vintage found photographs was a big standout at this fair.

Another big crowd magnet was the melty work of “3 (three),” a trio of artists from Fukushima, Japan  (above) at the booth of the Miami gallery Now Contemporary Art. The anime doll mashup figures and panels pulled viewers in and beckoned them to look closer at the colorful conglomeration of sexy schoolgirl figures. In some cases the figures were bisected, a la Damien Hirst, and allowed viewers to peek inside at the fleshy innards of the pieces.

An overall impressive show, the Art Miami fair is a good median point (both geographically and aesthetically) on the scale between the ultra-high ticket Art Basel Miami Beach, and the more edgy and emerging events like SCOPE and Superfine.

In a recent release, Art Miami claim they’ve signed a multi-year agreement to hold the event at the former Miami Herald site (One Herald Plaza at NE 14^th Street at Biscayne Bay) in downtown Miami starting in 2017.

~ SUPERFINE: The Fairest Fair

The Superfine Art Fair had a much more laid back vibe. Located just one block south of Art Miami at 56 NE 29th St. Superfine was also open later (11pm), so offered an inviting spot to wind down after the larger, more buttoned-down fairs.  There was more of a festival feeling to this show, with dance music playing and drinks available. Many of the artists themselves accompanied their work and were pleased to interact with attendees.

Argentine artist Ramiro Davaro-Comas (above) was just one of the great artists presented by Organized Chaos Curation and one of the many artists attending the fair and available to discuss their work.  His unique, stitched and collaged drawings have a certain naive charm at first, but they get more complicated and refined the longer you investigate their intricate structure. Check back later for my interview with Ramiro.

deStijl is still alive and kicking! One of my favorite art styles, the geometric lines and shapes emblematic of the Dutch deStijl group, pioneered by Mondrian and Van Doesburg, has an infinite potential for new possibilities. New Orleans artist Bean Blackett (above) has tuned in to that wavelength and produced some canvasses that are both fresh and classic at once.

An installation at the booth of Airplane Mode collective presented the controversial work of Master Garrett, with “editions” of the piece available to purchase on USB drive. The rolling video detailed his performance piece titled “PATRON,” where devotees offer the artist “tributes” in exchange for being virtually abused by the burly character portrayed in the piece. Zines from the project were also available for purchase for $3 with intro essay by Emma Sulkowicz.

The vibrant photography of James Miille occupied one of the main central walls at Superfine and it was not surprising to learn that he’s part of the curatorial team and provided most of the imagery for the fair itself. His work walks the tightrope between the real and the surreal. The images often invoke a questioning feeling in the viewer, and that question is “why?” – Why am I seeing what I’m seeing? That visceral interaction is part of its success as a piece of art, and separates it from being just a pretty picture.

The collages of Theodora Richter were another delightful find and another booth where the artist was on the scene to discuss their work. Richter is investigating that eternal relationship between imagery, shape, and structure. Collage is a bit like chess, simple to learn and nearly impossible to master. But with these pieces Richter has proven she’s no novice and makes a strong statement to be added to the lexicon of the medium. Definitely one to keep an eye on. My interview with her will also be coming later.

The Superfine art fair was a blast this year and will hopefully continue to keep its relaxed feel for future fairs. It seems to know what size britches to buy, so it won’t get too big for them.

~ Wynwood Walls.

Kenny Scharf mural near the entrance at Wynwood Walls 2016.

Now in its seventh year, Wynwood Walls has become a kind of defacto geographic center for street art, murals, graffiti and other urban art during ArtWeek in Miami. Each year they invite some of the most popular muralists from around the world to make their mark on the walls of their open-air garden/gallery. While sanctioned “street art” is always somewhat more sterile than work that’s done without permission, the talent and success of their previous roster can’t be denied, and this year’s familiar lineup is no different.

Ron English mural at Wynwood Walls 2016.

PixelPancho mural at Wynwood Walls 2016.

In addition to murals by Kenny Scharf, Ron English and PixelPancho, (all pictured above,) this year’s Wynwood Walls were painted by Aiko, Alexis Diaz, avaf, Case, Crash, Cryptik/DALeast, Daze, eL Seed, Ernest Zacharevic, Fafi, Faile/Bast, Faith47, Futura, Gaia, HowNosm, Hueman, Inti, Kenny Scharf, Lady Pink, Logan Hicks, Maya Hayuk, Miss Van, Neuzz, OS Gemeos, P.H.A.S.E. 2, Peter Tunney, Picho & Avo, Retna, Ron English, Santiago Rubino, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, The London Police, Tristan Eaton, and Vhils.

~ Peter Tunny Experience

Peter Tunney in his Wynwood gallery during ArtWeek 2016.

Nestled right in the center of the Wynwood Walls complex, is the Miami studio and gallery of New York artist Peter Tunny. Stepping into the space offers a nice respite from the Florida heat (yes, even in December), but your eyes certainly don’t get a rest here. There’s an instant onslaught of imagery and Tunny’s artwork is not easily taken in at a glance. It has imagery upon imagery within imagery.

ArtWeek 2016 visitors to Peter Tunney’s gallery in Wynwood, Miami.

Like the proverbial a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, Tunney’s pieces can be seen on many levels. Most of them have one strong, simple slogan, such as “Change the way you see everything”, or “Crazy Good,” but upon closer inspection, you could spend hours investigating his collage and graphic techniques and still not take in every little detail. His blatant appropriation of contemporary and vintage advertising, not to mention the work of other artists such as Andy Warhol, may put some off, but his skill in combining text and images for impactful results is without question.

~ Originals at Goldman Global Arts Gallery

HUSH & other artists on view at Goldman Global Arts Gallery during ArtWeek Miami 2016.

Goldman Global Arts is the curatorial project of Goldman Properties, which owns the Wynwood Walls property. The Goldman Global Arts Gallery sits in the farthest back section of the Wynwood Walls property, where they hosted the exhibition “Originals,” featuring additional work by many of the artists who who painted this year’s murals. Curated by Jessica Goldman Srebnick and Peter Tunney, visitors got to see new canvasses by artists  1010, Alexis Diaz, Beau Stanton, BIO, Case, Crash, Dasic Fernandez, Daze, Faith XLVII, Fin-Dac, Hueman, Hush, Ken Hiratsuka, Jordan Betten, Logan Hicks, Matthew Ryan Herget, Maya Hayuk, Okuda, Pichi & Avo, PixelPancho, Risk, Ron English, Santiago Rubino, Shepard Fairey, Tatiana Suarez, The London Police, Tristan Eaton, and VHILS.

The gun paintings “Fear Me 1 & 2” by Tristan Eaton (seen in background above) were particularly strong. The monochrome palate is a nice departure from his normally color-rich style. Other standouts were pieces by Hush (2nd above) and PixelPancho, who’s panels in custom-made frames felt a bit like vintage, family heirloom daguerreotypes. And I don’t think anyone stepped up to Beau Stanton‘s eight-foot tall canvas, “Antediluvian Aftermath,” without saying “wow!.” I must have heard it half a dozen times while standing there myself.

Having a “wall-side” gallery with available work by each year’s mural all-stars seems like a no-brainer, and for those of us who normally only get to see Instagram versions of work by the artists we follow, viewing newer work, up close and in person is always a pleasure.

~ Wynwood District Street Art

For about eight blocks in every direction from the Wynwood Walls location, graffiti and street art cover nearly every inch of every wall that isn’t guarded by heavy security. It’s a great place to wander around and discover unsanctioned work by local and international writers and artists alike.

There’s “not even a square to spare” so, in many cases, older pieces are buffed over to make room for new work. Graffiti writers, crews and mural painters from all over the world descend upon the area like locusts and work throughout the week to re-cover every surface they can access. Tags, throwies, masterpieces, and full-blown murals are everywhere you look.

Paint isn’t the only medium used in this yearly attack. Street stickers are a quick and easy way to get your name out there with just a peel and a slap, and they are everywhere!  Many are hand drawn on pilfered labels like those from the USPS (Label 228), while others are made by screen-printing or alternative methods of mass production. Stickers are also a good way for artists to make small, quick pieces that are always ready to go up, or get sold to a fan or traded to a fellow artist, and are sometimes collaborated on by several artists or representing a particular crew.

Wheatpasted posters are another popular medium. I saw some nice work by SacSix, Unpolite Art Machine, Bournrich, Barcelona’s Konair, and Denver’s brilliant Frank Kwiatkowski (seen above.)

Other types of installations are all around if you know how to look for them. Minneapolis yarn artist Hot Tea (above) was hitting the fences around Wynwood with his signature three-dimensional wordplay. Cash for Your Warhol, had placed his signs in some strategic locations, and those faux traffic signs (possibly by Olivia Steele?) with slogans like “Control Yourself” (below) were also being ignored by the masses of people who passed by them.

So needless to say, what’s now (apparently) being called the Wynwood Art District is kind of like ten square blocks of nonstop streetart treasure hunt, and there are jewels to be discovered around every corner.

~ Aqua Art Fair

The Aqua Art Miami fair is one several “hotel” fairs. Similar to the INK, NADA, Fridge, Satellite, and other fairs, Aqua virtually takes over a Miami Beach hotel and utilizes the existing layout to feature its exhibitors. At the Aqua Hotel, 1530 Collins Ave., each room facing the courtyard has been mostly emptied of furniture and replaced with artwork.

There were too many impressive rooms at Aqua to mention them all here, but there were certainly some that rose above the crowd.

I may be definitely am biased when it comes to the Tampa-based gallery Cass Contemporary. Since opening in early 2014, they have hosted many of my favorite artists and their exhibition space (above) at Aqua was no different. After their opening of a magnificent Shark Toof show, “Red Everything” back in Tampa, they presented some of his innovative work in Miami as well. Some three-dimensional objects have begun to emerge from Shark Toof’s paintings and the effect is fantastic. Accompanying that was new work by St. Petersburg artist BASK, (“Sweet Savage” center) and some remarkable pieces by Dallas artist, Michael Reeder, (right) who’s work was so popular at several fairs, that most of it sold out during the preview events. Check back for more in my full report on Cass at Aqua.

The Kallenbach Gallery, from Amsterdam, paired with Favela Painting, to make a superb presentation.  In their space, the Dutch duo Haas&Hahn showcased colorful, geometric details and photographs from their massive mural projects in Rio, Philadelphia, and other cities. The gallery also featured works by other impressive international artists including some exquisite collage/mixed media wood panels by  WK Interact.

Working Method Contemporary, is a collective of MFA students at Florida State University, in Tallahassee. Their exhibit presented one of the most unforgettable paintings of the entire weekend. Viewing the piece “Hoarders Paradise” (detail above) by Christina Klein, feels like being caught in a tornado time-warp, one that’s swept through the cubism section of MOMA. Her amazing ability to present an image of such profound structure blended with an equal dose of chaos, leaves the mind properly boggled, and definitely wanting more.

I could have spent the entire weekend just at the Aqua Art fair and still not had enough time to properly appreciate every gallery in attendance. Every time I tried to make my way to the exit, I happened upon another room containing work I HAD to stop and look at. Some of those included: The Derek Gores Gallery from Eau Gallie, FL, Gama Gallery from Istanbul, The Gallery from St. Petersburg, FL, Chicago’s Vertical Gallery, McCaig-Welles & 212 Arts from New York, and J. Fergeson Gallery from Farmville, VA. I hope to write more about my discoveries at these galleries in due time.

~ INK Miami Art Fair

Another “hotel fair,” the INK Miami Art Fair was held at the Dorchester South Beach Hotel at 1850 Collins Ave.  Unlike other fairs, this one focuses solely on contemporary and Modern works on paper.  Sponsored by the International Fine Print Dealers Association, the exhibitors are all association members, but that doesn’t seem to have restricted the diversity of of the works on offer.

A somewhat hidden gem of the University of South Florida in Tampa is their GraphicStudio, which had a room-full of magnificent work (above) on display at INK.

Established back in 1968, their artists list reads like a who’s-who of printmaking from the last fifty years. Robert Rauschenberg was one of the first artists to work in their facility, but many other greats were to follow, including James Rosenquist, Jim Dine, Ed Ruscha, Judy Chiago, and Chuck Close, just to name just a few.

Robert Rauschenberg “Sheephead” – 1974 – Multicolor relief and intaglio print on fabric with collage of wooden ruler sewn on print.

It’s rare that you get to view such little-known works by Modern masters in person, nevermind having the option to actually purchase one. The Rauschenberg”Sheephead” print (above), priced at $15,900, appeared to have been sold by Saturday morning when I got to see it.

Ed Ruscha – “DO AS TOLD OR SUFFER” – 2001

Many newer artists have also discovered the mastery of GraphicStudio. Artists like Vik Muniz, Alex Katz, Trenton Doyle Hancock, and Christian Marclay (below) have started working with them more recently, and some were on exhibit during this show. If you ever find yourself with spare time in Tampa, do check them out.

Christian Marclay – “Fisssss Bang!” – 2015 – photogravure with aquatint etching

The Rabley Contemporary Gallery, from Marlborough, England, had a lovely display of work, including some very intriguing intaglio and woodcut prints by Naomi Frears. (below)

Naomi Frears – “Just Passing Through” – intaglio and woodcut

I then casually wandered in to the rooms of Stoney Road Press from Dublin. What I saw there, tucked in a back alcove, unassumingly framed, with a standard, white, printed placard, was a piece of artwork that instantly became one of my all-time favorites.

The Irish artist Brian O’Doherty, (before he had temporarily changed his name to Patrick Ireland), invited Marcel Duchamp to his New York apartment in 1966, with intentions to make a portrait of the enigmatic master. The results of this endeavor may be the single most appropriate portrait of an artist I’ve ever seen.

Duchamp once said, “I came to feel an artist might use anything – a dot, a line, the most conventional or unconventional symbol – to say what he wanted to say.”

I can’t imagine a more unconventional way to make a “portrait,” than hooking the subject up to a cardiograph machine, to create a drawing, representing the literal beating heart of the artist himself, (see above). The result is quietly seismic.

Also on exhibit from Stoney Road Press was a series of 28 stunning prints by Garrett Phelan titled “The Hide Suite.” Here’s a detail (below) showing some of the brilliant color combinations.

One of the artists presented by Wildwood Press, out of St. Louis, was Casey Rae.  Her large, tryptic titled “Mackinaw City 4 Huron” (below) was simply stunning. The haunting, surreal labyrinth depicted in the three, giclee-printed panels, is easily recognizable as a frozen icescape from a few meters away, but when viewed up close, (which was necessary in the small hotel rooms), the amazing clarity and detail accomplished with the original 4×5 film transparency photograph, really comes to light and virtually sends a chill through the viewer.

I often like smaller concise fairs like this one by INK Miami. They offer a much more narrow selection of work and this allows the viewer to concentrate on one particular medium or movement. The larger (anything-goes) fairs have so many different types of work available, it can be difficult to wrap your mind around it all.

~ Secret Walls Miami 2016

The last shot is just a quick look at the finished wall from early the next morning.

That’s all folks.

Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks

Late in the 1980s, burgeoning New York art collector Larry Warsh acquired a series of eight, common composition notebooks from members of a seemingly-defunct and little-known band called “Gray.” Those notebooks sat boxed in a closet of Warsh’s Manhattan apartment for more than 25 years. Now they are on a touring exhibition from the Brooklyn Museum, with stops at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the Pérez Art Museum in Miami, and the books are likely reaching a much bigger audience than the band ever attracted back at C.B.G.B.’s in 1980.

Of course, these aren’t just any notebooks. “Gray” isn’t just any band born in the Bowery. And it turns out that Larry Warsh is a damn good judge of groundbreaking art.

The sparsely-filled books contain years of hand-written notes by revolutionary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and they seem to offer a peep-hole in to the mind of that unconventional genius. This exhibit presents pages from the notebooks alongside a selection of his larger compositions, providing the visitor an in-depth exploration of the Basquiat lexicon that is both verbal and visual.

View from the Basquiat exhibition at the High Museum of Art.

Basquiat started the band, eventually called “Gray” with performance artist Michael Holman in 1979. They, with various other bandmates, played their ambient/industrial music at the usual downtown haunts, but with growing recognition of his visual artistic talent, Basquiat left the band in mid 1980. It was right about then his career seemed to lasso a shooting star and the artist struggled to hold on tight for as long as he could.

Surviving band members reunited to play at Basquiat’s memorial service in 1988 and again more recently for art happenings and music festivals. In 2011 they even released a “new” album “Shades of…” which includes cuts of  the late Basquiat’s voice and music.

GRAY – SHADES OF… from Plushsafe Records.

 

But this is about the notebooks…

View from the Basquiat exhibition at the High Museum of Art.

Since the beginning, Basquiat’s artistic efforts have focused on words and short phrases. The SAMO@ graffiti he perpetrated with school friend Al Diaz in the late seventies often seemed like excerpts of Beat poetry.

MICROWAVE & VIDEO X-SISTANCE
“BIG MAC” CERTIFICATE
FOR X-MAS
-SAMO©

Even after his painting evolved from street walls, to paper and fabric, to canvas and wood installations, these words and phrases infiltrated every aspect of Basquiat’s artwork. In fact they seem to be the actual essence of it, merely enhanced by the more visually dominant graphic elements.

Basquiat – Untitled, 1982–83. Oilstick, colored pencil, crayon, and gouache on paper mounted on canvas. Collection of Fred Hoffman.  Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

This first major exhibition of the books displays 160 pages of the artist’s personal writings, sketches and notes, accompanied by other drawings, paintings and historical Basquiat ephemera. The pages on display often reveal a kind of evolution on many of the subjects he used in his more extensive paintings, along with those iconic motifs like figures, faces and crowns.

Page from Basquiat notebooks – Famous Negro Athletes.

Basquiat drawing – Famous Negro Athletes, 1981, oil stick on paper. Collection of Glenn O’Brien.

 

Basquiat developed a unique way of using language the way other artists used paint, or filmmakers use footage. The notebooks seem to be like mental scrapbooks for the artist to collect and manipulate phrases and ideas.

The exhibit presents them as “autonomous works” and not the “preparatory studies” of a sketchbook. But they do have a sketchbook feel to them, only these sketches are made with words instead of line and shadow.

This brings me back to the Beat Poets, and Kerouac in particular. On the back cover of my copy of the book: “Jack Kerouac Book of Sketches“, (Pengiun 2006), it says:

“…Ed White mentioned to Jack Kerouac ‘Why don’t you just sketch in the streets like a painter but with words.’ White’s suggestion is credited with helping to inspire Kerouac’s move to spontaneous prose.”

Here’s an excerpt from a Kerouac “sketch” in Massachusetts.

———————–

Concord River RR
Bridge
Sunday Oct 24 ’54
Lowel
5 PM

     A ridiculous NE
tumbleweed danced
across the RR bridge

     Thoreau’s Concord
is blue aquamarine
in October red
sereness — little
Indian hill towards
Walden, is orange
brown with Autumn
The faultless sky
attests to T’s solemn
wisdom being correct
— but perfect wisdom is Buddha’s

—————-

Many of these Basquiat notebook pages have a very similar feel…

Basquiat – from Untitled Notebook #2, 1980–1981 – Collection of Larry Warsh, Copyright © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Photo: Sarah DeSantis, Brooklyn Museum.

 

Just as other collage artists like Ray Johnson and Robert Rauschenberg collected little snippets physically from newspapers, letters and trash piles, to later assemble and re-arrange in their artworks, – Basquiat seems to have been collecting these snippets verbally instead. He collected them in the notebooks by writing them down when he read them, heard them, witnessed them, or just thought them up.

While many lines are filled with these intriguing collections of phrases, and developing ideas, other pages do indeed feel more like finished works of art on their own.

Basquiat –  Untitled Notebook Page, circa 1987 – 

Collection of Larry Warsh. Copyright © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Photo: Sarah DeSantis, Brooklyn Museum.

Looking closely at the intricate structures of words and lines on the pages, one can hardly resist recalling the obvious influences of seasoned contemporaries like Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly.

Basquiat – detail from page of Notebook #4 – Collection of Larry Warsh.

In addition to these rarely seen notebook pages, some of the more emblematic Basquiat works are traveling with the show. These larger compositions, canvasses and collages add a pleasing compliment to the exhibition.

Views from the show at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Some of the most precious little items in the show are the rare mementos of the artist’s life, such as the Brooklyn Museum Junior Membership Card signed by a young Jean-Michel Basquiat.

And the unforgettable Polaroid photograph by cohort Andy Warhol.

Jean Michel – Basquiat Polaroid 1982 – by Andy Warhol on loan from private collection, seen at The High Museum of Art.

These additions provide a much wider scope for viewing the artist’s work, making this a unique opportunity for both longtime aficionados, and Basquiat newbies alike.

As notebook owner Larry Warsh expressed so perfectly in an April, 2015 Q&A article for Departures by Laura van Straaten:

“No one can have a complete picture of the inner workings of any artist, but the words on these pages give us a glimpse of the soul behind this complex, creative persona.”

While I highly recommend attending this exhibition if you can, I can’t help myself from wondering what else Warsh might have stashed in that closet of his…

Tour Schedule :

Brooklyn Museum, New York

April 3–August 23, 2015

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia

February 28–May 29, 2016

Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida

August 8–October 23, 2016

 

Links, Sources & Recommended reading:

 

Departures: “Q&A: Larry Warsh On Basquiat’s Notebooks” by Laura van Straaten

Financial Times: “Larry Warsh on his approach to collecting” by Peter Aspden

Gray History from the website of Michael Holman

http://plushsaferecords.com/

http://www.basquiat.com/artist-timeline.htm

The SAMO© Graffiti photographed by Henry Flynt

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/touring/basquiat_notebooks http://www.high.org/Art/Exhibitions/Basquiat-Notebooks http://pamm.org/exhibitions/basquiat-unknown-notebooks

==================================================

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY LANCE ARAM ROTHSTEIN (except where noted.)

 

 

Vik Muniz Retrospective at High Museum

By guest contributor Karen Rothstein.

Now on exhibit until August 21, 2016 at The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, is a retrospective including more than 100 photographs by the Brazilian born mixed media artist Vik Muniz.

He has such a warm and enthusiastic manner. At the media preview, he expressed his overwhelming joy at seeing museum-goers actually taking close-up notice of all the unorthodox materials he used to create his artworks. Even the youngest child can find something in his work that brings them pleasure and perhaps engages them into taking an interest in the world of Art.

The writer, Karen Rothstein with artist Muniz in front of his Self-Portrait: “I Am Too Sad to Tell You”, after Bas Jan Ader, from the “Rebus” series.

Muniz is known for trying to create a sense of wonder and intrigue within his photography. The way he creates each piece is unique, adding a plethora of unconventional items in the process of making each finished photograph. These things that you might be familiar with in their proper place, will all come as a surprise in his art. Things such as: tiny childhood toys, garbage, torn pieces of magazines, diamonds, food of all sorts, etc…. It is easy to see the artist has a playful sense of humor. The different textures and sizes of his working canvasses make each finished photograph very unique. For example, one project included large-scale drawings made by bulldozers on a construction site, while other images were made by assembling small pieces of garbage or tiny toys and then photographing them from above, to reveal the intended scene that he pictured in his head before it all started. Be sure to watch the video in the gallery, showing how he created “Mother and Child” from the “Pictures of Garbage” series.

Vik Muniz – Mother and Child  (Suellen)  from “Pictures of Garbage” series.

Muniz often makes several works in a series, using similar materials to explore a common theme, materials that often trigger the viewer’s memory, recalling another time and place.

Vik Muniz – “Double Mona Lisa” (Peanut Butter and Jelly) from “After Warhol” series.

Vik Muniz – “Saturn devouring one of his sons” after Goya, from “Pictures of Junk Series.”

Vik Muniz – “Vik, 2 Years Old,”  from Pictures of Album series (representing one of the few pictures from his childhood)

Before moving to New York as a young man, Muniz was brought up in a working class family in Brazil while the country was under a strong military regime. People couldn’t speak their mind and times were hard. To this day he stands up for the underdog and addresses issues of social justice, and several of the works on display express the depth of his feelings.

 

Vik Muniz – “George Stinney, Jr.” from “Pictures of Album” series  (Stinney was convicted at a flawed trial in 1944 at the age of 14 in South Carolina.)

 

Vik Muniz – Six children from the “Sugar Children” series (Children from sugar plantation workers who played in the sand on the Island of St. Kitts).

Muniz really loves to use all different textures and is intrigued with color pigmentation as seen in his wonderful rendering of Gauguin’s “Day of the Gods”. Look close, the colors and textures comes to life.

Vik Muniz – “Mahana No Atua” (Day of the Gods), after Gauguin, from “Pictures of Pigment” series.

Muniz is primarily working in series these days, but he started out in the 80’s doing sculpture. A fine example is on display, be sure to few his Mnemonic Vehicle (Ferrari Berlinetta) a composite of polyurethane, plexiglass and aluminum, portraying a nearly life-size Ferrari automobile as a massive matchbox car.

The Artist is a true master of creativity and composition, his work has been on display the world over. He currently works in  New York City and Rio de Janeiro.

This exhibit is a wonderful one and will make for great discussion with family and friends in days to follow.

Vik Muniz – A Bar at the Folies-Bergère after Édouard Manet, from the Pictures of Magazines 2 series.

The Vik Muniz exhibition runs through August 21, 2016 at The High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Visit www.high.org for more info.

Butcher Brings Majestic Everglades to Coconut Grove

Acclaimed large-format nature photographer Clyde Butcher will be opening a new gallery in Coconut Grove, Miami this February.

The prolific photographer is set to attend the grand opening of his new “Everglades Gallery,” located at 2994 McFarlane Road on Friday, February, 13, (a great Valentine’s Day date.) Butcher will also be on hand at an invitation-only V.I.P. event on Tuesday evening, January 13, to give a keynote presentation at 8pm.

The new gallery apparently opened its doors for a while during the holidays, as reported in this Coconut Grove Grapevine Article:

The Clyde Butcher Facebook Page also posted some pictures of the gallery set-up in progress:

Butcher’s majestic black and white photographs are surely among the most moving representations of Florida’s vanishing wilderness you’ll ever see.  As I stated before in my review of his “Preserving Eden” exhibition, Butcher is one of the greatest American landscape photographers and clearly one of the hardest-working men in the business.

This Coconut Grove “Everglades Gallery” joins Butcher’s other two venues, the “Big Cypress Gallery” in Ochopee, and “The Venice Gallery & Studio” just south of Sarasota, which also houses his 2000 sq. ft. darkroom.

So take note Miami, you now have no excuse not to go see the work of this living legend for yourself.

Labeauratoire headed to Miami ArtWeek 2014

Labeauratoire is headed to Miami Beach for Art Week 2014.

Be sure to follow @lancephoto on Twitter for some live updates.

We’ll be covering several of the major art fairs including (but not limited to) Art Basil Miami Beach, Context Art Miami, and the SCOPE Miami Beach fair.

There are a few artists we’re excited to see on this trip. I’ve been following Jane Maxwell online for several years and am looking forward to  finally seeing her work in person at CONTEXT Art Miami.

Jane Maxwell – New Sculptures @ Context Art Miami: December 2-7 | Caldwell Snyder Booth E41.

“The exhibitions and programs at CONTEXT will be even bigger and more impressive than in previous years,” said CONTEXT Director Julian Navarro. “In addition to showcasing a solid group of international galleries, CONTEXT is unique in that it will feature a series of solo artist projects, curated spaces, unique programming, conversations and events – all aimed to immerse and entertain our attendees.”

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We caught a great Street Art show at a little gallery in Belgium back in 2012 where the work of EVOL really caught the eye. Here’s a new piece by this innovative artist. We’re hoping to view it at SCOPE.

EVOL, Summer TV Classic, 2014 Spray paint on cardboard Courtesy of Jonathan LeVine Gallery

“Celebrating its 14th year of introducing galleries to the contemporary market, SCOPE returns to its location on the sands of Miami Beach with 126 International Exhibitors from 27 countries and 48 cities. “

Also at SCOPE we’ll be looking for the Heineken house…

“The Heineken House is a multi-sensory experience, featuring a Live Art Pyramid as the core. Standing over 35ft tall, the pyramid features 12 massive live art walls to be hand-painted live during SCOPE Miami Beach. The interior features a covered bar serving ice cold Heineken, while the exterior provides seating for patrons to witness the transformation of this multifunctional installation.”

Here we hope to see the collage artist Derek Gores working live on sight in the Pyramid.  I recently encountered Gores at his gallery in Melbourne, Florida, and he’s also having an exhibition with Thinkspace Gallery at the Aqua Art Miami show.

“Aqua Art Miami opens Wednesday in perhaps my biggest show yet, and new directions shown for the first time. If you can’t make it in person, request a collection preview by writing contact (at) thinkspacegallery (dot) com … Here we go Miami ~ #aquaartmiami #thinkspacegallery “

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And of course we’ll be spending time at the massive ArtBasil Fair.

© Courtesy of Art Basel

“FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT ART BASEL IN MIAMI BEACH
Art Basel takes place at the Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC).
Over 500,000 square feet of exhibition space host the Galleries, Nova, Positions, Edition, Kabinett and Magazines sectors, as well as Conversations and Salon. Public artworks are shown nearby at Collins Park, while Film is presented across two venues, inside the MBCC and in the outdoor setting of Sound Scape Park. – In 2013 the show attracted an attendance of 75,0000 over the five show days.”

Art Basel is sure to be a magnificent event and just as surely waaaayyy too much to see in the one day we’ll be there. So here’s just a short glance of some of the galleries we hope to catch there:

Acquavella Galleries, Gallerie 1900-2000, Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Gagosian Gallery, & White Cube.

If you’re headed down to Miami as well, be sure to look for the ArtBasil APP for your devise. It’s a killer!

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Be sure to follow @lancephoto on Twitter for some live updates, if I’m not too busy on the beach 😉

Abelardo Morell’s Universe Next Door at High Museum Atlanta

ABELARDO MORELL’S UNIVERSE NEXT DOOR AT HIGH MUSEUM OF ART – ATLANTA

Review by Labeauratoire US Correspondent Karen Nurenberg Rothstein

The photography exhibition, “The Universe Next Door” is now on view at The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia through May 18, 2014. It includes more than 100 works that span Abelardo Morell’s career from 1986 through the present-time.

Abelardo Morell – Camera Obscura: Manhattan View Looking South in Large Room
1996, Gelatin silver print.

Abelardo Morell was born in Havana, Cuba in 1948. He fled with his family in 1962, but before he left Cuba he saw many atrocities. His life was turned upside down by the things he lived through. These events have given him a great sense of depth and feeling which he has used in his work as a photographer.  Morell is especially known for his work with the camera obscura, but he got his early inspiration from great masters of street photography such as Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Bresson was an early adopter of the 35mm format camera, which Abelardo used primarily for some time, but with the birth of his children, he left the light weight 35mm camera and went to a heavier, large format model. He began to experience things in a different way after his children were born, and he used the large format camera to express that new found depth of meaning with contrasting light and dark expression in his work.

Unlike many other photographers, Morell doesn’t limit himself to one photographic style. There are several different visual avenues he explores, giving this exhibition a dynamic variety.

CHILDREN

Abelardo Morell shows us that you are never to old to experience things with the enthusiasm of a child. His children opened his eyes, allowing him to visualize things with a simplicity and wonderment, to go beyond what is plainly visible and to genuinely see and photograph the world in a different way. His work is indeed a magical mix between realism, surrealism and simplicity. Consider his photograph of a pencil. It is simply a pencil, but the morning shadows transform it into a magical tower.

Abelardo Morell – Pencil, 2000, Gelatin silver print.

One of the key images included in this exhibit shows the shadow of the artist’s house on the ground. A door, windows, and a fence have been drawn into the image, and his children pose, showing what might be going on inside or within. Reality merges with imaginary.

Abelardo Morell – Laura and Brady in the Shadow of Our House, 1994, Gelatin silver print

SURREALISM

In “Still Life with Wine Glass”, which is a photogram, Morell has positioned the objects as a still-life. But with his artful magic and the use of water and glass, the result is surreal. The perspective is distorted, forcing the viewer to focus on the objects he has brought to the foreground.

Abelardo Morell – Photogram on 20″ x 24″ Film, 2006, Gelatin silver print.

Morell also has a great talent for showing excitement. He is able to capture the unique behaviors and properties of motion, and several photographs in this exhibit are good examples of this talent. The “Motion Study-Hammer” gives the illusion that a hammer is coming down to hit the nail on the head, but in reality it is three impressions of a hammer in lead.

Abelardo Morell – Motion Study of Hammer Impressions on Lead
2004, Gelatin silver print.

CAMERA OBSCURA

The Camera Obscura (Latin for “dark room”)  was one of the earliest methods of projecting an image. This was achieved by opening a small hole to allow light from the outside to penetrate into a darkened room. This technique would cast a faint, upside-down image of the outside scene onto the inside wall. This process helped early master artists such as Vermeer and dates back to the 10th century or perhaps even farther.

Abelardo Morell – Camera Obscura: The Empire State Building in Bedroom
1994, Inkjet print.

In 1991, Morell started bringing the outside world inside with his use of the camera obscura. At home with his family was where he felt the most inspired, so he started blackening rooms of his house and, with his large format camera on a tripod, he set out to make the most enchanting and exciting photographs he had done in his life.

Using Kodak Tri-X film in a view-camera, these first camera obscura images required an exposure time of several hours. When the first image was developed it was an epiphany for him. The interaction between the projected, outside image, with the ordinary elements of the room inside, produced a truly unique mixture.

Abelardo Morell – Camera Obscura: View of Central Park Looking North
Fall, 2008, Inkjet print.

Later, Morell started capturing these projections in color, and also devised a way to invert the image so that it would be seen right-side up. His retrospective at the High Museum displays the exciting evolution of these camera obscura photographs.

“A lot of my work tries to disorient you once you get invited in to something that seems normal.  I like to suggest that what may be empty is not. When you feel alone there is actually a lot more of the world coming into your space than you think.” 

– Abelardo Morell  –  http://shadowofthehouse.com/film.html

Abelardo Morell – Camera Obscura:
View of Atlanta Looking South Down Peachtree Street in Hotel Room
2013, Inkjet print.

TENT CAMERA

The next venture for Morell was to make a portable camera obscura, and his “Tent Camera” was what came to materialize from this endeavor. With the help of a friend he placed a periscope on top of a darkened tent enabling him to project the outside images onto the ground inside, where there was already a natural canvas. With the advances in digital photography, the increased light sensitivity allowed Morell to make exposures more quickly.

Abelardo Morell discusses the making of his image. Tent Camera Image on Ground:
View of the Golden Gate Bridge from Battery Yates, 2012, Inkjet print

“The added use of dig­i­tal tech­nol­ogy on my cam­era lets me record visual moments in a much shorter time frame– for instance I can now get clouds and peo­ple to show up in some of the photographs.”

– Abelardo Morell  – http://www.abelardomorell.net/srcHTML/tent-camera-statement.html

Lib­er­ated now with his tent camera, he was free to experiment out in the world.

Abelardo Morell – Tent-Camera Image on Ground: View of Old Faithful Geyser,
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2011, Inkjet print.

BOOKS, PAPER AND MONEY

In some of the other works on display, Morell uses a 35mm camera to capture his love for the simplicity of everyday things, such as Books, Paper and Money.  With this camera he achieves majestic close-ups, engaging the observer to realize the beauty in things we so often take for granted as mere objects.

In “Down the Rabbit Hole”, the rabbit, from “Alice in Wonderland,” struggles to peer down a hole made in a large book. This makes the viewer want to look inside and perhaps dream of what might be down there, and of possibilities to come.

Abelardo Morell – Down the Rabbit Hole
(From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), 1998, Inkjet print.

In the image “Paper-Self” he has merely stacked up paper to create a profile of himself. The visual architecture of this photograph, with its detailed, contrasting highlights and shadows, is so well structured, it reveals his mastery and shows us the intricacy and pulchritude of his mind.

Abelardo Morell – Paper Self, 2012, inkjet print.

PICTURING THE SOUTH

In 1996 the High Museum established “Picturing the South” an initiative commissioning established and emerging artists to make a body of work that would show off the south. Abelardo Morell is the latest artist to receive this commission. He chose for his subject matter, the trees of the southern landscape, and captured them in his somewhat whimsical, yet natural way.

Abelardo Morell discusses his image: Cutout in Print with Pine Trees Behind
2013, Inkjet print

During Morell’s talk at the exhibition’s press conference, he describes his technique of hanging a large image of a wooded scene in front of the actual trees in the forest. He then cut out parts to expose the real landscape.

Like so much of this exhibition, this image offers us an interesting look into the way Morell continues to surprise us with each step he makes in his photographic journey.

 “The Universe Next Door” runs through May 18, 2014 at The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia.

LINKS:

High Museum Atlanta’s Website: www.high.org

Abelardo Morell’s Official Website: www.abelardomorell.net

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ALL TEXT AND “LABEAURATOIRE” PHOTOGRAPHS BY KAREN NURENBERG ROTHSTEIN

FOR LABEAURATOIRE ©2014

Super Natural: Clyde Butcher’s Florida Photographs at the Leepa-Rattner Museum in Tarpon Springs Florida

Butcher is one of the greatest American landscape photographers and certainly one of the hardest-working men in the business. Don’t miss your chance to see some of his magnificent and massive prints in this exhibition:

“Preserving Eden” Clyde Butcher’s Florida Photographs

Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art ~ Tarpon Springs, Florida, USA  North and South Galleries Dec. 8, 2013 – Feb. 16, 2014

Clyde Butcher – Loxahatchee River #1, 1991
Gelatin silver print, 48 x 72 in., On loan from the South Florida Museum, Bradenton

Clyde Butcher works with a large format view cameras and often traipses out into the Florida Swamps with all his equipment. This is not a simple task and, though he does have helpful assistants, it can be a brutal and arduous journey. But at 71, Butcher is a master of his craft and his herculean efforts produce spectacular results. While many people view landscapes as still and unchanging, Butcher is somehow supernaturally in-tune with his natural surroundings and he waits for the perfect moment to snap his picture like a street photographer would in the urban jungle.

Clyde Butcher’s unique eye, combined with his patience and attention to detail, allows him to instill the feelings of action and excitement in a seemingly unmoving scene.

This special exhibition at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs includes 35 black and white photographs and allows visitors the opportunity to experience the unique connection Butcher has with natural Florida, and they don’t even have to put on wading boots!

Butcher takes us on an historic journey, not only into the deepest, darkest corners of the Everglades, but also to the sun-bleached shores of Florida’s beaches, and even to the vanishing green spaces that can be found beside highways and parking lots. He is a man on a mission and that mission is being “deeply committed to recording precious landscapes throughout the world.”

After their virtual hike through the stunning wilderness, visitors can sit and relax watching a video documentary on Butcher and his work.

In addition to being one of the greatest living photographers, Clyde Butcher is also one of the most active, and when it comes to his online presence, he has provided many ways for fans to become involved and stay connected.

He provides guided Photo Safari’s and Ec0-Excursions via his website:

Clyde Butcher’s Big Cyprus Gallery

His personal site: clydebutcher.com also has a wealth of biographic and technical information for those gearheads out there.

Butcher’s Facebook Page has more status updates than your thirteen year-old neice’s.

And he even has his own YouTube Channel!

So, take advantage of your chance to see this great exhibition. If not, be sure to check out one of his future events by subscribing to his NEWSLETTER.

IF YOU GO:

“Preserving Eden” Clyde Butcher’s Florida Photographs

Dec. 8, 2013 – Feb. 16, 2014

Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art / 600 Klosterman Road · Tarpon Springs FL 

open Tuesday – Sunday (check for hours)

LRMA@spcollege.edu / (727) 712-5762

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ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT @ LANCE ARAM ROTHSTEIN

An Odyssey of Imagery: Joel-Peter Witkin at Keitelman Gallery Brussels

Joel-Peter Witkin “Love and other Reasons”

at Keitelman Gallery Brussels

January 24 – March 29 2014

NOT FOR THE TIMID OR EASILY OFFENDED.

Joel-Peter Witkin – “Paris Triad” 2011

Don’t miss this rare chance to experience an odyssey of imagery in the photographs of infamous American artist Joel-Peter Witkin. His unmistakable style combines caustic and corrosive techniques with traditional darkroom printing to present a unique and often startling tableau. Calling on a wealth of symbolism from mythology, legend, and painters of the past, Witkin composes meticulous scenes in makeshift studios with subjects spanning the entire experience of human life, and death.

Joel-Peter Witkin was born in New York in 1939. After honing his technical skills as a documentary photographer in the US military, he studied visual art and received his MFA from the University of New Mexico. Witkin still lives in Albuquerque where he continues to innovate and build on his well-established career. This exhibition “Love and other Reasons” at the Keitelman Gallery brings together a wealth of different pictures, mostly from the last fifteen years.

Viewing Witkin’s images is not an endeavor to be taken lightly. Many have castigated the artist and his work and even some of his fans find it difficult to look at. Witkin often uses human body parts and corpses in his photographs and the people who pose for him fill the spectrum of humanity, from the traditional beauties to the drastically deformed. Witkin himself once advertised for models exhibiting “…all manner of visual perversions…” and that is what the viewer will encounter in his images.

Joel-Peter Witkin – “Anna Akhmatova” 1998

But perversion is not what Witkin sees, and those who “get” his work also see the beauty that can be found in the compositions he presents. Recalling still-life paintings by the Flemish masters, many of his photographs gather an ensemble of objects with an infinite capacity for symbolic interpretation, and like the “vanitas” of the 17th century Witkin uses these symbols to spark introspection.

Joel-Peter Witkin – “Still Life with Mirror” 1999

Witkin uses his lens and his creativity to shine a light in to the darkest corners of the mind and of human existence and asks us to consider, what is the nature of life, of death, of beauty, of fear? Do we look in the mirror and see the transitory nature of all life and earthly endeavors?

Joel-Peter Witkin – “Poussin in Hell” – 1999

“Hellish” is a word that can often be conjured when viewing Witkin’s work. And like the demon-filled representations on medieval church walls, these photographs offer a story that is more powerful than mere words can express.

Joel-Peter Witkin – Paris Triad: “Death is like lunch… it’s coming.” – 2011

Don’t be alarmed and ask “what’s the world coming to?” He’s not subjecting you to anything that Hieronymous Bosch didn’t envision six hundred years ago. But unlike Bosch, Witkin’s story is not about exposing evil. On the contrary, his pictures embody an innocence of sorts. It’s easy to look away. To dismiss them as merely provocative. But look more deeply into the images (and into yourself,) and you may glimpse what Witkin is searching for.

“There’s two times in life where you’re totally innocent: before birth, and at death.”

– Joel-Peter Witkin

Joel-Peter Witkin – Paris Triad: “The Reader” – 2011

If you can gather the mental constitution to let go of your preconceptions and step through the looking glass provided here, you’ll be rewarded with a wealth of stunning images you’re not likely to forget. Witkin is certainly a master of his craft. He can invoke the spirits of Dante and Dalí and bend them to his will.

With a cadre of dedicated assistants, he often spends days sketching and laying-out his elaborate scenes before any photography occurs. He then spends as much time again working the negatives and prints into his unique mixture of photo, graphic, collage, and chemical reaction.

Joel-Peter Witkin – “Eternity Past, Berlin” – 1998

This exhibition at the Keitelman Gallery offers a fairly wide array of Witkin’s work ranging in time and subject matter. Many of his newer pieces include almost vibrant colors, not a characteristic often associated with his earlier work. And some of the photographs have been hand colored, where previous prints of the same image were only presented in black and white. Painting and collage elements have become more prevalent in Witkin’s arsenal of visual weaponry over the past ten years, proving the artist has not ceased evolving.

Joel-Peter Witkin – “Woman with Small Breasts” – 2007

 Witkin is not an artist resting on his laurels. He continues to investigate the nature and meaning of human experience when many others have resorted to platitudes. With a well-weathered soul he still searches for that common innocence that lies within the essence of all things. And though it might remain just out of reach, Witkin keeps taking up the challenge.

~ LANCE ARAM ROTHSTEIN – FEBRUARY 9, 2014

Joel-Peter Witkin “Love and other Reasons”

at Keitelman Gallery Brussels runs January 24 through March 29 2014

for more details visit: http://www.keitelmangallery.com/

KEITELMAN GALLERY / RUE VAN EYCK 44 / B-1000 BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

TEL +32 2 511 35 80  / EMAIL KEITELMAN @ KEITELMANGALLERY.COM

OPENING HOURS: TUESDAY – SATURDAY 12:00 – 18:00
OR BY APPOINTMENT

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PHOTOGRAPHS WITH THE “LABEAURATOIRE” LOGO BY LANCE ARAM ROTHSTEIN

ALL OTHER IMAGES ARE FROM THE KEITELMAN GALLERY WEBSITE

A Quick Trip through Life with Pierre Lefebvre @ Delire Gallery Brussels

A Quick Trip through Life with Pierre Lefebvre

New Paintings at Delire Gallery Brussels – January 31 – March 1, 2014

This large canvas of a carousel in the front window, beckons all who pass by, to enter the Delire Gallery in the Ixelles art district of Brussels. Inside the small, bright space are six more from Pierre Lefebvre’s series of seven new paintings.

Unless you have a French heart, (or perhaps a Russian one,) it might be slightly difficult at first, to find cohesion between the images presented in this exhibition. The vibrant swirling carousel is accompanied by four medium canvasses, each depicting a solitary pigeon on cobblestones, one of a large, gray section from an anonymous cemetery, and a small, lovely and colorfully detailed painting, which appeared to my American eyes to show a fancy fan-pull.

But after a short guide from gallery owner Sébastien Delire, the brilliance of this ensemble becomes blindingly clear.

Transported back to our childhood, we see the carousel spinning round and round with blurring speed. Each vehicle is a path of destiny.

The gallery’s accompanying pamphlet (which I did not read until later,) states it perfectly:

“On which ship did you escape reality? Which animal took you on a travel?

A rocket, an elephant, a tank, a carriage, the police motorcycle, the horse?” 

What did you dream of? Which path did you choose in life?

Next comes the large room. Each of the four walls carries a single canvas, (two shown here) framed alone by the vast whiteness. Four depictions of a pigeon, walking around on cobblestones, seemingly aimless.

Aren’t we all like this pigeon? Slightly confused by our surroundings, just trying to make it through life, get some food, avoid harm, not quite sure what’s coming next.

The viewer must turn in a circle to see each painting in this room.

Do you still feel like you are on the carousel?

In Lefebvre’s previous exhibition. I noted that he had a knack for capturing obscure little snapshots of life, small vignettes depicting scenes that most others wouldn’t think twice about. And these pigeons are like that as well. As we all walk, drive, ride our way through life, how often do you stop to notice the pigeons? They’re always there, going about their business. Trying to make due, same as you. It’s always the children who have a free enough spirit to get excited about pigeons on the street. Well… children and those photographers with the heart of a child. In every square you can see children running toward the pigeons, scattering them like a cloud of magic dust, and also a photographer, crouched inconspicuously, trying to capture them in motion.

Lefebvre, with his child’s heart and snapshot-like paintings, has captured them here and presents them for you to consider, in a manner you’re much more comfortable with. Art on a wall.

Do you feel more grown-up now?

Good, because now we move on to the next room.

The final room is much more cramped and poorly lit. The exact opposite of the previous room. Here there are two paintings on opposing walls. One is a very large, drab canvas that looms from high on the wall. It depicts a section of graves in a cemetery. Yes, death comes for us all. I will not try to represent this imposing painting with measly pixels. Go see it for yourself. Even being there I felt I had to step out of the room, backing up to try and take it all in. But you can’t really accomplish that task. You’re forced to be in the room with it. It invades your personal space. You must confront it, or turn away.

And in turning away, Lefebvre, with a wink, gives you a little chance at a way out.

This small painting I thought was showing a fancy fan-pull, is actually a traditional feature of some European carousels. This small ball and tassel, similar to the Brass Ring on some American carousels, is dangled barely within reach of the riders.

If you are lucky enough to grab the right one. You get to ride again!

Can you reach it? Do you get a Free Life? Re-start? Do-over? Reincarnation?

What will you dream of this time?

New Paintings by Pierre Lefebvre

on show at Delire Gallery Brussels – January 31 – March 1, 2014

http://www.deliregallery.com/

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ALL IMAGES IN THIS POST ©PIERRE LEFEBVRE

Written by Lance Aram Rothstein 2/7/2014

World-class Warhol Exhibit at Beaux-Arts Mons (BAM) in Belgium.

This is the last weekend to catch the world-class Warhol Exhibit!

Andy Warhol: Life, Death and Beauty

– through January 19, 2014 at Beaux-Arts Mons (BAM) in Wallonia Belgium.

Warhol: Life, Death & Beauty poster outside Beaux-Arts Mons ~ photo by Rothstein

Don’t miss your chance to see more than 100 original Warhol artworks in this inaugural exhibition for the reopening of Beaux-Arts Mons. There’s no bigger art-star than Andy Warhol and this show provides a nice variety of his groundbreaking works, some rarely seen outside the USA and some from Belgian private collections.  The security for this exhibition is a bit outrageous however. At some times there are more security personnel in a gallery than patrons. I realize that each piece could be worth millions, but having black-clad officers scurrying everywhere, with loud walkie-talkies squawking every few minutes, does not make for the most enjoyable atmosphere.

Yet this show is indeed enjoyable despite the distractions. Produced by The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, and curated by Gianni Mercurio, the galleries in this show are broken up into 12 different sections.

Entrance to BAM.

After entering the museum and paying the very reasonable 9.00€ admission, the first room you enter focuses on the artist’s Self Portraits. Warhol was obsessed with his image and was most successful at branding himself like a product. Four small (facsimile) strips of photo-booth pictures begin the show. These little black & white images helped set the tone for Warhol’s work throughout his life. Along with the Polaroid pictures he was so fond of, (which are suspiciously absent from this exhibition,) these little, instant photos became a jumping off point for him and the stark style is visible in most of his portraits and self portraits.

© warhol.org

Warhol  Self-Portrait, 1963-1964 photobooth photograph 7 7/8 x 1 5/8 in. (20 x 4.1 cm.) – The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection,  © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Many of the pieces in this exhibition are very typical of Warhol, the kind of work that made him so famous. But there are also some unique gems in the show that really stand out from the others. One such piece in the self-portraits section is a large canvas from 1978 which combines three different “poses” of Warhol’s face, like a triple-exposure photo. Along with wide strokes of easter-egg-type colors, this painting really feels as though it embodies the soul of Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol –  Self-Portrait, 1978 acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen 40 x 40 in. (101.6 x 101.6 cm.) The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

There are several other interesting self-portraits in this section including three smaller works from 1978. In two of the canvasses, Andy is posing with a skull, and in the third he is being choked by hands that come from outside the frame. These also hark back to the photo-booth-style pictures.

The majority of unexpected work lies in the Religion section of the show. Warhol’s work was highly influenced by his Catholic upbringing, especially his very early and very late works.  There are several very beautiful yet simple early images of Madonna and Child such as this undated drawing with gold paint and collage elements depicting the Visitation of the Three Kings.

Madonna and Child – n.d.
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Another highlight in this room is a small colored drawing of Santa as if he were on a playing card.

And just two years before he died, Warhol embarked on an ambitious group of silkscreen print/collages of The Last Supper. The juxtaposition of torn shapes and colors against the faded black and white background print make this work stand out as a new artistic avenue for the artist.

Last Supper
1986, acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 78 x 306.2 “
© The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA

The Death and Violence section of the exhibition includes some works from the infamous “Death and Disaster” series where Warhol used graphic images appropriated from newspapers. Also a very early drawing from 1954 titled “Dead Stop.

Andy Warhol – “Dead Stop”, ca. 1954 ink and wash on Strathmore paper
(49.5 x 58.4 cm.) The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

This room is dominated by a massive silver canvas of revolvers, possible the largest piece in the show.

Andy Warhol, Gun, 1981-1982 – Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 177,6 x 228,6 cm
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / SABAM Belgium 2013 Ville de Mons

While this room also has images of suicide, skulls, knives and the electric chair, ironically, it also holds some of the most beautiful works in the entire exhibition. There are ten different examples of Warhol’s famous Flower silkscreens with fluorescent paint, and also an original painting that inspired them from 1964-65. But one of the most surprising and delicate pieces in the show is an early butterfly illustration from a private collection. An ink and watercolor on paper from 1956. Unfortunately, due to the museum’s No Photography policy, I am unable to show you this image since, unlike the other images in this review, I was unable to find an example of it anywhere online.

So we’ll have to settle for a similar set of works.

© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Imagine an intricate butterfly such as this one on the left, only filled with smaller butterflies similar to the ones on the right. You wouldn’t realize it from this crude example, but this piece alone is worth the trip to see this show.  The work is also signed simply “Warhol” in very lovely lettering. I really wish I could show it to you, but perhaps this will be the thing that brings you to the exhibition…

The next room is reserved for Andy’s Icons where we find examples of his most recognizable work. There are six different examples of the famous, multicolored Marilyn Monroe silkscreens from 1967, but a more intriguing piece is actually a much darker “Marilyn” from 1978.

Andy Warhol, Marilyn (4), ca. 1978 silkscreen and acrylic on fabric 91,4 x 71,1 cm
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / SABAM Belgium 2013 Ville de Mons

Despite its darkness, this piece really sparkles and draws you closer to investigate the usage of black on black. It’s an overused phrase, but its brilliance really IS in its simplicity.

There are also more of the usual suspects in this room including Dollar Signs, A whole grid of blue Jackies, neon outlined portrayals of Lenin, and the obligatory Mao.  Though there’s also a much nicer, larger, acrylic and ink painting of Mao from 1973 with swirling mixtures of green white and ochre.

It’s also here that you’ll find the “poster child” for this exhibition.

Andy Warhol “Red Jackie” 1964 acrylic and ink on canvas
©SABAM Belgium 2013 Ville de Mons

The Red Jackie can be seen on posters all over Belgium and there have even been a few of these flyers for the show adorning the exterior windows of the Belgian Prime Minister’s house, (I pass by his home on a regular basis.)

From Icons we move on to Portraits, which in Warhol’s case isn’t much different. He spent his life making people into icons, not least of all himself. There are many of his signature-style portraits in this room. Warhol used a Polaroid “Big Shot” camera to make little pictures of his subjects and used these as a basis for his large paintings and silkscreens.  This later influenced the cover designs of the Interview Magazine he started in 1969 to follow his obsession with the cult of celebrity .

The faces of the famous fill this room, including those of actresses Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, designers Mario Borsato and Yves Saint Laurent, artists Roy and Dorothy Lichtenstein and Joseph Beuys, etc… But several pieces do stand out in this crowd. There’s a small black on pink silkscreen of painter Robert Rauschenberg which is simple yet somehow captivating.

Rauschenberg by Warhol, 1967.

And this striking image of Armani from 1981.

Andy Warhol “Armani” 1981  (101.8 x 101.8cm)

This may not look like much on your screen, but this large acrylic painting is the only piece in the show in a protective case. That’s because it’s sprinkled with “diamond dust.”  There’s debate about whether it is indeed real diamond dust on this painting because, after trying it, Warhol later switched to using ground glass in his paint because it was more sparkly.

At the end of the Portrait room there is a small room with seating to view an excerpt from the film “What’s Happening?” by Antonello Branca. This 1967 black and white movie includes interviews with Warhol and other artists such as Lichtenstein and Rauschenberg. You can view a trailer for it here: What’s Happening?

Continuing upstairs to the second level of the exhibition, the designated themes get a bit more convoluted. There’s a small corner titled Consuming Pleasures, which features some of his more commercial work.  There are graphic designs for Halston and the “Committee 2000” as well as two of his famous Soup Can silkscreen prints, though these are later works from 1968 which were actually commissioned by the Campbell’s Soup corporation.

Also in this room are several interesting pieces from Warhol’s series “Details of Renaissance Paintings.”

One of these screenprint on watercolor works, based on the famous Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci, almost covers an entire wall.  – There is also a lovely Warhol-ized representation of Venus.

Andy Warhol – Details of Renaissance Paintings
(Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1482), 1984
acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen (121.9 x 182.9 cm.)
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection,
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

This piece really combines the ideas of iconic image and iconic style.

On the other side of this room is a section called Altered Image which presents six large photographs of Andy Warhol by photographer Christopher Makos. You can see some of these photographs in this short video though there is an ad preceding it.

Just off this section is a room filled with “Silver Clouds,” an installation from the Warhol Museum Series. Originally made by Warhol for the Leo Castelli Gallery in 1966, this BAM version may be somewhat exciting for children, but it falls a bit short of instilling the Warhol glam experience. There are at least 18 shiny, foil, pillow-shaped helium balloons whirling about the otherwise empty room, but there are also black tape-covered wires leading around the floor to eight various ordinary, modern fans, and the obligatory emergency exit signage, along with the ubiquitous security guard at the entrance. Being immersed in billowing silver clouds sounds like a good idea, but the clumsy implementation here is a bit distracting.

After another video screening room for the eponymous film “Life, Death and Beauty” by Christina Clausen, comes the last Warhol room in the exhibition and it is definitely a melange. One wall offers a section titled Vanishing, which features ten large, vibrant silkscreen prints of endangered species animals from 1983.

These include wonderful representations of Lion, Tree Frog, Elephant, Panda, Bald Eagle, Bighorn Sheep, Rhino, Orangutan, and Zebra.

Also in this room are eight different neon and pastel-colored camouflage prints. You can now find similar patterns to these on the tight pants of many a nightclub-hopping lady.

Portfolio of eight screenprints 1987
(each): 38 x 38″ (96.5 x 96.5 cm)
© Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

But I wonder if Warhol was the first to experiment with changing the typical colors of camouflage? It is quite an absurdist statement when you think about it.

One of the last pieces in this show, and also one of this fanboy’s favorites, is an Apple Macintosh illustration from 1985.

I still remember the first time I saw the Macintosh come out of the box back in 1985. Most people don’t realize that Andy Warhol was one of the first artists to work on the advertising illustrations for this fledgling, world-changing machine.  If interested, you can read this detailed account of The Night Warhol met Steve Jobs, by journalist David Sheff.

Following the final Warhol room is a nice group of works from BAM’s permanent collection. These selections from 1960-1980 meld nicely with the Warhol works. Artists include Pat Andrea, Pol Mara, Peter Saul, Michel Jasmin, and this very Pop piece by Valerio Adami.

Valerio Adami – “Contenitore” oil on canvas 1968

As the exhibition comes to a close there is a room full of screen prints in a makeshift workshop by children and other visitors to the museum. And they have even provided a free “Popmaton” Photo Booth where patrons can have their pictures taken in four Warhol-style colors.

Popmaton photos of/by Lance Aram Rothstein 2014

This was quite fun. All the images are shown on a large video screen outside the photo booth and visitors can download their photos afterward at: http://www.popmaton.com/

So, altogether a very rewarding exhibition. There are some pieces that are rarely exhibited and it’s always exciting to see the old favorites too.   So if you have the chance, POP on over to BAM before it’s too late. (groan)

IF YOU GO:

Andy Warhol: Life Death and Beauty – From October 5, 2013  to January 19, 2014 

Beaux-Arts Mons   BAM, rue Neuve – 7000 Mons   Phone: 0032 (0) 65.40.53.30

http://www.bam.mons.be/

Open Tuesday – Sunday from 10am-6pm

Entry = 9.00€

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