Sabtu, 03 Maret 2012

Art Knowledge News - Keeping You in Touch with the World of Art...

Art Knowledge News - Keeping You in Touch with the World of Art...


Francis M. Naumann Fine Art to show "New Paintings by Carlo Maria Mariani"

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 09:21 PM PST


New York City.- "Carlo Maria Mariani: New Paintings" is the second exhibition of work by Mariani to be held at Francis M. Naumann Fine Art (the first was a show of works on paper held in the fall of 2007), and will be on display from March 9th through April 20th. Carlo Maria Mariani is best known for paintings that—through the techniques and vocabulary of a classical style—address highly sophisticated concepts and concerns that are integral to an understanding of most advanced forms of contemporary art. The present exhibition highlights Mariani's paintings of classical heads, which have been a hallmark of his art for years, but which today take on a renewed symbolic urgency, suggesting, perhaps, that the deep-rooted lessons and aesthetic concepts of the past harbor the essential solutions for a more positive and optimistic future.


These ideas are best expressed in the words of David Ebony, a longtime champion of Marini and his work, who introduces a new monograph on the artist with the following statement: One of the most enigmatic and elusive figures in all contemporary art, Carlo Maria Mariani is also one of the most misunderstood. He was born and educated in Rome, where he established his career. Surrounded by monuments of antiquity, he absorbed the past and launched a bold experiment to use its power symbiotically in his work, in terms of merging the past, present, and, by implication, the future. Developing and refining this concept through the years, he became internationally celebrated for his unique vision and technical acumen. Critics and the art-going public, however, sometimes missed the underlying conceptual aim of the work. He now resides in perhaps the most contemporary of cities, New York, where his project has become ever more hallucinatory yet, at the same time, more lucid. Mariani is often regarded as one who is almost single-handedly keeping alive the spirit and ideals of classical beauty in painting today. While this may be true, it is just one facet of his multifarious achievement. The conceptual nature of his work transcends the realm of art history, which is limited by the simple fact of its already being part of the past. Mariani's art is very much engaged with the present. It constitutes a vital dialogue with contemporary art, concerns of the day, and human endeavor in a troubled world. He conveys his thoughts visually, with a witting attitude toward life in the moment, and sometimes also with a feeling of urgency. One of the most imaginative painters of our time, Mariani offers his visions as a guide, a way to navigate through the often alarming vicissitudes of life while maintaining an unerring sense of grace and dignity.

artwork: Carlo Maria Mariani - "Collage (C)", 2006 - Oil and collage on canvas 20" x 18" - Courtesy of Francis M. Naumann Fine Art. On view from March 9th until April 20th.

Accompanying the exhibition will be a monograph written by David Ebony and edited by Carol Lane, with essays by Robert Pincus-Witten and Italo Tomassoni (Skira, 2011). Copies are available through the gallery. The exhibition shall also premier a new film on the artist by Carol Lane, Carlo Maria Mariani: Painting of the Imagination. Copies of the DVD can be ordered through the gallery. Francis M. Naumann Fine Art specializes in American Art of the 20th Century, as well as European Art from the Dada and Surrealist periods. Shown also are contemporary painters and sculptors whose work displays related aesthetic and/or anarchic sensibilities. The gallery opened to the public on October 27, 2001, with a show of Man Ray's work from the New York, Ridgefield, and Hollywood years. Visit the gallery's website at ... http://www.francisnaumann.com

UK's White Cube opens Hong Kong gallery in pursuit of China's Booming Art Market

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 08:58 PM PST

artwork: A visitor looks at artwork beside a piece by British artist Rachel Kneebone, center, inside the White Cube new gallery in Hong Kong. Britain's White Cube gallery launched its Hong Kong branch becoming the latest Western gallery to open an Asian outpost in pursuit of China's booming art market. -  Photo: Kin Cheung / AP

HONG KONG - Britain's White Cube gallery, known as an early champion of provocative British artists Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, launched its Hong Kong branch on Thursday, becoming the latest Western gallery to open an Asian outpost in pursuit of China's booming art market. White Cube unveiled a 6,000-square-foot (557-square-meter) space in a new building in Hong Kong's central business district. With its first branch outside Britain, White Cube follows other British as well as French and American galleries that have set up shop in Hong Kong in recent years. As their home markets plateau, they're pinning hopes for future growth on Asia, particularly China, where a strong economy has been minting millionaires at a rapid clip. The arrival of White Cube in Hong Kong underlines the sophistication and increasing influence of the region's art collectors. Founded in 1993, White Cube has had a long association with Hirst and Emin, the most prominent of a group known as the Young British Artists that emerged in the 1990s.


SCOPE Art Show Returns to New York City for the Eleventh Year

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 08:49 PM PST

artwork: Ye Hongxing - "Phantoms of the world No.4", 2012 - Oil on canvas - 59" x 102" - Courtesy Art Lexing, Miami. On view at Scope New York from March 7th until March 11th.

New York City.- The SCOPE Art Show returns to New York City for the eleventh year, from March 7th through March 11th, with an exciting, high-profile location across from The Armory Show. The 35,000 square foot pavilion and its dramatic glass box entrance on 57th Street and 12th Ave will host SCOPE's flagship fair, SCOPE New York, featuring over 50 international galleries and museum-quality programming that will highlight groundbreaking, emerging work in contemporary art and beyond. SCOPE New York's First View will take place on March 7, 2012, with proceeds benefitting New York-based non-profit, chashama. With over 40 fairs spanning ten years in New York, Basel, the Hamptons, London and Miami, SCOPE Art Show's have hosted an impressive line-up of A-list galleries, blue-chip institutional groups, and respected patrons, garnering critical acclaim, sales of over $150 million and attendance of over 350,000 visitors.


The Crocker Art Museum opens a Survey of Groundbreaking Artist Judy Chicago

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 08:34 PM PST



Sacramento, California.- The Crocker Art Museum will present a career-spanning exhibition of the work of artist and feminist Judy Chicago in "Surveying Judy Chicago: 1970–2010." Chicago's convention-shattering approach to provocative themes and diverse media is explored in this exhibit of 29 works. The exhibition will be on view at the Crocker from March 3rd through May 13th. This is the first traveling exhibition to include her glass sculpture. Judy Chicago has continuously brought her passion for social dialogue and artistry to bear on many issues. A test plate from "The Dinner Party, 1974–79" is included in this exhibition as are studies completed for "Birth Project, 1980–1985." She has also made innovative use of both traditional and non-traditional media in works that highlight her conceptual and graphic talents, from lithographs to drawings, watercolors, and mixed-media paintings.


The Sackler Gallery Premieres Visionary Works by Japanese Master Painter

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 08:18 PM PST

artwork: Kano Kazunobu - "Birds and Beasts, Five Hundred Arhats" Scrolls 61 & 62" - Hanging Scrolls - Ink and color on silk - Collection Zojoji, Tokyo. On view at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery,Washinton DC in "Masters of Mercy: Buddha's Amazing Disciples" from March 10th until July 8th.

Washington, DC.- The Sackler Gallery is proud to present Kazunobu's epic series presenting the legendary lives and deeds of the Buddha's 500 disciples. "Masters of Mercy: Buddha's Amazing Disciples" will be on view at the gallery from March 10th through July 8th, and form's part of the "Japan Spring" season, two major Japanese exhibitions of artists whose works reflect the vitality and interests of nineteenth-century Edo (now Tokyo) at the Sackler, coinciding with the National Cherry Blossom Festival and centennial celebration of Tokyo's gift of cherry trees to Washington. In early 1854, just as American Commodore Matthew Perry's ships steamed into Edo Bay to persuade Japan to open its ports to the world, the esteemed painter Kano Kazunobu (1816-63) received a commission from a highly respected Buddhist temple located in the heart of Edo, now modern-day Tokyo. His mission was to create 100 paintings on a wildly popular theme of the day--the lives and deeds of the Buddha's 500 disciples, known in Japan as rakan.


Eleven Fine Art in London Presents a Photography Group Show

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 08:04 PM PST

artwork: Jane Hilton - "Shiprock, New Mexico", 2006 - C-Type hand print - 58.5 x 71 cm. - Edition of 10 - Courtesy of Eleven, London. On view in "From the Road" until March 17th.

London.- Eleven Fine Art is pleased to present "From the Road" featuring Rob Carter, Harry Cory Wright, Rick Giles, Ken Griffiths, Paul Hill, Jane Hilton, Josef Hoflehner, Peter Newman, Sam Pelly, Wim Wenders and David Yarrow. The exhibition explores each artist's unique and varied perspective of the environments which inspire them. "From the Road" is on view at the gallery through March 17th. From natural phenomenon to immense urban structures, the photographs featured convey a strong sense of location. Carefully considering their environments, these artists capture an experience of being in a place. Their personal and evocative relationship with the space around them is articulated, revealing atmospheres from wonderment or adventure to solitude and loneliness.


New Exhibition at the Mint Museum Explores "Fairytales, Fantasy & Fear"

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 07:38 PM PST

artwork: Kako Ueda - "Spinning", 2010 - Hand cut black paper with watercolor - 20 1/2" x 15" - Courtesy of George Adams Gallery On view at the Mint Museum Charlotte, NC in "Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear" from March 3rd until July 8th.

Charlotte, North Carolina.- The Mint Museum Uptown is pleased to present "Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear", on view from March 3rd through July 8th. Fairytales, fantasies, and horror stories are inescapable in our current culture, and this exhibition will examine primal impulses complementing prominent current pop-culture trends. The exhibition brings together the work of several internationally acclaimed artists, including Mattia Biagi, Mark Newport, Kako Ueda, Tom Price, and Kate Malone. Known for his work in tar, Italian artist Biagi reinterprets icons of lost innocence, such as Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella's carriage. Newport, an American fiber artist, creates hand-knit acrylic re-creations of heroes' costumes, which combine their heroic, protective, and ultra-masculine yet vulnerable personas. Ueda, a Japanese paper artist, uses unsettling imagery, such as insects and skeletons, in her detailed cutouts to represent the fine line between beauty and decay.


The Mississippi Museum of Art opens "Curious George" and the Art of Margret & H. A. Rey

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:51 PM PST

artwork: H. A. Rey - "Sketch for back of Au Clair de La Lune and Other French Nursery Songs" - 1940 - Watercolor on paper. - H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives at The University of Southern Mississippi.  -  On view at the Mississippi Museum of Art until July 22nd.

Jackson, Mississippi.-  The Mississippi Museum of Art is proud to present "Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H. A. Rey ", on view from March 3rd through July 22nd. It is the twelfth presentation in The Annie Laurie Swaim Hearin Memorial Exhibition Series. Established in 1989 to honor the memory of Annie Laurie Swaim Hearin, one of the Museum's most dedicated patrons and volunteers, the Hearin series showcases exhibitions of world-class art, attracting visitors to Jackson from across Mississippi, the Southeast, and beyond. "Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H. A. Rey" has been organized by Claudia Nahson, Curator at The Jewish Museum , New York. Curious George, the impish monkey protagonist of many adventures, may never have seen the light of day were it not for the determination and courage of his creators:  illustrator H. A. Rey (1898 - 1977) and his wife, author and artist Margret Rey (1906  - 1996).


They were both born in Hamburg, Germany, to Jewish families and lived together in Paris from 1936 to 1940.  Hours before the Nazis marched into the city in June 1940, the Reys fled on bicycles carrying drawings for their children's stories including one about a mischievous monkey, then named Fifi.  Not only did they save their animal characters, but the Reys themselves were saved by their illustrations when authorities found them among their belongings. This may explain why saving the day after a narrow escape became the premise of most of their Curious George stories. After their fateful escape from Paris and a four-month journey across France, Spain, Portugal, and Brazil, the couple settled in New York in the fall of 1940. In all, the Reys authored and illustrated more than thirty books, most of them for children, with seven of them starring Curious George. Over seventy years after the arrival of Curious George in America, the monkey's antics have been translated into more than a dozen languages, including Hebrew and Yiddish, to the delight of readers, young and old, around the world.


The exhibition  at the Museum  offers visitors a rare opportunity to view nearly eighty original drawings and vibrant watercolors of Curious George and other characters. Many of these works have never been on display before. Preparatory dummy books, vintage photographs, and documentation related to the Reys' escape from Nazi Europe, such as H. A. Rey's journals detailing the couple's perilous journey to freedom, are also included. One of the exhibition galleries will be transformed into a reading room for visitors of all ages inspired by the beloved monkey's escapades in Curious George Flies a Kite. In addition, the exhibition features an interactive timeline, accessed via a touch-screen computer, about the Reys' life in France from the late 1930s through their fateful escape in the summer of 1940.  Visitors will be able to view additional pages of H. A. Rey's journal, detailing the couple's journey to safety; images of illustrations by H. A. Rey; photographs taken by Margret Rey in France; documentary photography related to early World War II in France; and historic video. Audio interviews with the couple are also included."We are very excited about hosting this extraordinary exhibition. H. A. Rey (né Hans Augusto Reyersbach) had no formal art training, but in the early 1920s he designed and lithographed circus posters in Hamburg. Margret Rey (née Margarete Waldstein) studied art and photography at the Bauhaus School and then worked in advertising firms and photographic studios in Germany and England in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The two first met in Hamburg before Hans departed for Rio de Janeiro in 1925 to work for a relative. They were married in 1935, after Margret joined him there, following Hitler's ascent to power in Germany. An extended honeymoon took them to Paris, where the Reys began working on children's books. Filled with gentle humor and illustrated with H. A. Rey's vivid watercolors, their stories were usually formulated by Hans and later developed by Margret into a full plot. Following the Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939, and France's  declaration of war against Germany, the Reys sought refuge first in the southern region of Gers and later in Normandy, fleeing Paris for the third and last time on June 12, 1940.

Despite the difficulties, the Reys were prolific in France, publishing seven books from 1937 through 1939 (three in both French and English) and completing the manuscripts and drawings for at least four others later published in America. On October 14, 1940, the Reys finally reached New York. Within a month, four of the manuscripts they had brought with them were accepted for publication by the publisher Houghton Mifflin. Exhibition highlights include original drawings and bright watercolors for Raffy and the 9 Monkeys (in which Curious George makes his debut as Fifi), featuring a lonely giraffe named Raffy and the nine monkeys that become his playmates; Whiteblack the Penguin Sees the World with Whiteblack setting out on a globe-trotting pursuit of new adventures; Fifi: The Adventures of a Monkey (later published as Curious George); and subsequent American escapades of the famous monkey hero. Whether falsely alarming the fire department while experimenting with a telephone, going up in the air with a bouquet of balloons or a kite, or falling into the water after a failed attempt to fish with a mop, the little monkey is always in trouble, both propelled and undone by his insatiable curiosity and appetite for adventure. While the idea of the monkey's narrow escape from danger was introduced in the first Curious George story created by the Reys in France, the concept of "saving the day" is only used in their later books written in the safety of America. By the time the man with the yellow hat comes to his rescue, George's capers have already been mitigated with some poetic  justice, which may be understood as emblematic of the important role the character had played both in saving the Reys' lives when fleeing Nazi Europe and later helping them rebuild their careers in the United States. In turn, the little monkey born in France acts out the fantasies of many immigrants: he lands an acting job in Hollywood soon upon arrival, advances research by traveling in a spaceship, and makes it to the front page of newspapers, all the while becoming thoroughly Americanized.

artwork: H. A. Rey - "How Do you Get There?", 1941 - Collection of the University of Southern Mississippi © 2012 by HMH. On view at the Mississippi Museum of Art in "Curious George saves the Day" from March 3rd until July 22nd.

In 2007, construction was completed on the renovated Mississippi Museum of Art, creating a beautiful new home for the Museum and its permanent collection of art. The renovation project, which took just under a year to complete, marked a historical day for Mississippi and its artistic legacy. The move from the Arts Center of Mississippi to the new facility was small geographically, amounting to no more than a city block, yet it pushed the Museum light years ahead in terms of capabilities, technology, and the overall philosophy of what an art museum means to the community. The facility's brilliant architectural makeover reflects the Museum's mission to become a symbolic "museum without walls" – an inviting public space that offers relevant and meaningful cultural experiences to both the Jackson community and the state of Mississippi.  The completed building represents Phase 1 of the decade-long plan to transform the Museum's surroundings into a cohesive cultural district in Downtown Jackson. The architecture of the Museum is a tangible manifestation of a philosophical mission. For many years, the mission of MMA was "collecting, preserving and exhibiting art," a typical museum mission statement. However, when the Board of Trustees of the Museum began to plan the building process for the new facility, the mission was changed to "engage Mississippians in the visual arts," a statement that focuses on community interaction and personal experience. The architects, Glavé and Holmes in Richmond, Virginia, and Dale & Associates locally, applied this new philosophical mission to the architecture of the building, creating a sleek, open design for the once-rectangular building. The Museum lobby and entryway is filled with light through the use of a large amount of glass and by raising the roof of the entryway. Museum visitors plainly see not only the entrance to the Museum but other visitors inside the building, breaking down barriers and creating a transparent front door that makes everyone feel welcome. The vibrant Palette Café by Viking encourages visitors to sit and relax, and the patio and terrace create welcoming and comfortable spaces that are, literally, the front porch of the downtown cultural district.

Recently, in Fall 2011, the Museum completed Phase 2 of their visionary plan, opening The Art Garden at the Mississippi Museum of Art, a 1.2 acre public green space complete with outdoor art installations, the sprawling BankPlus Green, a performance stage, and various spaces for visitors to engage with the arts in a variety of forms.  Symbolically, The Art Garden breaks down barriers between the neighboring arts organizations and serves as the nexus of a cultural district that empowers creativity, expression, and synergy in the arts community. The Art Garden has, from the beginning, been a public-private partnership with the city of Jackson. Numerous private and individual donors, as well as state and federal agencies, contributed to and helped to realize the grand vision. Architect Madge Bemiss oversaw construction, and carried the torch passed by the late Ed Blake (1947-2010), whose imagination and forward thinking years before laid foundations for The Art Garden. The Mississippi Museum of Art has amassed a meaningful survey of American art, including paintings by Albert Bierstadt , Arthur B. Davies, Robert Henri , George Inness , Georgia O'Keeffe , Reginald Marsh , Thomas Sully and James McNeill Whistler .  Among the photographs, prints and unique works on paper are images by Romare Bearden , Alexander Calder, Mary Cassatt , William Eggleston , Walker Evans, Jacob Lawrence, John Marin , Cindy Sherman , and Andy Warhol . Works by John DeAndrea, Malvina Hoffman, Paul Manship, Elizabeth Catlett Mora and Reuben Nakian highlight a growing collection of sculpture. American Indian baskets and more than 170 southeast outsider art objects--including works by artists Annie Dennis, Howard Finster, Earl Simmons, Jimmie Lee Sudduth, Sarah Mary Taylor and Mose Tolliver--are important parts of the collection. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.msmuseumart.org

The National Liberty Museum to present Sculptural Glass Exhibition

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:50 PM PST


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The National Liberty Museum is proud to announce its upcoming exhibition: "Seeking Freedom: Six Artists' Journeys from Oppression to Freedom." The exhibition will open on June 28th, in concert with "Welcome America", and continues through October 7th. More than two dozen sculptural works in glass from six artists who fled Communist homelands will be featured, alongside the stories of their escapes and quotes from the artists on how their lives are different in America. There is no additional charge to view this exhibit and all works are available for purchase. Glass is often derided as merely pretty or decorative. This exhibition combats that notion by including serious, sculptural work with narrative and content, particularly that of Janusz Walentynowicz, whose "Chain" and "Prisoner" pieces are powerful testaments to his life "before" and "after" his escape. Jose Chardiet's work speaks directly to his family's escape from Cuba by boat, the hanging "hobo bag" referencing the need to leave possessions behind.  Binh Pho's works are adorned with imagery like butterflies, dragonflies and peacock feathers, which are powerful symbols in Vietnamese tradition. These elements, contrasted with outlines of city skylines, help trace the artist's journey from his homeland to America.


Our Editor Tours The Reina Sofia in Madrid ~ Home Of Pablo Picasso's Famous "Guernica"

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:29 PM PST

artwork: The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain - Designed by Francisco Sabatini. The building was originally built to house the city's hospital between 1776 and 1781. Reina Sofia opened in 1992. The front facade shows the striking glass elevators designed by British architect Ian Ritchie. A new annex building (not shown) was added in 2005 designed by Pritzker prize winning architect Jean Nouvel.

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, along with the Museo Nacional del Prado and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza forms the Madrid "golden triangle" of art museums. The Reina Sofia was originally built to house the city's hospital between 1776 and 1781 from plans by the architect Francisco Sabatini. For the next 200 years, numerous additions and renovations were made and the hospital building narrowly escaped demolition several times. However, a Royal Decree in 1977 declared it to be a National Historic Monument. Plans to turn the building into a new modern and contemporary art museum were drawn up and Architect Antonio Fernández Alba was commissioned to oversee the renovation. The Reina Sofia Art Center opened in April 1986, initially providing temporary exhibition galleries on the lower two floors only. Finishing touches were added by architects José Luis Iñíguez de Onzoño and Antonio Vázquez de Castro, along with the striking steel and glass external elevators, which gave the building its contemporary look. On 10 September 1992, their Majesties King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia (after whom the museum is named) inaugurated the Permanent Collection of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and the building and collection were fully opened to the public. In 2005, a spectacular extension, designed by Pritzker-prize winning architect Jean Nouvel was officially opened. Nouvel's design created new annexes and linked the old building with the new by forming a plaza in between the buildings containing the towering sculpture "Paintbrush" by Roy Lichtenstein. The new Nouvel buildings greatly increased the overall floor space by 60% (and the display space by 50%) giving the museum 84,048 square meters, including a 450 seat auditorium, temporary exhibition rooms, a friendly bar, restaurant, library and the museum shop. In addition to its exhibition functions, The Reina Sofía is dedicated to conserving and restoring fine art as well as undertaking research and maintenance that ensure proper conservation. To facilitate these activities, the museum has a modern chemical analysis laboratory, a photography research lab, infrared reflectography and x-ray diagnostics capabilities. The museum Library, which is open to the public, hosts an extensive collection of works from 1900 to today, as well as some nineteenth-century works. Currently, the Library is undertaking a project to digitalize documents that are of particular interest to the public. The permanent collection of the Reina Sofia came from the former Museo Espanol de Arte Contemporaneo (MEAC), supplemented by new acquisitions and transfers from other museums, including amongst other works, and rather contentiously, the arrival of Pablo Picasso's world-famous work, "Guernica" from the Prado. Picasso has stipulated that the work could only return to Spain after democracy was restored, and that once in Spain, it should reside in the Prado. The Reina Sofia is mainly dedicated to Spanish art including excellent collections of Spain's two greatest 20th century masters, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. Along with the MACBA in Barcelona, the Reina Sofia now gives Spain world-class museums of modern and contemporary art to rival the Pompidou Centre in Paris, Tate Modern in London and Museum of Modern Art in New York. Visit the museum's website at: http://www.museoreinasofia.es

artwork: Antoni Tápies - "Personage" 1950 - Pen and ink on paper - 46 x 54 cm. The Catalan artist, most famous for his innovative work in mixing mediums was enobled by King Carlos of Spain in 2010. From the collection of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid

The permanent collection is displayed on 2 floors, the 2nd and the 4th. On the second floor, art up to 1945 is displayed under the heading of "The advent of the twentieth century - utopias and conflicts (1900-1945)". This begins with a selection of works that look at the origins of Modernism in Spanish art, placing together artistic currents from different parts of Spain - Basque painters such as Ignacio Zuloaga, Dario de Regoyos and Juan de Echevarría, Catalan Modernists such as Santiago Rusiñol, Isidre Nonell and Ramon Casas. Next is the first Avant-Garde Room, with pieces by the Uruguayan Joaquín Torres García and other artists who worked in Spain, such as Francis Picabia, and the Delaunays (Robert and Sonia), followed by a room dedicated to Juan Gris, including his celebrated "Guitar in Front of the Sea" and "The Open Window". Then comes the major draw for most visitors: the Picasso Rooms, with "Guernica" in the centre, but also including "Woman in Blue" amongst other works. Joan Miró, Julio González and Salvador Dalí have rooms of their own. Miró works include "Man with a Pipe", "Portrait II" and "Femme Et Oiseau Dans La Nuit". Paintings by the Dali include, "Landscapes at Cadaqués", "The Great Masturbator", "The Endless Enigma", "Self Portrait" and "The Enigma of Hitler". Other rooms focus on international Surrealism (Max Ernst and Renee Magritte), Luis Buñuel and Spanish art of the 1930s. Additional works of art include the imaginative oil creation of "Toros" (Tauromaquia) by Benjamín Palencia, the welded copper sheets that make up "Etude de Prophète" by Pablo Gargallo, the seductive shades of blue in "Belomancie" by Ives Tanguy, José Solana's "The Gathering at the Café del Pombo" and works by international artists such as Francis Bacon's "Reclining Figure", and a serene sculpture by Henry Moore.

artwork: On permanent gallery display in the Sabatini Building showing artworks from "Is the War Over? Art in a Divided World (1945-1968)". From the collection of The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

Under the title of "The war is over? Art for a Divided World (1945-1968)", the 4th floor centers on contemporary artists work since 1945, starting with figurative art and the beginnings of abstraction in Spain, taking in Antoni Tàpies, Manuel Hernández Mompó, Jorge "Oteiza" Enbil, Pablo Palazuelo and Equipo 57. Providing an international context, there are also works by Francis Bacon, Henry Moore and Lucio Fontana, alongside Antonio Saura and Eduardo Chillida. Later rooms feature Pop Art, figurative work by Eduardo Arroyo and Minimalism, with pieces by Ellsworth Kelly and Dan Flavin. Amongst the highlights on the fourth floor are "Sequeros" by Lucio Munoz, "Composición" by Jose Guerrero García and "Sin título" by Pablo Pier Calzolari. A third permanent exhibition area is in an annex, under the title of "Paradigm Shift". This contains works from the 1960s and 70s, from Spanish artists (including Luis Gordillo) and others (including Barnett Newman and Philip Guston) who struggled against what they perceived to be the conventions of the time.

artwork: Jean-Luc Mylayne - 228 x 183 cm. Photograph, 2007 Part of "Mylayne - Traces of Heaven in the Hands of Time" at the Reino Sofia, Madrid. From the collection of Mylène and Jean-Luc Mylane

Until March 27th 2011, the Reina Sofia is exhibiting a retrospective (and the first exhibition to be held in Spain) of the photographic works of Jean-Luc Mylayne under the title "Jean-Luc Mylayne - Traces of Heaven in the hands of time". Mylayne photographs common birds, species like the robin or sparrow, in their natural habitats, places where the human impact on the landscape is evident, as arable land, gardens or parks. However, ornithological considerations are not the main object of his work. Rather, his approach is more inventive and original, combining a significant conceptual, formal wit with the infinite patience required to get the perfect image. His photographs have a universal sense, reflecting the artists concerns over the cycle of life and death, decline and erosion of natural resources, and the fundamental interdependence of the elements that make up each individual biotype. Born in Marquette, France, in 1946 Jean-Luc Mylayne has lived and worked throughout the world since 1976, when he decided to devote himself to photography, with his partner and collaborator, Mylène Mylayne. With his degree in philosophy, Mylayne decided early to focus on the medium of photography rather than painting or poetry, an art form for which he also feels great attraction. He has previously had solo exhibitions in institutions like the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon (2009), the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (2008), the Lannan Foundation in Santa Fe and Gladstone Gallery, New York (2004). This is just one of the seven temporary exhibitions that the Reina Sofia is able, with its vast gallery spaces, to display.

Pulse New York to Present its Most Diverse Fair Ever of Contemporary Art

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:28 PM PST

artwork: Michel Huelin - Xenobiosis 3, (2007) - Lambda print on Plexiglas, 50 x 78.75 in.-  Courtesy of Zürcher

New Yok City - Following PULSE's largest show to date in Miami 2008, described by critics as the City's new 'second' fair after Art Basel Miami Beach, PULSE New York returns to Pier 40 in Greenwich Village, March 5-8, 2009, concurrent with The Armory Show. The fourth New York edition of PULSE is the most diverse to date, presenting 99 exhibitors from 25 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Making their first appearance are leading international galleries ColletPark, Paris; Habana, Havana City; and Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore, among others. They join blue-chip veteran PULSE exhibitors including Faurschou, Beijing and Copenhagen; Galerie Ernst Hilger/Hilger Contemporary, Vienna; Nina Menocal, Mexico City; and Perugi Artecontemporanea, Padua.

The Kunsthaus Zürich Exhibition Offers Sculptures, Paintings from All Phases of Alberto Giacometti's Career

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:27 PM PST

artwork: The sculpture 'The Dog', 1951 is pictured in front of the sculpture 'The Chariot', 1950 at an exhibition of late Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) at the Kunsthaus Zurich art museum in Zurich. The exhibition "Alberto Giacometti - The Art of Seeing", which shows some ninety works of the Swiss sculptor, painter and graphic artist, runs from March 11 until May 22, 2011.- Photo by Reuters


ZURICH.- From 11 March to 22 May the Kunsthaus Zürich presents an exhibition entitled 'Alberto Giacometti: The Art of Seeing'. Sight is the foundation of all visual art, and no artist has focused so centrally on the process of seeing as Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), the Swiss sculptor, painter and graphic artist. The exhibition offers some 100 sculptures, paintings and drawings from all phases of his creative life to demonstrate the way Giacometti lends the psychological process of seeing a material presence. It begins with the brilliantly premature confidence of the young Giacometti, reared in the Bregaglia valley, as he transmutes what he sees into artistic form. At the Academy in Paris, however, as he becomes conscious of the problems of perception, he gradually grows less sure of himself, and the profound creative crisis that ensues leads him in 1925 to abstraction and Surrealism.


Charged with the psychologizing interpretations of Surrealist writers and their oscillations between Eros and Thanatos, seeing as rendered in symbolic and metaphorical motifs becomes a central topos of his art. Such constructions of the process of perception continue following Giacometti's return to the study of modeling in 1935 to open an internal space of the imagination in which he is able to carry out his phenomenological investigations. An initial protracted phase leads to the surrender of form and the creation of ever smaller figures; it is only in his second phase, beginning in 1947, that Giacometti can capture his internal view of humanity by means of his attenuated striding forms. As of 1951 he intensifies his encounter with his object and is able to project its presence into corporeality and real space as well.

A precise selection and configuration of evocative pieces and brief texts allows the viewer to experience the artist's inscription of the psychological process of seeing in his work by means of particular formulations and procedures.

FROM UNMEDIATED SEEING TO CONSCIOUS PERCEPTION
At the outset of the exhibition-cum-essay curated by Christian Klemm are early drawings and aquarelles, astonishing testimony to the intensity with which Alberto already saw his surroundings as a young man, and captured them in unreflected immediacy. Even at this early phase, the eyes and the gaze of his self-portraits and likenesses of his parents and brothers are predominant. As he becomes a professional artist, he grows conscious of problems of perception and artistic implementation: questions of scale, of various means of stylization, of the tensions between surfaces and depths, between the optic and the tactile. Giacometti's analytical process renders these issues palpable to the viewers of his works, especially in the nude studies of his Academy days and in a series of heads modeled on his father.


artwork: Alberto Giacometti  - Cubist Head, on the left - La Tete Tranchant, on the right. Courtesy of The Alberto Giacometti Foundation


artwork: Alberto Giacometti (1901-66) Lotar I - (detail) Bronze 25 x 28 x 15 cm. Photo - The Altes Museum FROM ABSTRACTION TO SURREALISM
In 1925 Giacometti is plunged into a profound creative crisis: he turns away from visualization to a modern style influenced by Cubism and tribal art. What remains, however, is seeing, now central as a form-giving substantive motif in his key works above all. His emblematic 'Tête qui regarde', with which Giacometti advanced to the fore of the innovative artists of the Avant-garde, is at once his entrée to Surrealism. Here the eye and the gaze map out psychologically highly charged terrain, as Giacometti designs symbolist constructions to contain vexing metaphors for the insoluble tensions between erotic aggression and fatal fixation. While the intention of his sculpting was usually imitation, the end products were an expression of his emotional response to the subject. He attempted to create renditions of his models the way he saw them, and the way he thought they ought to be seen. He once said that he was sculpting not the human figure but "the shadow that is cast." His figures resembled the way he looked upon himself.

THE QUEST FOR PHENOMENOLOGICAL REALISM
His encounter with the Surrealists and their campaign to render visible "surreal" psychological processes and inner visions has taught Giacometti that seeing is primarily a mental procedure, and accordingly, after he has left their circle in 1934 and is once again committed to visible reality, he attempts to capture the internal image built upon external stimulations of the optic nerve. In the virtual realm of the painting he is first able to do this in his 1937 picture of his mother; it proves far more difficult to achieve the same in sculpture, as his dismantling of traditional modes of stylization threatens to dissolve his figures into amorphousness. His attempt to capture the sudden appearance of a person seen at a great distance leads to tiny figurines on oversized pedestals, sculptures that address the optic phenomenon of drastic diminution at increasing distance.

It is not until after the war that his vision-like, overly detailed experiences of reality produce attenuated figures in which Giacometti discovers the external correlatives for his internal images. 'La cage' and other compositions in which little figures appear before a large head are exemplary of this subject-object relationship.

THE LIVING PRESENCE OF THE OTHER
In the early 1950s Giacometti returns to modeling, and his phantasmal images drawn from memory cede to more corporeal busts and figures, inscribed upon them the dialogue of seeing with seen, of eye with object. Their undulating lines trace the restless movements of the regard, as it steadily makes and unmakes their form. The design of pedestal and inner frame, the treatment of surface and perspective – now expressive, now phenomenologically reasoned deformation – trigger the process of perception, by means of which in turn the viewer relives the artist's creative process; and this in turn leads inexorably back to the eye, for Giacometti the seat of life, until his subject gazes back at us from the late heads, indisputably alive.

And finally, the ceaselessly circling regard inscribed by Giacometti on his art and mimicked by the observer with a rare intensity demonstrates the proposition that being alive is mainly a matter of seeing, that life is manifest in the eyes. The exhibition, which includes works from the holdings of the Alberto Giacometti Foundation and the Kunsthaus collection as well as temporary loans from third parties, is on show exclusively in Zurich.

Visit the Kunsthaus Zürich at : http://www.kunsthaus.ch/

Christie's to Offer 500 Years of Printmaking this March in London

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:26 PM PST

artwork: Albrecht Dürer - " Knight, Death and the Devil " - engraving, 1513, 247 x 190 mm - Christie's Image

LONDON.- This March Christie's presents the first of its bi-annual auctions of Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints. The sale offers a striking range of works spanning five hundred years of print making, including unique and extremely rare works by Campagnola, Dürer, Matisse, Picasso and Warhol amongst signature works by other masters of the medium. A selection of these great names are offered from the Pach Collection, the celebrated collector and co-founder of the legendary Armory Show, some of which were given to him by renowned artists including Matisse and Redon. On sale 31 March, 2010.

SFMOMA will Become Home to Gap Founder's Contemporary Art Collection

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:25 PM PST

artwork: David Hockney - "Interior with Sun and Dog", 1988 - Oil on canvas; 60" x 72" - Doris & Donald Fisher Collection; © David Hockney
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) Board Chair Charles Schwab and Director Neal Benezra today announced that the museum is developing a groundbreaking relationship with Doris and Donald Fisher that would provide the Fisher Collection—one of the world's leading collections of contemporary art—with a home at SFMOMA. The Fishers, who together founded Gap Inc. in 1969, have long envisioned keeping their collection intact for the public in their hometown of San Francisco. The Fisher Collection includes some 1,100 works by leading artists including Alexander Calder, Chuck Close, Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Anselm Kiefer, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Gerhard Richter, Richard Serra, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol, among many others.

"San Francisco is where we raised our family and opened our first Gap store, and we want to give back to the city we love by sharing the art that means so much to us," said Don Fisher. "Doris and I share a vision with SFMOMA to enhance its collections and programs, and we are prepared to make a substantial gift to strengthen the museum's standing as one of the world's great contemporary art museums." 

artwork: Roy Lichtenstein - Live Ammo ("SFMOMA is thrilled to forge this groundbreaking partnership and bring the Fishers' outstanding collection to the people of San Francisco and the world, which will make the museum an even greater public resource and provide visitors with a deeper, fuller view of key contemporary artists and movements," said Benezra. "The Fishers' collection is a perfect complement to SFMOMA's already strong holdings of artists like Gerhard Richter, Andy Warhol, and Philip Guston, and gives us new strength in our representation of major figures like Alexander Calder, Anselm Kiefer, Richard Serra, and Chuck Close."

Upon completion of SFMOMA's planned expansion, works from the Fisher Collection will be on display in a new wing that will also incorporate art from the museum's collection. In addition, works from the Fisher Collection will be interwoven with SFMOMA's modern and contemporary holdings in existing galleries. Together, they will form one of the world's most important collections of art of the past 50 years. The Fishers will create a trust, administered in collaboration with SFMOMA, to oversee the care of their collection at the museum for a minimum of 25 years.

Relocating administrative support space from the museum to a new wing will provide SFMOMA with more than 13,000 square feet of new gallery and public space in its current building, while consolidating all staff offices to one on-site location. In addition, the expansion will include a new entry on Minna Street (which runs along the museum's northern facade) to improve access for school groups and for visitors to the museum's Phyllis Wattis Theater for public programming.

The proposed new wing at SFMOMA presents an ideal location for the Fisher Collection, one where it will be seen by the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the museum annually. In addition, SFMOMA is conveniently accessible to public transportation and parking as well as hotels, restaurants, and other cultural institutions in downtown San Francisco. The collaboration also minimizes the environmental impact and diffusion of resources that would result from building a new, separate institution.

Fisher Collection Exhibition in 2010
SFMOMA is organizing a major exhibition of the Fisher Collection that is scheduled to open in summer 2010 as part of the celebration of its 75th anniversary. On the weekend of January16 through 18, the museum will kick off a yearlong schedule of special programs, exhibitions, and events exploring SFMOMA's impact and evolution as a leading cultural resource for the people of the Bay Area and visitors from around the world.

Doris and Don Fisher
Doris and Don Fisher started collecting modern and contemporary art more than 40 years ago. They have acquired in-depth holdings by artists they admire, and their collection is distinguished in its representation of the entire careers of key artists of the 20th and 21th centuries. Don Fisher has been an SFMOMA Trustee since 1983 and has served on several Board committees, most recently serving as Secretary/Treasurer. Over the years, Doris Fisher has served on SFMOMA's Education Committee and also serves as co-chair of the Collector's Committee and the Trustee Council of the National Gallery in Washington, DC.  Visit : http://www.sfmoma.org/

Djanogly Art Gallery exhibits 'The American Scene ~ From Hopper to Pollock'

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:24 PM PST

artwork: Edward Hopper - 'House by the Railroad', 1925 - Museum of Modern Art

NOTTINGHAM, UK.- Djanogly Art Gallery presents The American Scene - From Hopper to Pollock, on view through April 19, 2009. The American Scene: From Hopper to Pollock features spectacular images of American society and culture made during a period of great social and political change from the early 1900s to 1960 and charts the emergence of a consciously American subject matter and artistic identity in the twentieth century.

The Pavilion of Art & Design London Returns for its Fifth Annual Fair

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:23 PM PST

artwork: Lucian Freud - "After Watteau", 1983 - Pen, coloured crayons and wash - 17.8 x 25.4 cm. - Courtesy Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert, London. Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert will be exhibiting at PAD London, 2011 from October 12th until October 16th.

London.- Patrick Perrin and Stéphane Custot are pleased to announce the final selection of participants for the fifth edition of the Pavilion of Art & Design London. Bringing together an incredible set of 57 galleries from 11 countries to its prime location on Berkeley Square, PAD London 2011 promises to be the strongest edition of the fair since its inception in 2007. A rigorous selection process introduces to London the best dealers from Europe and North America within the fields of Modern Art, Design, Decorative Arts, Photography and Tribal Art from 1860 to today. Opening a new London space in October, Luxembourg & Dayan (USA) make their first appearance with modern artworks by Alexander Calder, Steven Parrino and Anselm Kiefer. Owned by former Sotheby's directors and known for their stable of incredible modern and contemporary artists, Mitchell-Innes & Nash (USA) offer artworks by Alberto Burri and Kenneth Noland. PAD London is open from October 12th through October 16th.


Making their debut to the fair is Eykyn Maclean (USA), the New York-based private dealers also opening a new London space in 2012, specialising in museum-quality artworks ranging from Impressionism to Post-War. Concentrating on Italian modern masters, Galleria Tega (Italy) presents fantastic works such as a golden punctured canvas by Lucio Fontana. Rounding out the Modern British faction and joining Robin Katz Fine Art (UK) and Osborne Samuel (UK) is Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert (UK), who emphasises on internationally renowned 20th century artists from the genre. Galerie Pascal Lansberg (France) features an incredible selection of modern and contemporary art, with particular focus in Pop Art, Abstraction and Nouveau Realism. Also displaying modern art is Natalie Seroussi (France), showing works by Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet and Victor Vasarely alongside 20th century design from Galerie du Passage (France) at their shared stand at PAD London.

artwork: Georges Braque - "Nature morte aux cerises", 1936 - Oil on canvas, 39 x 46.5 cm. -  Courtesy Galerie Lansberg, Paris

Superb examples of Scandinavian furniture, including chairs and tables by Finn Juhl and Poul Kjaerholm, are exhibited at Dansk Møbelkunst (Denmark), while Swedish gallery Modernity (Sweden) shows a rare decorated chest by architect Josef Frank and sterling silver candelabra by Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala. One of Jean Prouvé's first  masterpieces, the Fauteuil "cité", created as  part of a competition to design chairs for the university in Nancy, features at Jousse Entreprise (France), while Yves Macaux (Belgium), an international expert in the Viennese Secession, presents a brass chandelier by Adolf Loos and dining chairs by Joseph Urban. British antiques dealers Blairman & Sons (UK) display fine 19th century furniture and decorative objects from the Arts & Crafts movement by artists such as Dr Christopher Dresser and EW Godwin.

Dominating a significant portion of the fair are stands dedicated  to the most cutting-edge of contemporary design, with many galleries commissioning new works specifically for the occasion. Priveekollektie (The Netherlands) shows pieces from emerging and established designers, including Arik Levy, Rolf Sachs and Reinier Bosch. David Gill Galleries (UK) returns to PAD London after a two-year hiatus with works by design greats such as Fredrikson Stallard and Mattia Bonetti, staging their contemporary furniture alongside a 1966 cabinet by Ettore Sottsass. Nilufar Gallery (Italy) bridges the gap between 20th century and contemporary design with neon lighting by Michael Anastassiades, bookcases by Martino Gamper and curved tables designed by British artist Bethan Laura Wood. Once again Moët Hennessy sponsors the donation of a significant piece of Design or Decorative Arts to the Victoria & Albert Museum as part of the Moët Hennessy-PAD London Prize. The prestigious judging panel, chaired by architect and designer Nigel Coates, is comprised of prominent figures in the fields of art, fashion, culture, communication and business, such as Allegra Hicks, Jasper Conran, Tom Dixon, Bella Freud and Karla Otto. Previous years have seen the V&A acquire exquisite pieces from  Friedman Benda (USA) and Carpenters Workshop Gallery (UK).

artwork: Kenneth Noland - "Mysteries: Magic Theatre", 2000 - Acrylic on canvas, 121.9 x 121.9 cm. -  Courtesy Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York.

A Child's Chair Project II is the second initiative at PAD London to raise vital funds for the NSPCC's Rebuilding Childhoods Appeal. Francis Sultana, in collaboration with the Rebuilding Childhoods Volunteer Board, including Bodil Blain and Sojin Lee, have commissioned leading artists and designers to customise the child's size Vitra edition of the Verner Pantone chair to be offered for sale at the fair this October, with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the NSPCC. Artists and designers participating in this initiative include Fredrikson Stallard, Oriel Harwood, Zaha Hadid, Barnaby Barford, Alexander Taylor and Mattia Bonetti, amongst others. The participating artists and designers all have very individual styles, which range from minimalist to baroque, creating unique pieces which retain the spirit of the creator, yet simultaneously capture the child's imagination. In November of this year, PAD New York will launch at the Park Avenue Armory to coincide with New York's fall Impressionist and Contemporary auctions. With four successful years of the London fair and the revered reputation of its Parisian counterpart, Pavillon des Arts et du Design Paris, now it its fifteenth year, PAD New York will build on this distinguished heritage to present a third collection of Modern Art, Design, Decorative Arts, Photography, Jewellery and Tribal Art. The fair organisers also plan on opening a Milan edition of the fair in 2012 to overlap with the Salone Internazionale del Mobile. Visit the fair's website at ... www.padlondon.net

Red Dot Art Fair returns to New York City in March

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:22 PM PST

artwork: Eduardo Ventura - "Urbano I", 2009 - Acrylic on canvas (120 x180cm) 47.2 x 70.8 inches.

NEW YORK, NY.- Red Dot Art Fair announced its return to New York City, March 4 through 7, 2010. Red Dot Art Fair will partner with MillionTreesNYC, a project initiated by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York Restoration Project (NYRP) Founder Bette Midler. Led by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and NYRP, MillionTreesNYC has a goal to plant and care for one million trees across the City's five boroughs over the next decade. The opening reception on Thursday, March 4th, will benefit this great initiative. All donations will support future tree plantings and each benefactor will be awarded a custom certificate from MillionTreesNYC.

Famous Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei Transforms the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:21 PM PST

artwork: Ai Weiwei installation "With Milk, Find Something Everybody Can Use" forms part of the series of contemporary installations with the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion as their setting. / Photo: EFE/Toni Albir.

BARCELONA.- As of December 10 the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion will be the object of an intervention that reflects on the use of buildings and our concept of them as unique, unalterable spaces. The artist Ai Weiwei, one of the leading – and most controversial – figures of Chinese contemporary art, will fill the Pavilion pools with two elements that, though very common in our everyday lives, are totally foreign to architectural construction. He will replace the water of the two pools, one exterior and the other interior, with milk and coffee, respectively. Visit : http://www.miesbcn.com/index.html

The Guggenheim Bilbao Opens Painterly Abstraction ~ Selections From Their Collection

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:20 PM PST

artwork:  Pierre Alechinsky - "Vanish (Disparaître)", 1959 - Oil on canvas - 200 x 280 cm. - Collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC. On view in "Painterly Abstraction, 1949–1969: Selections from the Guggenheim Collections" at the Guggenheim Bilbao until January 8th 2012.

Bilbao, Spain - The Guggenheim Bilbao is please to present "Painterly Abstraction, 1949–1969: Selections from the Guggenheim Collections', on view until January 8th 2012. Through selected works from the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, this exhibition explores major trends in U.S. and European painting in the 1950s and 1960s. The exhibition features approximately 80 works by more than 60 international artists, including Karel Appel, Alberto Burri, Willem de Kooning, Ellsworth Kelly, Piero Manzoni, Jackson Pollock, Antoni Tàpies, and Victor Vasarely, among others. This singular overview of two decades of art reveals the striking affinities among artists working continents apart, in a period of rapid creative development.


The exhibition explores the similarities among different forms of artistic expression that emerged in Europe and North America. Many paintings on view in the exhibition were acquired by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum during its second director James Johnson Sweeney's tenure (1952–60). Since its inauguration in 1997, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has used the art of this period as the essential point of departure for its collection. During the Cold War, numerous stylistic approaches to abstract painting emerged. In response to the devastation of World War II and the rise of existential philosophy, European artists turned to hybridization and synthesis in contrast to earlier, utopian and experimental values. Art Informel, or art without form, encompasses a wide array of abstract practices and painterly methods that emerged in this postwar era.  Painting in the United States was simultaneously evolving toward a gesture-based, highly expressive style.

artwork: Mark Rothko - "Untitled", 1952–53 - Oil on canvas - 300 x 442.5 cm. Collection of the Guggenheim Bilbao Museo - © 2011 Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

Like the creators of Art Informel, the Abstract Expressionists were interested in the process and essentials of making art, as well as tapping into their own unconscious mind or emotional states of mind. For artists in Franco's Spain and Eastern Europe, where oppression ruled even in the aesthetic realms, art signified political liberation. Meanwhile in France, the raw and spontaneous approach artist Jean Dubuffet called Art Brut offered a radically oppositional art counter to official culture. By drawing on the work of those dwelling on society's margins, Dubuffet inspired alternate paths to abstraction.  The CoBrA group of artists from Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam preferred thickly painted surfaces that married realism to lively color and expressive line in a new form of primitivism.

Art Informel, a term coined in 1952 by the French writer Michel Tapié, encompassed a wide array of abstract practices and painterly methods. Rejecting the last strongholds of classical humanism and its most significant artistic principles, such as tonal harmony, balance, and unitary composition, Art Informel embraced artistic freedom and was known in its various manifestations as Gesture Painting, Lyrical Abstraction, Matter art, and Tachisme (from the French tache, meaning a spot or stain). This pan-European movement included artists such as Alberto Burri in Italy and Antoni Tàpies in Spain, who applied nontraditional materials such as sand, rope, rags, and wood to their canvases.Other European artists including Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, and Piero Manzoni explored a number of approaches they considered more scientific, objective, and interactive in nature and embraced pure monochrome surfaces. In movements as diverse as Group Zero and Op art, artists engaged the viewers' senses and explored dematerialization, focusing on optical transformations as opposed to the art object itself.

artwork: Frank Stella - "Harran II", 1967 - Polymer and fluorescent polymer paint on canvas - 304.8 x 609.6 cm. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY, © 2011 Frank Stella/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by North American architect Frank O. Gehry, is a magnificent example of the most groundbreaking architecture to have come out of the 20th century. The building itself is an innovatively designed architectural landmark that creates a seductive backdrop for the exhibition of contemporary art. The permanent Guggenheim collections are comprised of the works belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the works acquired through the program of commissions at the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, as well as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao's own collection. Together, the collections offer a comprehensive overview of the visual arts of the 20th century. The collaborative programming of the various Guggenheim museums, including shared access to each of the art collections, constitutes a new model for museums, presenting the art to the public in a dynamic and ever-changing way. Works are not exhibited in fixed places within one museum; the Guggenheim network allows them to present more complete and diverse views of the art of our time. For the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the ability to access additional collections, from the earliest avant-garde to contemporary art, provides a unique opportunity to feature masterpieces that would be otherwise unavailable to a new museum. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es

Art Knowledge News Presents "This Week In Review"

Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:19 PM PST


This is a new feature for the subscribers and visitors to Art Knowledge News (AKN), that will enable you to see "thumbnail descriptions" of the last ninety (90) articles and art images that we published. This will allow you to visit any article that you may have missed ; or re-visit any article or image of particular interest. Every day the article "thumbnail images" will change. For you to see the entire last ninety images just click : here .

When opened that also will allow you to change the language from English to anyone of 54 other languages, by clicking your language choice on the upper left corner of our Home Page.  You can share any article we publish with the eleven (11) social websites we offer like Twitter, Flicker, Linkedin, Facebook, etc. by one click on the image shown at the end of each opened article.  Last, but not least, you can email or print any entire article by using an icon visible to the right side of an article's headline.

This Week in Review in Art News

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