Wednesday, May 30, 2007

oh, la...

Check it out...LA Weekly interview with Gary Garrels, head curator of the Hammer:

"Gary Garrels is a sign, an omen. Two years ago, he was ensconced at the Museum of Modern Art as chief curator of drawings and a curator of painting and sculpture. Maybe, as you’ll hear, he wasn’t so happy there, but 10 years ago the person with that sort of job at MoMA wasn’t leaving New York for L.A., never mind how unhappy he was. No way. Not 10 years ago, maybe not even two years ago. But that’s what Garrels did, right in the middle of the Brice Marden retrospective he’d organized. Right in the middle of a bigtime New York art career. His reasons: the artists living and working in Los Angeles. And the Hammer Museum, where he is now chief curator, a limber, creative institution driven not quite so much by the numbers, or hindered by the weight of history or expectations, as MoMA is. And a thriving artistic ecosystem, not yet overwhelmed by the money interests — as, he says, it is in New York... TOM CHRISTIE, LA Weekly.

Garrels:
"...But the kind of creative dynamic atmosphere here in L.A., I think, is really better than New York at this point.

There’s an openness. I don’t think the art making has been completely overshadowed by the commercial world here. Artists are more willing to talk about art here. The gallerists are more open to talking, they’re not just selling. There’s just a very lively, spirited community here.

This is not to paint a black-and-white picture — it’s not either/or. The market isn’t great here: There aren’t hordes of collectors, you know, standing in front of the door before the show opens. In New York it’s just insane, the collecting frenzy, and the money is staggering. Artists in L.A. are certainly ambitious for their careers, and it’s not that they’re not competitive, but I just don’t think it totally overwhelms or subsumes the work in the same way.
I also think people here are more open to risk. New York has become a little more timid. Now when you go to galleries in New York, there are six to 10 shows that I want to see and they’re L.A. artists. Artists who are based here in L.A. are a hugely significant part of the art scene in New York, and sometimes you see their work there and you don’t see it here. Like Jason Rhoades I saw in New York, I didn’t see him here. Mark Bradford, Matt Monahan, there’s a lot of that..."

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The locking of the DIA

The doors are now closed at the DIA for the summer! Graem held the closing ceremony on sunday: he officially locked the doors and drew the banner! He then started the game of putt-putt, where he jokingly announced he has never played a game of golf in his life!
"The DIA is currently closed to put the finishing touches on its construction project and to re-hang 5,000 works of art! This November we’ll reopen..."
(pretty similar to what CAID had going)



Sunday, May 27, 2007

extra day off weekend!

This is my favorite painter...(a painting of his has been my screen-saver for a year now, the candy cane glasses image '05 on the web link below) He has a solo show at Derek Eller NY now...and soon to be YCG!
André Ethier
Untitled, 2007
oil on masonite
16 x 12 inches

Friday, May 25, 2007

summer exhibition space!

I thought that now would be a good time to share with everyone what I have been up to lately - yacht club gallery! Our first show F*CK YOU / COMMENTARY CRITICISM is Saturday June 16th. We have an amazing mix of contemporary artists from all over the world showing with us....LA, Toronto, NY, Chicago, San Francisco, Germany.....and of course some detroiters! Stay tuned for more details, I couldn't be more excited!
*************
show one: F*CK YOU / COMMENTARY CRITICISM
yacht club gallery’s inaugural exhibition aims to showcase contemporary works that address or actively rebuff standard notions of critical evaluation and acceptance in art. But this is not a reactionary show; it is rather pro-active in its anti-critical stance. Included works both directly and indirectly address the role of criticism in the contemporary art community and its relationship to artists in the act of creation.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

My favorite art mag is Art Review...and if you missed this before, be sure to go here to sign up for 6 months of free issues online! This issue (above) has an interesting feature on artist John Bock (below). Check it out!

Artsilagelogical Molkememind Solution (bicycle, costumes)

1999, mixed media Courtesy Anton Kern Gallery

no more ads, what will I know to buy?

"...The concept is inspired by the popular Adblock add-on which removes ads from web pages. The main difference between the two is that AddArt will not just block ads, it will replace them with new images - images created by artists. So, the more ads you surf, the more art you'll get!
The idea is to run the AddArt concept somewhat like an art gallery with different curators responsible for organizing the shows..."
guerrilla-innovation

not much art events happening but...

Tonight...
and
Art Education @ Wayne State
Reception 4-6:30, May 24th. Call (313) 577-0902 for more information

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

dumb and dumber

The DIA is stirring up more attention about their "stupid labels".

buy a condo or die @ gagosian

"'Buy a condo or die,' says the cursive wall drawing by Jessica Diamond at the top of "Beneath the Underdog," a terrific jumble of a group show at Gagosian Gallery on Madison Avenue. Put together by Nate Lowman and Adam McEwen, two neo-conceptualists with art-world social cachet, the show has work by 50 different artists dating from the 1960s to this minute, and treats the gallery as a piece of property up for grabs in every way..." Village Voice

Looks like a great show to see! I love McEwen's work...they seem to have a nice little conceptual curation going! Check out all the images here. I would make a piece special for MI/Detroit saying, "buy a loft or die!" Who are living in all those lofts being built anyway?

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

MARK STRYKER on the DIA

Did anyone catch this story on the DIA in the FreePress?

*********

"...The museum is reinstalling and reinterpreting 5,000 objects, rewriting thousands of labels in plain English, creating 11 high-tech interactive displays and videos, hanging large explanatory panels and adding kid-friendly features.
These strategies have become standard in special exhibitions but are rare in permanent collections and unheard of on the scale being implemented by the DIA. In effect, the DIA has remodeled its permanent collection into dozens of discrete special exhibitions....


The DIA was averaging roughly 800,000 visitors a year by 1990, but by 2003 the average was about 570,000..."

and even Tyler Green has an opinion:

..."The simplified language, size of the panels, eye-catching typography, interactive flip books and video displays push the envelope and create installations that may strike traditionalists as intrusive. A gallery exploring the fundamentals of modernism includes projected phrases above the art. 'A projection over a painting sounds like Dante's 43rd circle of hell,' said Tyler Green, a Washington, D.C., art critic who publishes the blog Modern Art Notes. 'Museums should find a way to do things without screaming at the 25% of people who don't want to be screamed at...'"

David Hendren @ mona

click to enlarge above - (CTEA)

From mona press release:

"David Hendren's new paintings and installation at the Museum of New Art (MONA) offer passages, entrances and exits, detours and cul-de-sacs, and repeatedly asks the viewer to come to a new decision about abstraction in the new millennium. These different possibilities of abstraction — opening new doors, often while moving backward in space — engender new spatial constellations..."


(CTEA)
David, a first year Cranbrook student already has the "cranbrook" vocabulary down. I think that some of his paintings are strong while a couple seemed more like studies or works from an earlier, more tentative series. I most enjoyed the abstract "painting come alive" installation that combined neon lights, water pools, spray painted plexi, and tangled cords and cables. The painting and installation set side by side compliment and answer one another yet I wonder if the artist will end up combining the two medias in the future.
(CTEA)










(CTEA) Love this painting, makes me think of this by Bacon.






Monday, May 21, 2007

The art of discovery: Collis in London

Remember RRR? London artist Susan Collis makes works along these lines where her show "DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP" became a sort of "arts trickery game" where the viewer not only had to find the works but also then had to look even harder to notice the subtle details, like this diamond in a white gold nail below.
Made good (DETAIL)
Coral, black onyx, 18 carat white gold (hallmarked), diamond, silver.
The oyster’s our world
Wooden stepladder, mother of pearl, shell, coral, fresh water pearl, cultured pearls, white opal, diamond

Work on it (DETAIL)

New wooden table, adhesive vinyls

Sunday, May 20, 2007

"spring happening" @ next step studio






Craig Paul Nowak, above/below



Hartmut Austen, Hansapark

Sarah Kate Burgess, jewelry

Sara Blakeman

Cyrus Karimpour, Untitled

left, Matthew Hanna, Rainer Old Growth

Narine Kchikian, Autonomous Process

Gregory Tom, Untitled

Dennis Jones, Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum

robot cave @ biegas gallery




Joe Berube (above/below)



Jeffrey Matthews (above/below)



Carl Oxley III (above/2below)





Shelly Mattson (above/below)



Mark Sengbusch (above/all below)