In-finitum

Interior of Palazzo Fortuny

I debated whether or not to brave the snaking line outside of the Palazzo Fortuny. I had heard that not only was the exhibition “In-finitum” on view amazing but also that seeing the palazzo itself was well worth the wait. I even convinced a British couple behind me to stay in line or risk missing out on one of the highlights of this Biennale (even though it was an independent exhibition and not part of the Biennale proper). It turns out that the wait was indeed well worth it. Pairing modern and contemporary works with Renaissance paintings, ancient Egyptian sculpture, and Japanese vases, Infinitum searches for “the infinite appearing in the unfinished.” It is an investigation of the dialogue that exists between the West and the East in search of a better understanding of the universe while knowing that ultimate knowledge will never be attained. Just as Michelangelo stated, “inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue.” As the curators agree, one only need to remove the excess material to reveal the work of art within. The backdrop for this exhibition could not be more perfect. Venice itself is a labyrinth with its winding streets but the Palazzo Fortuny also provides a labyrinth-like setting for the works.

Tatsuo Miyajima

On the first floor an LED light installation from Tatsuo Miyajima’s “Time in Water” series caught my eye. The artist devoted this work to other artists who went to the aid of people in Cuba whose lives were devasted after the 2008 hurricane there. In fact, the rate at which the lights blink is set by the heartrate of those artists living in Cuba. He stated, “I believe the greatest artists are not those participating in international art exhibitions, but ‘human beings’ who inspire and who give hope to society.

On the second floor I stumbled upon a small room that at first appeared to be almost pitch black. As my eyes adjusted I spied a black Lucio Fontana canvas and two wonderful Jef Verheyen paintings on canvas that slowly revealed themselves to me the more time I spent with them.

Henk Peeters

On the top floor I came across a gorgeous monochromatic Henk Peeters from 1961. I truly love all of the work by this artist that I have seen. Other artists in the show included Donald Judd, Piero Manzoni, Anselm Kiefer, Yves Klein, Isamu Noguchi, and Lucio Fontana.

Rothko

Housed within the top floor was a maze-like central structure which gave an almost Zen-like quality to the juxtaposition between the works as well as the entire viewing experience. Inside was this Rothko treasure (of course my picture does not do it justice).

Mapping the Studio at the Punta della Dogana

Aerial view of the Punta della Dogana

My friend, Alf, outside Dogana with Charles Ray's sculpture of a boy holding a frog

One of the highlights of the Venice trip for me was the chance to see François Pinault’s new space in the restored 17th century maritime customs house. Tadao Ando did a remarkable job bringing this building back to its glory. The exterior was renovated to look exactly as it did when it was operational as a customs house. The interior, however, though it pays homage to original materials and layout, has been carefully restored using a concrete shell which waterproofs the space up to seven feet, a very important quality when dealing with a city that is sinking and one of the finest contemporary art collections in existence.

Interior of Dogana (concrete and glass structure)

The variety in the shape of spaces as well as the views of the water from some of the rooms make the building almost as fascinating as the art on display. The natural light that floods the building is such a wonderful way, in fact the best way, to view art. Viewing works from Pinault’s collection in this venue really emphasizes the power of collecting artists in depth. Alison Gingeras and Francesco Bonami who curated the show entitled “Mapping the Studio” (also on view at Palazzo Grassi) did a marvelous job selecting over 300 works by 60 artists that have interesting dialogues with each other.

First gallery installation shot

As one enters the space they are greeted by a floor to ceiling red and white plastic beaded curtain, Untitled Blood from 1992 by Felix Gonzales-Torres. Rachel Whiteread’s Untitled (One Hundred Spaces) consists of casts of the underside of tables in colored resin, and it has never looked better. The natural light floods the space bouncing off of the grid of candy-colored squares that fill the room. I particularly enjoyed the room with the series “The Coronation of Sesostris” from 2000 by Cy Twombly. An entire room full of Twombly’s envelops the viewer and brings a real energy to the viewing experience.

Maurizio Cattelan

I also was disturbed by and intrigued by Maurizio Cattelan’s nine Carerra marble sculptures from 2008 that are placed in the center of an upstairs room. The carefully carved drapery hints at dead bodies lying underneath. I was haunted by the Chapman Brothers Fucking Hell from 2008 in which nine large glass vitrines held thousands of incredibly dteailed miniature figures who are experiencing the most atrocious violence. The work is actually a reconstruction of the original work destroyed in the Momart fire in 2004. I expected nothing less from Jake and Dinos.

And kudos to Matthew Day Jackson, a Brooklyn artist whom I have written about in the past after a studio visit; his work is included in this exhibition alongside masters in contemporary art–obviously he is moving up in the world.

Robert Rauschenberg: Gluts at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum

Palazzo Vernier dei Leoni

Wim Delvoye, Torre

Nic and a work from the permanent collection by Marini on the terrace

Currently on view on the terrace of the Guggenheim is a work Belgian artist Wim Delvoye called Torre, “a Cor-Ten steel tower made with ogival windows, tracery and turrets all done in the International Gothic style.”

Rauschenberg: Gluts 1986-1995

Robert Rauschenberg had an uncanny ability to find new uses for what others tossed aside. He had an empathy for abandoned objects and wanted to rescue them. In his final series of sculpture called “Gluts,” he recycled these found objects into works of art. The works were inspired by a trip he took to Houston, TX due to an exhibition of his work at the Contemporary Arts Musuem there. In the mid-1980s there was a recession in Texas due to the surplus of oil otherwiser known as a “glut.” He searched for traffic signs, exhaust pipes, metal awnings, etc. at junkyards and chose the items for everyday as well as formal properties. These objects “became the foundation of his artistic vocabulary.” His evocative titles and use of color and shapes make these works enjoyable and whimsical. This was a means for the whole to become more than the sum of their parts.

Measure for Measure Glut, 1988, assembled metal

He would bend and shape the objects to create wonderful forms as he did in the work above simply by using two found yardsticks.

With the Gluts, the viewer brings his/her own interpretation to the work and the experience becomes fun and game-like. Looking at Rauschenberg’s work one immediately is reminded of John Chamberlain’s work but Rauschenberg’s utilizes text and recognizable signage. He did not paint any of the objects but used the found colored metal. To me, Bob Rauschenberg’s great compositions are filled with more humor.

Sunset Glut Yellow, 1988

Summer Glut Fence, 1987

Though hard to see from this photo, one of the gluts above has a car speedometer at the top of it.It is a small and managable show that provides a much needed break from the intense pace of Biennale viewing.

Il Tempo del Postino

A group show like I have never seen before that premiered in 2007, Il Tempo del Postino, was created by übercurator Hans Ulrich Obrist and Philippe Parreno as an exhibition where each artist gets a certain period of time as opposed to space. Time is the only rule, after that, anything goes and they have ultimate freedom to create whatever they want. The audience thus goes on a journey of art without moving from their seats. In this sense the audience who usually spends approximately 3 and a half seconds looking at a work of art has fifteen whole minutes with each artist’s creation–allowing ample time for the viewer to absorb and process the work.

This year it was organized by Art Basel, Fondation Beyeler, and Theater Basel and included some of the finest artists of our time. The show opened with Liam Gillick’s work in which a piano on the side of the stage played by itself with snow falling around it. Philippe Parreno’s work came next with an emcee who explained the origins of the title (Postman Time) to the audience while holding a magnifying glass in front of his face that distorted his features. The title has to do with the amount of time someone looks at art and how long one should spend looking at art. Next was one of my favorites, Tino Sehgal whom I have previously written about. His “Untitled” work consisted of the stage curtains dancing to the orchestra’s rhythmic music. Carsten Höller showed video of old experiments in which people wore upside-down glasses throwing their sense of equilibrium off completely. Two people were brought on stage who had been wearing these crazy glasses and the audience saw their response as they removed the glasses for the first time in nine days.

Pierre Huyghe, Small beast

Pierre Huyghe then introduced us to two characters who would return two more times during the show–one, a large yellow beast with glowing eyes, and the other a short Teletubby-like creature. They sang happy birthday and blew out candles that kept relighting. Then they both keeled over. Thomas Demand’s work involved the sound of rain linked to the image of rain projected onto a large screen. The next was my favorite work of the entire performance. Anri Sala’s Flutterbytes placed six women in kimonos throughout the theater. Holding neon lit fans they take turns singing an aria from Madame Butterfly, continuing to mouth the words and act emotively when they are not the one singing. The rest of the theater was pitch black and all one could see were the fans fluttering. It was amazingly beautiful and moving. Olafur Eliasson created another winner with Echo House. Bright lights on the edges of a mirror lit up the reflected image of the audience. The orchestra played and mimicked any and every noise that was made by the audience. Once the audience caught on to what was happening, coughs and sneezes turned into hoots and howls and inappropriate noises that culminated in clapping and a furiously frenzied orchestra that ended suddenly in….silence and darkness. Koo Jeong A’s Spy Tree lit up a barely visible single tree whose leaves shimmered behind a curtain while soft music played. Rat and Bear by Fischli and Weiss included two life-sized figures dressed up silently interacting with each other on a small section of the stage.

Bepler and Barney, Guardian of the Veil

Bepler and Barney, Guardian of the Veil

Heading to the lobby for Guardian of the Veil

Jonathan Bepler and Matthew Barney moved the audience into the lobby for their work. The orchestra has dispersed themselves throughout the crowd, performers and viewers became one as the haunting music filled the space.

Intermission included little bottles of Moet champagne. The second act began with members of the audience (who had been previously selected) climbing up on stage to take part in Rikrit Tiravanija and Arto Lindsay’s dinner party called What Are We Doing Here! Huyghe’s 2 beasts then reemerged with tennis rackets as a boy watches a video of the beasts playing tennis on a tv. Another favorite of mine was Tacita Dean’s Merce Cunningham in which Cunningham is videotaped sitting completely still in a chair for the duration of John Cage’s famous work, 4′33″. Douglas Gordon enlists a famous folk singer to do an a capella version of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart while the audience sits in complete darkness. Doug Aitken’s contribution was a real crowd pleaser. In the handle comes up the hammer goes down, auctioneers walk throughout the theater with flashlights as they shout bids at an inhuman pace. As the pace quickens, the light fills a screen on stage that gets brighter and brighter. Huyghe’s beasts return though the yellow one is dead while the “teletubby” brings flowers and three candles are lit to pay homage to his friend. As he walks away, he falls to the floor as well. Trisha Donnelly’s work involves a singing figure with monoliths that fill half of the stage and eventually topple. The performance ended with Dominique Gonzalez Foerster’s work Sol is Going Home in which the orchestra plays Beethoven’s Symphony #6 and as the music continues to be played, one by one each musician gets up and exits the pit and stage. The conductor leaves before the last musician (the bass player) and the look on his face as he is the last one is priceless.

This experience was one unlike any I have had before in all of my art goings on. I enjoyed it thoroughly and would welcome a chance to see something like it in the future. If you ever have the opportunity to experience any rendition of Il Tempo, run don’t walk.

Giacometti show at Beyeler

Alberto Giacometti, on view until October 11th at Fondation Beyeler, is a wonderful show that is excellently curated. With 100 major works, the visitor gets a real sense of the development of this Swiss born artist who spent most of his life in Paris. Growing up in an artistic family, his father was a well-known painter, Alberto was surrounded by art. Sensing his son’s talent Giovanni Giacometti sent Alberto to Geneva, then Italy and finally Paris to get schooled in the ways of fine art. What began as an outgrowth of his father’s Fauvish, Seuratish style developed into a focus on an interest in the center of a space-time universe in which members of his family and friends provided points of orientation. To Giacometti, art was a never -ending experiment in which he always failed –but that was alright with him as he believed failing was crucial to moving forward.

In Paris, Giacometti became influenced by the Surrealists and gained his own fame as an artist. In Woman with Her Throat Cut from 1933 he mixed the themes of violence and eroticism. The female figure was abstracted with a long thin spine, small out of proportion breasts and no head. He would later break from the Surrealists as he began to investigate the figure and how to best represent it. He asked himself, What do I see? How do I see it? and How do I represent what I see? The focus became the self and his perception, not reproducing some reality.

Four Women on a Base, 1950, Bronze, painted, Courtesy Fondation Beyeler

In the 1940s his sculptures became very small and he was unable to include any detail since he was representing how figures appeared at a distance. His later sculpture saw an increase in size and a move towards representing motion. There is a real mystery to the thin figures he creates. His work investigates the tension between positive and negative form, mass and absence of mass, and fragility and strength. The observer plays an important role in Giacometti’s art; one must walk around the work in order to get a true sense of the image. In the 1950s, height became the focus of the figure as opposed to mass in his works because he believed that people use their legs to maintain balance, not their weight. In the 1950s Giacometti began to arrange figures into groups. Almost all male figures are in motion while the females he depicts are standing motionless in contemplation. Space, time and motion are all integral elements of Giacometti’s art.

The Mother of the Artist, 1950, Oil on canvas, 90 x 61 cm, Courtesy Fondation Beyeler

Having just seen the Francis Bacon show at the Met it was interesting to see Giacometti’s paintings on view with their architectural, cage-like structures. Very interesting similarities exist in the works. Earlier paintings use figures placed in the center of the canvas surrounded by a linear architectural context. In his late paintings, the figure fills the space and his graphic, linear style is replaced by more painterly strokes.

It is a truly wonderful exhibition.

Marc Quinn, Self

Also on view at Fondation Beyeler is Marc Quinn Self, 1991-2006. It is the first time that Quinn’s four self-portraits of his head filled with frozen blood are on view together. He creates a new mold of his head every five years and it is neat to see the changes and differences in his face over time.

Pablo Picasso, Femme Assise, Courtesy Fondation Beyeler

Another exhibition on view at Beyeler is Visual Encounters: Africa, Oceania, and Modern Art. In this show, works from Africa and Oceania are brilliantly juxtaposed with modern Western art which “reflects the fundemental ideas behind the establishment of Fondation Beyeler.” It is the desire of the curator to focus on the visual impact this juxtaposition creates and not on how the tribal work influenced modern art or what the original function of the work was. The focus is on the power of these striking images. Thus you have rooms with Brancusi works and Indonesian wood carvings; Picassos with African life-sized sculptures; Matisse cutouts from the 1950s with wooden figures made from cutouts and negative space; Mondrian and totemic art; Leger with Papua New Guinean figures;

Feather image from Hawaii, Courtesy Fondation Beyeler

Mark Rothko, Untitled, No. 64

and Rothkos with masks made of brightly colored feathers. Truly a gem of an exhibition as well.

Herb and Dorothy: a documentary

This documentary introduces the viewer to the lives of Herb and Dorothy Vogel, two New Yorkers living on modest incomes who were able to amass one of the most important contemporary art collections in the United States. Herb, a postal worker, and Dorothy, a librarian, married and decided to live off of her salary and spend his on artwork. They began collecting in the early 1960s when little attention was paid to Minimalist and Conceptual art. They would visit artists’ studios and most often bought directly from the artists themselves.

The artists appreciated their opinions and their eye for art. As Lawrence Weiner said, “Art is the way we understand our relationship with objects” and the Vogels seemed to really get that notion. The movie is an interesting look into the mind of a collector. You can see where collecting really can become a disease. With the low salaries they had it is fascinating to see the sacrifices the Vogels were willing to make. For people who have millions of dollars the “disease” of collecting is not that big an issue, but for the Vogels, they gave up their lives in order to ensure that this art had a proper home in their tiny one bedroom apartment in Manhattan (now in the permanent collection of the National Gallery in DC). Artists who appear in the film are: Richard Tuttle, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir, Bob Mangold, Chuck Close, Lawrence Weiner, Sol Lewitt, and James Siena to name a few.

Tracy Moffatt at ArtTable breakfast

Image from Something More series

Moffatt works in both film and photography. Before she became an artist she worked in television and directed music videos. This has helped her in her current work as a full time fine artist. For her photographs she creates a scene almost by building a film set. She picks locations and hires actors. When she thinks of a new series she draws shapes of how it will look first and then figures out the content. She has a true love for movies, literature, and vintage photos which all make appearances in her work. Originally from Brisbane, Australia she has been in New York for twelve years.

Love (film still), 2003

There does not seem to be a consistent look to her work but all of her work does seem to have a narrative. She is not interested in capturing reality but in creating her own. Her work is about the human condition. One of the series she created was photographing and highlighting the athletes who came in 4th place in Olympics right after they had lost. Some of them went on to win medals in subsequent Olympic games. It just goes to show you that one minute you can be a loser and the next you can be at the top of your game.

Self-portrait

She grew up reading and watching movies to escape the boredom of suburban life. Her love for films becomes apparent when she screens her new film, Mother, to us. A montage of old and new Hollywood movies, the twenty minute film tugs at heartstrings, makes viewers laugh and just when you think she has touched on every emotion one has when it comes to mother/child relationships, she brings up a new topic. Her editor for her films has an archive of over 300o films. Though she appropriates music and imagery, the concept is hers and I have to say, the way she puts it all together really moves the viewer. Her uncanny ability to masterfully structure the work must be partly attributed to her previous work in tv and video. An entertaining and interesting artist.