Sotheby's Old Masters Week - 25 - 31 Jan 2014

"Old Masters Week 2014 opens in our New York galleries on 25 January and features an array of sales from Old Master Drawings, Old Master Paintings, European Sculpture and Works of Art and Fine Arts. The auction series begins with Old Master Drawings. This sale presents a rich survey of some three and a half centuries of European drawings and is particularly strong in works from the Italian and Netherlandish schools. A highlight of the week is the Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture sale. This auction features a number of strong paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, including important rediscoveries by Gerrit van Honthorst and Jacob Ochtervelt. We are also excited to present The Courts of Europe: Renaissance to Rococo, a highly curated sale featuring distinguished paintings, drawings, and sculpture that demonstrate the princely taste of these artistic centers. The week concludes with Old Master and 19th Century European Art, which features over 300 works spanning the centuries and the majority of Europe."

(http://www.sothebys.com/en/sales-series/2014/old-masters-week-2014/overview.html)

Who is Susan Collis?????

From 2002 onwards, the Armory Show introduced an annual commision and this year's selected artist was Susan Collis as The Armory Show’s 2010 Commissioned Artist.

Collis is known for painstaking facsimiles of mundane objects, which force viewers to reconsider details they may not have initially paid attention to. In "Made Good" (2007), a typical piece for the artist, what initially looks like a Phillips screw sticking out of the gallery wall is in fact made of gems and precious metals. As part of the installation/performance “SWEAT” (2008), a digital clock seems to mark time in the background; but the display is not an LCD – instead, the time is a stop-motion animation composed of 12,000 individual drawings. Emblematic of Collis' extreme perseverance, the clock is unfinished and will take approximately two more years to complete.

Cartier: Le Style et L' Histoire!

Paris, Grand Palais
December 4, 2013 – February 16, 2014

Cartier. Le style et l’histoire, presented in the prestigious Salon d’Honneur room of the Grand Palais, is the first exhibition of this scale to be held in Paris since the Cartier retrospective at the Petit Palais in 1989. Commissioned by the Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais, the exhibition explores Cartier's role in the history of style and decorative arts, from the founding of the Maison in 1847 to the mid-1970s.
The exhibition features more than 600 extraordinary pieces, presented side-by-side for the first time. Most of the pieces belong to the Cartier Collection, or have been loaned by private parties, institutions and museum collections from France and around the world. Together, these pieces are a testament to the rich and intricate history of the Jeweler to Kings and the King of Jewelers.
Cartier's creative genius and artistic flair are presented in a new light under the innovative curatorship of Laurent Salomé, Curating Director of RMN, and his Assistant Director Laure Dalon. Salomé and Dalon approached the exhibition as an art history project, thoughtfully selecting each piece of jewelry, precious accessories, and timepieces for display.
The exhibit's carefully curated collection of jewelry, bejeweled accessories and timepieces is complemented by more than 300 documents from the Cartier archives: notebooks, drawings, order books, inventories, plaster casts, autochromes and photographs that provide insight into the jeweler's creative process.
Spanning several decades of style, the story and legacy of Cartier is revealed through inspirational imagery and iconic figures in this ephemeral setting.

(http://www.cartier.com/maison/living-heritage/exhibitions-12856/current-exhibition-12856/-15206-12856)

Collage Artist Hannah Hoch in Whitechapel Gallery London (15 January - 23 March 2014)

"Hannah Höch was an artistic and cultural pioneer. A member of Berlin’s Dada movement in the 1920s, she was a driving force in the development of 20th century collage. Splicing together images taken from fashion magazines and illustrated journals, she created a humorous and moving commentary on society during a time of tremendous social change. Höch was admired by contemporaries such as George Grosz, Theo van Doesburg and Kurt Schwitters, yet was often overlooked by traditional art history. As the first major exhibition of her work in Britain, the show puts this inspiring figure in the spotlight.

Bringing together over 100 works from major international collections, the exhibition examines Höch’s extraordinary career from the 1910s to the 1970s. Starting with early works influenced by her time working in the fashion industry, it includes key photomontages such as High Finance (1923) which critiques the relationship between bankers and the army at the height of the economic crisis in Europe.

A determined believer in artistic freedom, Höch questioned conventional concepts of relationships, beauty and the making of art. Höch’s collages explore the concept of the ‘New Woman’ in Germany following World War I and capture the style of the 1920s avant-garde theatre. The important series ‘From an Ethnographic Museum’ combines images of female bodies with traditional masks and objects, questioning traditional gender and racial stereotypes.

Astute and funny, this exhibition reveals how Höch established collage as a key medium for satire whilst being a master of its poetic beauty."

(http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/hannah-hch)

Roger Tallon's Amazing Staircase

This helicoid staircase designed by the architect Roger Tallon exhibited by Galerie Lacloche. Tallon is the most important industrial designer for France in the 20th century and a leading one internationally having engineered the Eurostar train connecting England with France and main projects globally as well as created important gadgets of everyday life.

This sculptural adjustable helicoid spiral staircase which was designed in 1966 has a central steel column that supports ten cast aluminium steps and one wide landing stair with spacers.

Measurements: 

Height: 3.98 m

Second Height :  1.06 m 

Depth: 1.06 m 

Price: 

Email Me

WHO IS ROGER TALLON  ? 

(1929- 2011)

Roger Tallon studied electrical engineering in Paris from 1947 to 1949 and then worked as a designer at Studio Avas from 1951 to 1953. He met the industrial designer and theoretician Jacques Viénot (1893--1959) in 1953, and subsequently joined the design consultancy Technès, where he became manager of research in 1960.While there, Tallon designed numerous innovative products, including cameras for SEM (1957 & 1961), a typewriter for Japy (1960), a portable television for Téléavia (1963), the Module 400 furniture range (1964) and a polished aluminium modular spiral staircase for Lacloche (1966), drinking glasses for Daum (1970) and the Chronograph X watch for LIP (1973). He also worked as a consultant designing Frigidaire refrigerators for General Motors from 1957 to 1964. He began teaching at ENSAD (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs) in 1963 and established the multi-disciplinary design consultancy, Design Programmes SA in 1973. During the late 1960s and 1970s, Tallon acquired an international repu-tation for his transportation design, which included work for Mexico City's underground system (1969) and the Corail locomotive (1977) for SNCF.In 1983, he co-founded the design partnership, ASDA+Partners with Pierre Paulin and Michel Schreiber (b. 1950), and continued designing trains including the high-speed TGV-Atlantique (1988) for SNCF and the Trans-Euro-Star shuttle for Euro-Tunnel (1987). In 1973, he was elected an Honorary Royal Designer for Industry in London, and in 1985 was awarded the French National Grand Prix for industrial design. Tallon is one of France's foremost industrial designers and his highly engineered designs are both materially and structurally innovative.BIO TAKEN FROM HERE

Crusade Installation in REMAP 3

Crusade
(Installation)


Crusade plays on symbolisms.
It's a word game.

It intervenes within a meditative environment and with religious tenderness it provokes concepts and images.

Balancing between "sacred" space and deterioration, pathos and nursing, protection and degeneration, presence and absence.

A meeting of four artists (visual artists, musicians and object manipulators/jugglers) who use objects, natural materials and sounds to an attempt to look within tradition for momentary and eternal values.


Installations & visual editing: George Maraziotis, eekuipoiz
object manipulation performers: eekuipoiz (Xristos Kaoukis & Marion Renard)
Sound Design: Thomas Pouliasis
Lighting: Nikos Sotiropoulos

object0.net
maraziotis.com

15 & 16 September 2011
KNOT GALLERY -20.30
Mixalakopoulou 206 & Pirrou
knotarts.blogspot.com
Metro Ambelokipi

22 & 23 September 2011
FROWN TAILS - 20.30
as part of ReMap 3
Paramithias 6
frowntails.com
Metro Metaxourgeio

Free Entrance

Phillips de Pury Auction in London -29 September 2011

ondon — Phillips de Pury & Company is pleased to announce the ceramics highlights from its London Design auction. The sale will offer the most important group of Modernist ceramics ever to appear at auction. Approximately forty works have been selected from the renowned Berkeley Collection. Formed during a period of nearly thirty years of close friendship between the collectors Harley Carpenter and Geof Walker and the Viennese born potter Lucie Rie. This auction is a unique opportunity to acquire some major works with an extraordinary exhibition history and well documented provenance by these most revered of ceramic artists. The ceramic works and wall will be displayed in the Phillips de Pury gallery in an innovative setting designed to enhance the viewers' experience of the exhibition.'

Lucie Riegave Harley Carpenter and Geof Walker access to some of her best pieces and encouraged them to also collect those of her friend and collaborator Hans Coper. The collection grew steadily and soon became the first port of call for Museum curators looking for willing lenders. Many of the works on offer are recently returned from a ground breaking tour of Japan, the first retrospective of Hans Coper's work in that country. Some pieces have also been shown at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Issey Miyake's Design Foundation in Tokyo, The Barbican in London, The Museum Angewandte Kunst in Vienna and The Gardiner Museumin Toronto amongst others.

"The Berkeley Collection is legendary amongst Museum curators and collectors alike. Geof Walker and Harley Carpenter were always willing to lend their cherished collection and shared with many an aim to bring this important work to a larger audience. Almost accidentally, many of the pieces which we now have the pleasure of offering have become some of the artist's most iconic works, representative of a uniquely creative period in the development of British ceramics and a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire a piece that represents what are widely regarded as being the pinnacle of these two artist's distinguished careers." Ben Williams, Contemporary Ceramics Specialist, Design Phillips de Pury & Company.

Highlights of the ceramics section include:

Hans Coper, The Swinton School Mural, 1962 £50,000  £70,000

Hans Coper, The Swinton School Mural, 1962,estimated at £50,000  £70,000

Hans Coper, Black bud pot with grey base, estimated at £30,000  £40,000

Lucie Rie, Monumental blue vase, estimated at £30,000  £40,000

Lucie Rie, Bowl with pink inlaid design, £5,000  £7,000

Lucie Rie, Vase with golden glaze, terra cotta on the shoulder, £6,000  £9,000

Lucie Rie, Large pale yellow bowl with inlay and golden lip £8,000  £12,000

Lucie Rie, Large oval bowl with blue and pink pitted glaze £12,000  £16,000

THE SWINTON SCHOOL WALL
The Swinton School Wall is the only lot in the section that comes from a source other than The Berkeley Collection. Designed and installed in 1962 the Swinton School Wall commission was initiated by Sir Alec Clegg, the innovative Chief Education Officer of the West Riding of Yorkshire County Council. It sat largely unnoticed for four decades in the school entrance hall until it was rediscovered by Maya Nishi, Japanese curator of a major Hans Coper retrospective and Ben Williams, Ceramics Specialist at Phillips de Pury. An offer of a loan to the exhibition was quickly agreed as the school was due to be demolished and there was a real risk that the piece may have been bulldozed. A team of art handlers visited the school, and removed the 18 discs from the wall before having them cleaned and re installed at Phillips de Pury. The wall has since been on loan to the exhibition that has toured Japan and has been a centerpiece of the show. The school is now selling the wall, the planned demolition of the old school building has been put on hold but they will benefit from the proceeds of the auction and intend to commission a replica for the new building once it is completed.

NOTES TO EDITORS

LUCIE RIE AND HANS COPER
Widely regarded as the two most important ceramic artists working in the post  war period Lucie Rie (1902 1995) and Hans Coper (1920 1981) both arrived in the UK during the late 1930's as refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in their homelands of Austria and Germany. Already established as a potter before her arrival in London Rie set up her workshop beneath her living quarters in Albion Mews, near Marble Arch in London. Wartime years, and those immediately after were dedicated to the production of ceramic buttons and tablewares, the buttons were sold to couturiers who were unable to source buttons as all the major manufacturers were supplying the demand for uniforms. Hans Coper, with no previous ceramics training, arrived at Rie’s workshop looking for work.

Soon they were collaborating on a series of tablewares thrown by Coper and decorated by Rie. For some time Rie developed a crisis of confidence and had turned her back on the austere Modernist cylinders to experiment briefly with Bernard Leach's orientalist approach to ceramic production. Hans gave Lucie the confidence to break away from attempting to follow Leach's aesthetic, leading to a completely new approach to ceramics, instantly recognisable bowls and vases with unique timeless forms and often a strong use of colour, it was a developing style that continued evolving throughout her long career. Coper's early work tended toward large, powerfully thrown forms. Sadly, throughout his life he was plagued by debilitating Ankylosing Spondylitis and later, Motor Neurone Disease, the work necessarily decreased to a scale that was manageable to him, this last group of works, of which there are four examples on offer are collectively known as the 'Cycladic' series, incredibly rare, tiny, beautifully composed objects that are greatly prized by collectors.

Although distinctly different in their aesthetic they were bound by a number of shared principles  both artists made everything on the wheel, and many of their works are composites comprising of several individually thrown elements, the body is always fully integrated with the layers of applied glazes or painted slips that make up the surface of their pots. In preparation for the joint exhibition of their work at The Boijman's Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam they wrote... 'A pot is a container. More: it must be a container ­ whether of coffee, flowers, soup, or cigarette ash  in order to be a pot at all. A pot is also an object. Therefore it can offer something  let us say, aesthetic merit by itself, in its own right’. Inspired by this attitude towards the necessary functionality of their work and by Harley Carpenter's period photographs taken of the inside of Lucie Rie's apartment displaying rows of Hans Coper pots brimming with flowers Phillips de Pury in partnership with Paul Thomas will recreate and explore this aspect for the first time in their auction catalogue.

DESTE Foundation Prize

THE DESTE PRIZE

The DESTE Prize was established in 1999 and is awarded every two years to a Greek artist living in Greece or abroad. The Prize aims to showcase the work of a new and emerging generation of artists and it is an integral part of the Foundation’s policy for supporting and promoting contemporary art in Greece.

A six-member Selection Committee comprising of Greek curators, critics, collectors and artists nominate 36 candidates (up to 40 years of age). From these candidates, six artists are shortlisted for the DESTE Prize and participate in the DESTE Prize exhibition. An international Jury of five members comprising of a distinguished team of museum directors, curators, art critics and the President of DESTE, Mr. Dakis Joannou, select the winner, who is presented with the amount of 10.000 Euros during an award ceremony. DESTE Prize winners are marked in italics

DESTE Prize 1999 METRO: New Trends in Contemporary Greek Art Shortlisted Artists: Maurice Ganis, Alexandros Georgiou, Kostas Ioannidis, Despina Isaia, Panos Kokkinias, Deanna Maganias, Lina Theodorou, Dimitris Tsoublekas, Panayota Tzamourani Selection by Dan Cameron Jury Members: Dakis Joannou, Iwona Blazwick, Dan Cameron, Katerina Gregos, Rosa Martinez	Panayota Tzamourani, Mad Object / Maddened Subject, 1997, Video still
DESTE Prize 2001 Shortlisted Artists: Christos Athanasiadis, Despina Christou, Sia Kyriakakou, Dimitra Lazaridou, Eleni Lyra, Georgia Sagri, Andreas Savva Selection Committee: Katerina Gregos, Sania Papa, Efi Strousa, Nikos Tranos, Nikos Xydakis Jury Members: Dakis Joannou, Alison Gingeras, Jennifer Higgie, Christos M. Joachimides, James Rondeau	Georgia Sagri, In the Shop-Window, 2001
DESTE Prize 2003 Shortlisted Artists: Nikos Alexiou, Apostolos Georgiou, Dimitris Kozaris, Nikos Navridis, Maria Papadimitriou, Nikos Tranos Selection Committee: Marina Fokides, Katerina Koskinas, Constantine Papageorgiou, Rena Papaspyrou, Yorgos Tzirtzilakis Jury Members: Dakis Joannou, Tuula Arkio, Maurizio Cattelan, Massimiliano Gioni, Lars Nittve	Maria Papadimitriou, T.A.M.A. Sentimental, 2002 Video, Installation View
DESTE Prize 2005 Shortlisted Artists: Kostis Velonis, Dora Economou, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Stefanos Tsivopoulos, Poka-Yio, Dimitris Foutris Selection Committee: Orestis Doumanis, Christoforos Marinos, Gregory Papadimitriou, Maria Papadimitriou, Yiannis Toumazis, Augustine Zenakos Jury Members: Dakis Joannou, Nicolas Bourriaud, Urs Fischer, Pauline Karpidas, Scott Rothkopf	Christodoulos Panayiotou, Truly, 2005 Video installation, Installation view
DESTE Prize 2007 Shortlisted Artists: Loukia Alavanou, Nikos Arvanitis, Savvas Christodoulides, Socrates Fatouros, Yiannis Grigoriadis, Eleni Kamma Selection Committee: Nadja Argyropoulou, Harry David, Elpida Karaba, Margarita Pournara, Kostis Velonis, Despina Zefkili Jury Members: Dakis Joannou, Pawel Althamer, Laura Hoptman, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Amanda Sharp	Loukia Alavanou, Chop Chop tale, 2007 Video still, double screen video installation, 5min
DESTE Prize 2009 Shortlisted Artists: Athanasios Argianas, Eirene Efstathiou, Haris Epaminonda, Rallou Panagiotou, Vangelis Vlahos, Yorgos Sapountzis Selection Committee: Sandra Marinopoulou, Xenia Kalpaktsoglou, Alexandra Koroxenidi, Sotiris Bachtsetzis, Stefanos Tsivopoulos Jury Members: Dakis Joannou, Lisa Phillips, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Jeffrey Deitch, Thomas Struth	Eirene Efstathiou, Epitafios, 2009 Oil and Acrylic on 3 panels, total dimensions 68x23 cm

no money... no honey...

Mr Geroulanos (Greek Minister of Culture and Tourism) has send the message ...public sponsorship will be reduced 30% and the public museums and other cultural institutions should cover their needs on private "money".

As far as the museums are concerned, last year the budget was 12 million euros but due to the crisis it's cut in half...The New Acropolis museum will not receive any sponsorship as well as the Museum of Contemporary Art of Athens and Thessaloniki. Why is that?

Can someone tell me why they decided to sponsor the private Natural History Museum with more than half a million euros???

At Sotheby’s Sale, Titian Draws One Bidder

By CAROL VOGEL

Despite the snow, all the usual suspects were present at Sotheby’s New York salesroom on Thursday morning to watch the fate of Titian’s “Sacra Conversazione: The Madonna and Child With Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria.”

The painting, which dates from around 1560, sold to a lone telephone bidder for its low estimate, $15 million, or $16.8 million, including Sotheby’s fees. The auction house would identify the buyer only as “a European collector.” The price was a record for the artist at auction, surpassing the $13.5 million paid at Christie’s in London in 1991.

(Final prices include the buyer’s commission to Sotheby’s: 25 percent of the first $50,000; 20 percent of the next $50,000 to $1 million; and 12 percent of the rest. Estimates do not reflect commissions.)

In addition to strong prices for works being sold by institutions like the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the big news on Thursday was the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s purchase of “The Holy Family With the Infant St. John the Baptist,” a painting by the Renaissance artist Perino del Vaga, for $2 million. It had been expected to bring $300,000 to $400,000.

On Wednesday the Met bought a rare drawing by the same artist, who was one of Raphael’s pupils. “It was a double sweep,” Keith Christiansen, the Met’s chairman of European paintings, said in a telephone interview. “Perino del Vaga is one of the very great Renaissance draftsmen, but the minute I saw this painting, I nearly keeled over.”

Though the work sold for more than its estimate, Mr. Christensen said the museum actually benefited from what he called “negative chatter” about it from dealers. Although the painting is in good condition, he said, it is filthy and will go on view only after it is cleaned. Paintings by this Renaissance master are rare.

A RUSSIAN FOR CHICAGO

An abstract canvas of bold geometric shapes floating on a white background by the Russian avant-garde artist Kasimir Malevich has been purchased by the Art Institute of Chicago.

The work, “Painterly Realism of a Football Player — Color Masses in the 4th Dimension” (1915), is the first example of Russian Suprematism to enter the museum’s collection.

“We’ve wanted a Malevich for a long time,” said Stephanie D’Alessandro, the curator of modern art at the Art Institute. “And this painting is from 1915, his breakout year, and it has all the remnants of the artist’s hands.”

The painting and four others by Malevich had hung for years in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In 2008, settling a longstanding dispute over ownership, the City of Amsterdam returned the works to the artist’s heirs, 35 grandchildren, nieces and nephews, in Russia and elsewhere. They in turn sold this painting to the Art Institute through the Gagosian Gallery for an undisclosed price. (Another abstract Malevich canvas, “Suprematist Composition,” from 1916, sold at Sotheby’s in 2008 for $60 million.)

BRIGHTENING THE OUTDOORS

The bleakest days of winter hardly seem like the right time to present new works of public art, but two installations have cropped up this season in different parts of Manhattan.

Two glass kiosks that served as pop-up holiday shops near the ice skaters in Bryant Park might have been dismantled, but instead they have been retrofitted into miniature art galleries.

Together the kiosks make up “Battle of the Brush: A Civil Re-enactment of Two Painterly States,” a showcase for eight artists that is on view through Wednesday. It is the brainchild of Alexander W. Glauber, a 26-year-old former curatorial assistant for Lehman Brothers who recently founded Corporate Art Solutions, which organizes temporary exhibitions for corporations.

“In my mind, nothing is more counterintuitive to outdoor public art, especially in January, than a painting exhibition,” Mr. Glauber said.

Inspired by Bryant Park’s rich history — during the Civil War it was used as an encampment — he has taken a lighthearted look at an age-old dialogue by filling one kiosk with realist works and the other with abstract canvases. (Because of climate controls, viewers can’t go inside.)

The show is another step toward bringing contemporary art to Bryant Park, which is known more for its performances and film screenings. In May, with the help of the nonprofit Public Art Fund, it presented Kate Gilmore’s “Walk the Walk,” in which seven women in identical yellow dresses and ivory pumps strode across an eight-foot-high yellow box — walking with purpose but with nowhere to go, really, except around the 100-square-foot surface, and into one another.

“While in the past I have been cautious about emerging artists,” said Daniel A. Biederman, president of Bryant Park, “I am beginning to look at proposals.”

For Mr. Glauber the exhibition was an opportunity to give new life to the kiosks. “It’s about adapting existing resources,” he said. “And a way of finding new audiences for young artists.”

Meanwhile, at 50 West Street, just north of the entrance to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, a new artwork envelops the site where a 500,000- square-foot glass tower will be erected. The artist, Kinga Czerska, has created “Life, Actually,” a mural of colorful swirls adapted from her paintings.

The work was produced by the Alliance for Downtown New York, a nonprofit business-improvement-district group, with a $1.5 million grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. This is the 20th such artwork that has been initiated by the alliance as a way of dressing up the area’s construction eyesores. “It’s really developing critical mass,” said Elizabeth Berger, president of the alliance.

The site’s developer, Francis Greenburger, chief executive of Time Equities, is an art collector who in 1992 founded Art-Omi, a three-week summer retreat for artists. It was there that he met Ms. Czerska, whose work he has since collected. Ms. Czerska said she put “Life, Actually” together from six paintings she had made in her Seattle studio.

“I’m an engineer and an artist, so I am particularly interested in how things fit together,” she said of the work’s undulating patterns.

For Mr. Greenburger, until his 65-story hotel and condominium is built, this project dresses up the site. “It’s the difference between giving someone a present in a brown bag or in beautiful wrapping paper,” he said.

A NEW GALLERY

Ann Freedman, the former director of the Knoedler Gallery, who resigned in 2009 after 32 years there, is opening her own space this spring at 25 East 73rd Street in Manhattan. The gallery will feature the work of artists she represents, including Frank Stella, Lee Bontecou and the estate of Jules Olitski.

We've been through this thing before, and it doesn't go down easier the second time: Another Greek tycoon has rented (at no charge) the museum of whi

We've been through this thing before, and it doesn't go down easier the second time: Another Greek tycoon has rented (at no charge) the museum of which he is a trustee, in order to showcase his expensive art hoard.

Fifteen months ago I was the first to complain about the New Museum's judgment and ethics when it announced that it would be hosting "Skin Fruit", a show of work owned by Dakis Joannou.

I don't think I'm the first to complain this time*, since the news was reported by New York Times' Carol Vogel (once again the messenger, as she was for NuMU's plans) a week ago. That article reports the basic facts, that in the coming spring the Guggenheim Bilbao will be hosting "The Luminous Interval", a show of work owned by Dimitris Daskalopoulos, Unlike the article she wrote in 2009, this one asks questions, or rather it appears that the museum itself anticipated questions, defending its decision and arranging for their friendly big-deal collector to be available for a statement.

I'm not satisfied with the answers. While there may be no law against it, the ethical problems are obvious: installing a private collection exhibition in a public museum is just wrong, unless ownership of the work has already been transferred to the museum.

Museum directors should know this.

I know I may sound like a scold, but when it comes to the art world I really don't normally go out of my way to look for things to criticize. My experience of the last year or so has saddened me however, as I watch our museums making some very bad decisions. I'd rather be looking at art, or listening to or watching a performance, but it seems to me that museums are "acting up" (and not in the good way) a lot these days.

Maybe it's because of the ubiquity and curiousity of the internet that so many ethical missteps are being exposed within institutions we really cherish. Perhaps we're just more impatient with custom or superciliousness then we once were. It's even possible we've given up believing we can influence government behavior and so look to our own neighborhoods, our own family. Whatever it is, it's not easy to ignore these institutional failings, or the cant which tries to disguise them.

We have the right to expect better of the people who guard our heritage and our sacred spaces. Philip Kennicott, in his excellent Washington Post commentary on "Hide/Seek", published yesterday, describes the extraordinary importance of the museum to people who do not worship in a church, temple, mosque, or forest:

"The museum has become a quasi-sacred space, with rules as complicated and inviolate as any church liturgy. People who don't find the meaning of their existence in churches are often passionate about museums, where a set of fundamental values - openness, fearlessness, truthfulness - are celebrated with all the historical trappings.

ADDENDUM: Whoa! ARTINFO had the story two months ago. I'm sorry I missed both their scoop, and their complaint about how the Guggenheim stonewalled them:

When preparing the original scoop, "IN THE AIR" [an ARTINFO blog] contacted the Guggenheim for comment, which the museum declined to provide - relegating the news to "rumor" status despite multiple well-placed sources confirming the story, and the now-evident accuracy of its substance.

(http://jameswagner.com/2010/12/guggenheim_bilbao.html)

Athens Open studios

List of Artists that were involved in the Athens Open Studios

THE TEA PARTY ART MOVEMENT...interesting article on the Tea Party Gang ...

THE TEA PARTY ART MOVEMENT?
The wild-eyed protestors of the Tea Party movement have certainly taken a space at the center of American political consciousness, as commonplace as its forces might seem (the base of the movement is "Republican, white, male, married and older than 45," according to the New York Times). But to date, the Tea Party’s brushes with the art world have been rare and infelicitous. Most famously, Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight had some fun with mad man of the airwaves Glenn Beck, pointing out that the logo for his right-wing, Tea Party-infused "9/12 Movement" was inspired by socialist and anarchist designs.

Still, the Tea Party gang is nothing if not entrepreneurial, and several of its more artistic members have made news with their schemes to flog their own artworks to this particular niche market. A press release from the Princeton, N.J.-based Meg Michael is a case in point.

Michael is pitching 16 x 20 in. prints of her still-life painting, featuring a teapot, cup and saucer placed on an orange tablecloth, to members of the Tea Party movement. "Professional quality copies of a recent still-life painting titled Tea Party are being offered to members of the new political movement for a variety of purposes," her release announces, helpfully listing what such purposes might be: "They may be used to encourage membership and party unity or simply hung in the office or home."

Michael’s press release notes that the work is "painted in a most conservative and traditional style," thereby being perfect for a conservative movement. Prints of Tea Party are available "at a special introductory discount" of $290 -- supposedly a bargain price, considering that the work "may well become a valuable investment in due time as a collector’s item," and has already garnered some media attention. Interested parties may mail a check to "Tea Party Art, Six Smalley Lane, Skillman, NJ 08558." (More of Michael’s work can be seen on the website of the Arts Council of Princeton.)

More typical in terms of the spirit behind the Tea Party movement -- unreasoning fury -- is the art promoted by Amy Marsh, who runs the website FreeSignArtwork.com, apparently as a side project to her corporate printing business, Marsh Enterprises, located in Olathe, Kansas (she is also on Twitter at twitter.com/freeteapartyart). The website features free downloadable images to use at rallies.

Here you get the kinds of references that have become the Tea Party’s bread and butter: symbols suggestive of the American Revolution, like a coiled snake with the slogan "Don’t Tread on Me," as well as marginally more clever ideas, like an image of a pitcher of Kool-Aid and a tea bag, with the caption asking, "Which One Are You Drinking?" FreeSignArtwork’s gallery of protest photos features an image of bellicose Fox News pundit Sean Hannity -- a famous Tea Party supporter, who even had to apologize after faking evidence about the size of a Tea Party rally -- holding up an image of a Marsh graphic which declares, "Keep Your Hands Out of My Piggy Bank."

Easily the most unintentionally awesome icon of "Tea Party Art," however, has to be Sarah Para Bellum 2012, by the artist known as Dale, a Virginia-based cartoonist whose Norman Rockwell-meets-Mad Magazine work appears often at a website called All Right Magazine. Somewhere in between caricaturing the evils of "Diversity" and imagining Nancy Pelosi being brought to orgasm over a "Health Care Reform Bill: Pathway to Total Power," Dale found time to create a poster of a brawny Sarah Palin-as-Rosie the Riveter, with a shotgun across her lap and the words "Death Panel" on a BlackBerry clutched in her hand (a reference to her inability to function without written talking points, perhaps?).

You’d think that Sarah Para Bellum 2012 (available online for $13.95!) was some sort of satire, but it is the real deal. A detailed analysis of its iconography appeared last year on the liberal website Daily Kos, which even inspired a counterattack from Shotgun Life magazine -- that’s right, Shotgun Life magazine -- which sternly took the Daily Kos writer’s art criticism to task for misidentifying the weapon held in her lap ("not an over/under but a pump gun"). As to the meaning of the work: "Sarah Palin is trying to uphold the traditions of traditional America, which I think is something worth saving," Dale told Shotgun Life.

At the end of the day, however, the Tea Party movement doesn’t run on such odd hero worship alone (in fact, according to that Times poll, a plurality of Tea Party supporters don’t think Palin is qualified to be president). It runs on rage and fear. And the best art image to capture this is still one of the first: the "Obama as Joker" graphic created by a still-anonymous individual or political consulting firm, which soared into the spotlight last year.

The image has had a long afterlife. Georgia artist Andy Davis is best known for making realistic portrait sculpture of the likes of Hugh Hefner, Ray Charles and Truett Cathy, founder of the Chik-fil-A fast-food empire. However, he caught some headlines earlier this year for his sculptural renditions of the Obama Joker image. According to local news in Atlanta, Davis -- who describes himself as a "mainstream realist" and "a red-blooded American who loves my freedom" -- began as an Obama supporter, creating some 50 bronze busts of the president to sell for between $500 to $1,000. But then he became disillusioned by the president’s handling of the financial crisis and "felt his personal freedoms were threatened," and began to paint the Joker image over some miscast busts of Obama -- drawing a whole new audience.

A Davis Obama-Joker has have been used as part of a fundraiser for the Tea Party, bringing in "quite a bit of money," according to the artist. And its meaning? Davis strenuously rejects any racial overtones, saying instead that it symbolizes that "the state of politics in America has become somewhat of a joke." On that, you’ve got to agree with him.

Ενδιαφέρουσα συνέντευξη της Άννα Μποκιγιάν στην LIFO

Θέλετε να μου πείτε μερικά πράγματα για το background σας;
Δεν έχω κάνει πολλά στη ζωή μου, δεν έχω κάνει σχεδόν τίποτα.

Τίποτα σχετικά με τι;
Στη ζωή γενικά.

Ξέρω ότι έχετε ταξιδέψει πολύ.
Ναι, αλλά δεν έχω πάει στη Λατινική Αμερική ακόμα, ούτε στην Ιαπωνία ή στην Αυστραλία. Όμως έχω έρθει περίπου διακόσιες φορές στην Ελλάδα, μπορεί και χίλιες. Από το 1962 έρχομαι συνεχώς. Θα ήθελα να δω όλα όσα υπάρχουν στον κόσμο, τα πάντα, αλλά δεν είναι δυνατό. Δεν έχεις τα λεφτά, τον χρόνο, και οι δυνατότητες του ανθρώπινου μυαλού είναι τελικά πιο περιορισμένες απ' ό,τι νομίζεις. Πάντα ρίχνεις το φταίξιμο στα λεφτά, αλλά δεν είναι τα λεφτά το απόλυτο εμπόδιο. Ούτε είναι οι απόλυτοι ρυθμιστές των πάντων.

Σου παρέχουν όμως μια ασφάλεια. Όταν ξεκινήσατε να ταξιδεύετε δεν είχατε λεφτά;
Απολύτως τίποτα. Όταν ήμουν 20 χρόνων ήρθα για πρώτη φορά στην Αθήνα και μετά πήγα στην Κωνσταντινούπολη να επισκεφτώ συγγενείς. Τη δεύτερη φορά είπα ψέματα στους γονείς μου ότι γινόταν ένας γάμος στη Βυρηττό που έπρεπε να πάω -γινόταν αλήθεια γάμος, αλλά δεν ήμουν καλεσμένη- και στη Βυρηττό αποφάσισα να βγάλω λίγα λεφτά και να πάω στη Συρία. Απ' τη Συρία πήγα στην Τουρκία και από την Τουρκία πήρα μια μικρή βάρκα και πήγα στη Ρόδο. Από κει πήρα άλλη μικρή βάρκα και πήγα στην Κρήτη. Και την τρίτη φορά βρήκα έναν ψαρά που με πήρε με τη βάρκα του, αλλά ήταν πολύ διαφορετικός ο κόσμος τότε, δεν είχε καμιά σχέση με τον σημερινό. Έχει αλλάξει δραστικά τα τελευταία είκοσι χρόνια και τώρα αλλάζει κι άλλο.

Έχετε κι άλλα απωθημένα;
Θέλω να πάω στην Αργεντινή, αλλά είναι πολύ ακριβό το εισιτήριο, ακόμα κι αν το κλείσεις απ' την Αμερική. Θέλω να πάω στη Μπανκόγκ και να βγάλω εισιτήριο για ολόκληρο τον κόσμο, στοιχίζει περίπου 3.000 ευρώ. Συμφέρει να πας εκεί και να ταξιδέψεις για ακριβούς προορισμούς. Τα λεφτά δεν ήταν ποτέ το πρόβλημα, πάντα ζούσα με λίγα. Και έτρωγα ελάχιστα. Ξέρεις, αν υπάρχει η θέληση, πάντα βρίσκεις τρόπο.

Έχετε σπουδάσει Πολιτικές Επιστήμες. Θα μου σχολιάστε λίγο τη σημερινή κατάσταση της Ευρώπης;
Σπούδασα Πολιτικές Επιστήμες, ναι, και νομίζω ότι ο κόσμος πάει κατά διαόλου. Χθες άκουγα τα νέα για το μέλλον της Ευρώπης και την κατάσταση της Ευρωζώνης, που είναι ακόμα χειρότερη. Δεν είμαι, όμως, η κατάλληλη για να κάνω σχόλια.

Την κατάσταση στην Ελλάδα πώς τη βρίσκετε;
Πολύ θλιβερή. Όχι τόσο για τη χρεοκοπία της, όσο για τα επεισόδια και την επιθετικότητα που αισθάνονται όλοι, η οποία νομίζω ότι είναι άχρηστη. Για μένα τουλάχιστον. Δεν πάνε τόσο άσχημα τα πράγματα, υπάρχει φαγητό για όλους. Νομίζω ότι όλοι ξεχνούν, τίποτα όμως δεν σου δίνεται εύκολα, η προσπάθεια πρέπει να είναι μόνιμη.


Η Αθήνα πώς σας φαίνεται, σας αρέσει;
Νομίζω ότι μου άρεσε περισσότερο στο παρελθόν. Πριν από είκοσι, είκοσι πέντε, τριάντα χρόνια, που είχε περισσότερο ελληνικό χαρακτήρα. Επίσης, τη θυμάμαι πιο καθαρή παλιά. Πήγα στη Σίφνο πρόσφατα και μου έκανε εντύπωση το πόσο καθαρά ήταν όλα. Κάτασπρα, χωρίς ίχνος σκόνης στους τοίχους. Φαίνεται ότι εκεί καθαρίζουν... Έχουν αλλάξει και οι άνθρωποι. Η ελληνική ταυτότητα έχει εξαφανιστεί στη νέα γενιά. Κυρίως σε αυτή.

Αυτό συμβαίνει παντού όμως. Στο Κάιρο δεν έχουν αλλάξει οι νέοι;
Στο Κάιρο είναι διαφορετική η αλλαγή. Αλλάζουν οι νέοι άνθρωποι, αλλά δεν έχουν χάσει την ταυτότητά τους παντού. Στην Ινδία δεν συμβαίνει αυτό, για παράδειγμα. Νομίζω ότι οι Έλληνες έχουν γίνει πιο Ευρωπαίοι. Κάποιοι έχουν γίνει πιο Ευρωπαίοι και μερικοί έχουν μείνει στάσιμοι. Και η στασιμότητα γίνεται βία.

Έχετε ασχοληθεί και με τη μουσική;
Ναι, αλλά για πολύ λίγο, δεν είμαι κάποια που έχει ιδιαίτερες γνώσεις στη μουσική. Την έκανα, σπούδασα για ένα διάστημα, για να συνοδεύει τη ζωγραφική μου. Έκανα σχέδια και πίνακες και τα συνόδευα με μικρά μουσικά κομμάτια. Μετά άρχισα να μην ακούω καλά.

Είναι αλήθεια ότι δουλέψατε με παιδιά του δρόμου για κάποιο διάστημα;
Δούλεψα για πολύ λίγο στον Καναδά με νεαρούς ασθενείς. Βοηθούσα ανθρώπους που δεν ακούνε καλά και τότε έχασα την ακοή μου. Δεν είναι εκπληκτικό; Είναι μια μεγάλη προσωπική ιστορία που δεν μπορώ να μοιραστώ. Δεν συναναστρέφομαι πολλούς ανθρώπους έτσι κι αλλιώς, αλλά είναι σοβαρή αναπηρία το να μην ακούς, παρόλο που δεν φαίνεται. Έχω το ακουστικό που με βοηθάει, αν δεν ακούς όμως δεν μπορείς να συμμετέχεις και οι άνθρωποι σε παρεξηγούν. Συνήθως δεν χρησιμοποιούν το πιο σημαντικό πράγμα που είναι η ακοή για να ακούν αυτά που τους λένε, τα παραποιούν και τα ερμηνεύουν όπως θέλουν. Είναι πολύ κακό αυτό. Και γίνεται ακόμα πιο επικίνδυνο αυτό όταν χάνεις την ακοή σου. Οι πιο πολλοί άνθρωποι κρύβουν λέξεις, δεν λένε την αλήθεια για τον εαυτό τους, πάλι όμως οφείλεις να τους ακούσεις.

Τη σύγχρονη τέχνη πώς τη βρίσκετε;
Ενδιαφέρουσα, παρόλο που δεν έχει τίποτα το σύγχρονο. Να σου πω την αλήθεια, όλα τα έχουμε ξαναδεί πριν από τριάντα και σαράντα χρόνια, δεν υπάρχει τίποτα το αβανγκάρντ, τίποτα το ευφυές. Θα ήταν φανταστικό να μπορούσες να δεις έναν Καραβάτζιο ή Λεονάρντο ντα Βίντσι. Δεν μου αρέσει ούτε ο Λεονάρντο ντα Βίντσι ούτε ο Ραφαέλι, αλλά θα ήταν ωραίο να έβλεπες να επιστρέφει κάποιος από αυτούς τους ανθρώπους στη σύγχρονη σκηνή. Δεν υπάρχει κανείς όμως. Κάθε 100 χρόνια βγαίνουν κάποιοι που όλοι πιστεύουν ότι είναι ιδιοφυΐες, αλλά στην πραγματικότητα δεν είναι.

Δεν υπάρχουν ιδιοφυΐες σήμερα;
Σίγουρα όχι. Υπάρχουν άνθρωποι που θεωρούν τον Ντάμιεν Χιρστ ή τον Τζεφ Κουνς ιδιοφυΐες, αλλά νομίζω ότι είναι κατασκευάσματα, δεν μου αρέσει κανείς απ' τους δύο. Δεν μου αρέσει ούτε ο Μάθιου Μπάρνεϊ. Έχω φίλους που ζωγραφίζουν πολύ καλύτερα από όσους θεωρούνται σήμερα σημαντικοί. Ήξερα και καλλιτέχνες από τα '60s που ζούσαν στον Καναδά και στη Νέα Υόρκη και ήταν χίλιες φορές καλύτεροι από όλους αυτούς που προωθούν. Δεν έχω ιδέα γιατί προωθούν τέτοιους καλλιτέχνες. Διερωτώμαι, αλλά ξέρω ότι η μαφία είναι πίσω από την μπίζνα της τέχνης. Η μαφία την έκανε μπίζνα, πάει όπου είναι τα λεφτά. Όταν πήγα στον Καναδά ήμουν πολύ φτωχή -είχα αποφασίσει ότι μπορούσα να ζήσω στον κόσμο χωρίς χρήματα και τα θεωρούσα εχθρό μου- και κάθε φορά που ήμουν πολύ πεινασμένη πήγαινα σε μια ελληνική ψησταριά που πουλούσε σις κεμπάπ. Νομίζω την έλεγαν Pitter Pan. Έφτιαξα το πορτρέτο του Δήμου, που ήταν ο ιδιοκτήτης, και μου έδινε φαγητό, αυτός μου έλεγε ότι μπορείς να ζήσεις χωρίς χρήματα. Όταν έγινε πετυχημένος, όλοι οι Έλληνες άνοιξαν σουβλατζίδικα, ο ένας δίπλα στον άλλο. Έπειτα η μαφία τούς έκαψε τα μαγαζιά. Κάηκε και το πορτρέτο του Δήμου και το μαγαζί. Νομίζω ζει στην Αθήνα τώρα και θα ήθελα πολύ να τον βρω.

Έχετε φίλους στην Ελλάδα;
Την Τζούλια. Δεν ξέρω αν με θεωρεί φίλη της, αλλά μου αρέσει πολύ, είναι πολύ καλή γυναίκα. Είχα κι άλλους, αλλά από τότε που έχασα το σημειωματάριό μου με τα τηλέφωνα έχω χάσει επαφή μαζί τους.

Για ποιο λόγο ασχοληθήκατε με τον Καβάφη;
Πήγα για πρώτη φορά στο σπίτι του Καβάφη στο ξενοδοχείο της Αλεξάνδρειας και μου έκανε εντύπωση ότι είχε πάνω στους τοίχους γραμμένα ποιήματά του. Η μαντάμ Κριστίνα που μου τα έδειξε ήταν πολύ περήφανη γι' αυτά. Δεν ξέρω, όμως, αν ήταν πραγματικά ή μια αυταπάτη, γιατί ο Καβάφης πέθανε το 1933, δεν ήταν δηλαδή αρκετά μεγάλη για να μπορεί να έχει κοινωνικές σχέσεις μαζί του και δεν νομίζω ότι ο Καβάφης είχε ενδιαφέρον για μικρά κοριτσάκια. Αλλά πρέπει να τον είχε δει και η εικόνα του είχε έτσι κι αλλιώς κάτι μυθικό. Μέσα απ' τα χρόνια αυτός ο μύθος πήρε ακόμα πιο μεγάλες διαστάσεις. Οι άνθρωποι πάντα μιλούσαν γι' αυτόν, για την ομοφυλοφιλία του, δεν πιστεύω όμως ότι αυτό ήταν αλήθεια, νομίζω ότι είναι απλά ιστορίες. Η μαντάμ Κριστίνα, λοιπόν, με πήγε να δω το δωμάτιό του στον δεύτερο όροφο του ξενοδοχείου που έμενε και το βρήκα τρομερά ενδιαφέρον. Ήταν ένα ξενοδοχείο γεμάτο από νεαρά αγόρια. Μου άρεσε το μπαλκόνι.

Σας γοήτευσε δηλαδή περισσότερο ο χώρος που έζησε;
Πάντα τον έβρισκα πολύ ενδιαφέροντα τον Καβάφη. Δεν ήταν ποτέ έμπνευση για μένα παρ' όλα αυτά, μου προκαλούσε μόνο ακαδημαϊκό ενδιαφέρον και πίστευα ότι θα σταματούσα να το έχω πολύ σύντομα, αλλά δεν σταμάτησε ποτέ, γιατί είναι μέσα στην ιστορία της χώρας μου.

Να πούμε για την έκθεση που γίνεται στο Μουσείο Μπενάκη;
Ο λόγος που δέχτηκα να την κάνω στο Μουσείο Μπενάκη ήταν επειδή ο Μπενάκης ήταν φίλος του Καβάφη -ο οποίος Καβάφης ήρθε στην Αθήνα για να τον επισκεφτεί- και σκέφτηκα ότι θα ήταν πολύ καλό που θα έβαζα τους πίνακές μου σε αυτόν το χώρο.

Υπάρχουν Έλληνες καλλιτέχνες που σας αρέσουν;
Ο Τσαρούχης. Δεν ξέρω και πολλούς, είναι η αλήθεια. Υπάρχει κι ο Φασιανός που μου άρεσε πολύ παλιότερα και ο Κουνέλης. Νόμιζα ότι είχε πεθάνει, αλλά είναι ζωντανός. Κάποια στιγμή ταξίδευα δίπλα στον γιο του.

Πόσο συχνά ζωγραφίζετε;
Εξαρτάται. Όποτε θελήσω, το κάνω.

Χρόνο βρίσκετε με τόσες μετακινήσεις;
Δεν ταξιδεύω και τόσο πολύ. Εννοώ, ταξιδεύω, αλλά ζωγραφίζω κιόλας ταυτόχρονα. Όταν μένω κάπου για μεγάλο χρονικό διάστημα, βρίσκω χρόνο να ζωγραφίσω. Κάνω πολλά σκίτσα εξάλλου, πιο πολλά σκίτσα από ό,τι πίνακες, και κάνω μεγάλους πίνακες όταν είμαι στο σπίτι μου.

Θα μου πείτε πότε αρχίσατε να ζωγραφίζετε;
Πριν από πάρα πολύ καιρό. Δεν θέλω να γυρίζω όμως στις ρίζες μου, μου θυμίζει ότι είμαι γριά και ότι πλησιάζω στο τέλος μου.

Σας φοβίζει το τέλος;
Κυρίως ανησυχώ για τα έργα μου. Νομίζω ότι όταν πεθάνω θα καταλήξουν στα σκουπίδια, κάτι που είναι ok, ή θα πάνε στα σπίτια άλλων ανθρώπων και δεν θα αποκτήσουν και ιδιαίτερη αξία.

Τι άλλο φοβάστε;
Δεν ξέρω. Χθες ταξίδευα στην Ακρόπολη της Σίφνου και είδα μια οχιά. Σήκωσα αυτομάτως τη μηχανή για να τη βγάλω μια φωτογραφία, την έβγαλα κι η οχιά εξαφανίστηκε! Όταν κοίταξα αυτό που τράβηξα, δεν είχε την οχιά.

«Ταξίδι στην Αλεξάνδρεια του Καβάφη», 15/5-19/9/2010, Μουσείο Μπενάκη, Κτιριακό Συγκρότημα Κεραμεικού.

PRINT GLOSSARY (PART B)

Artist's Proof
Artist's Proofs should be exactly the same as the edition in quality and image though they are outside the numbered edition. They are identified with "A.P." or "Artists Proof" on the impression. They are often retained by the artist or publisher.

CATALOGUE RAISONNE
A scholarly catalogue which should include all the known works by an artist at the time of publication. Essential information by which works are identified is included.

EDITION
Total number of prints pulled from one image and represents the largest body of work for sale from that image. These prints are consecutively numbered to show that the edition is limited by publisher or artist.

Print Glossary for beginners!!!!!

Some how I found myself searching for prints and stuff ...and i realize that my knowlegde on prints is quite limited ... so I decided to share some findings with you!
I will start for now with the basics and then will elaborate more ...

PRINT GLOSSARY (PART A)

1. Aquatint
An etching technique that creates areas of tone through the use of powdered resin that is sprinkled on the etching plate prior to being bitten by the etching acid. The result is a finely textured tonal area whose darkness is determined by how long the plate is bitten by the acid.
2.Etching
A means of incising lines in a metal plate with acid for printing in the intaglio technique. The plate is first covered with an acid resistant ground through which the artist scratches a design with a stylus or needle, revealing the bare metal below. This plate is then immersed in an acid bath that cuts the incised lines into the plate. Etched lines often betray the subtle motions of the artist's fingertips.
3. Engraving
A form of intaglio printing in which lines are incised into a metal plate with a carving tool called a burin. The characteristics of burin engraving differ from that of etching in that engraving, requiring considerable force, is done from the strength of the arm and eliminates the quavering autographic qualities of etching, which is done more from the finger tips like fine drawing. The hallmarks of engraving are often elegantly swelling and tapering lines.
4. Lithograph
A printing technique in which the image is drawn on a very flat slab of limestone (or a specially treated metal plate). This stone is treated chemically so that ink, when rolled on to the stone, adheres only where the drawing was done. This inked image can then be transferred to a piece of paper with the help of a high pressure press.
5.Engraving
A form of intaglio printing in which lines are incised into a metal plate with a carving tool called a burin. The characteristics of burin engraving differ from that of etching in that engraving, requiring considerable force, is done from the strength of the arm and eliminates the quavering autographic qualities of etching, which is done more from the finger tips like fine drawing. The hallmarks of engraving are often elegantly swelling and tapering lines.

...to be continued!!!!!

Art Athina 2010

The 16th International Contemporary Arts Fair of Athens opens its doors this Thursday13 May and until 16 May .
Taking part in Art-Athina will be 58 galleries from 11 countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, the USA, Italy, Cyprus, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Turkey) featuring works by more than 300 artists. In addition, 42 organizations associated with contemporary art will also be represented (museums, foundations, arts publications and media).

Kutlug Ataman's Exhibition in Whitechapel London

KUTLUG ATAMAN

13 April - 2 May 2010

fff is a multi-screen video installation created by Turkish artist and film director Kutlug Ataman, in collaboration with British composer Michael Nyman.

The work’s title is an abbreviation of ‘found family footage’, though it can also be read as a musical instruction. Consisting of images drawn from a collection of home movies shot in the 1950s and 1960s, fff draws on the archives of two families – the Fryers and the Howards – whose fathers worked for the Farnborough RAF. The footage is an eclectic mix of domestic scenes and the pioneering research into flight conducted by men of both families. Made up of quintessentially English vignettes, the work is fuelled by nostalgia for a seemingly lost age. However, Ataman’s de-construction reveals a more complex narrative. An original score composed independently – or ‘blind’ – by Michael Nyman, accompanies the short films. Ataman edited visual sequences according to Nyman’s music, effectively treating both sound and image as ready-mades.

Ataman’s work primarily consists of cinematic portraits of remarkable, yet often marginalised, individuals. By limiting his authorship in fff to editing and merging two elements authored by others, he constructs a new perspective on British culture from the outside in.

ART Is Not DEAD!!!!!!!(just a mini review)

For us who have not visited the Armory Show ...:

"Creative innovations in various art mediums wowed attendants and proved that art is not dead in this time of recession!!!!"

Galleries stepped up their game featuring inquisitive and interactive pieces that both challenged and stimulated viewers. Featured in both Pier 92 & 94, the show did an excellent job of showcasing different mediums and installations. Paris stole the show as a top producer of ingenious pieces. Artists stepped outside the box this year by featuring pieces that challenged form and the imagination. Attendees were forced to view each exhibit as the majority displayed “larger than life” and eye-popping pieces. .

Shaq's Curatorial Debut: Power Curator. Julia Allison and DJ Mayonnaise Hands