Listening to the 1960s
rt ‘Em
Design by: Jonathan Luis Petersen
Andrea Wolf, the founder and director of REVERSE and multi-media artist Posted in the artfile magazine by Tatiana Istomina
Art Basel Hong Kong, 2015 moves to March
Review of Degas Renoir and Poetic Pastels at the Cincinnati
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Content History
3 Endre Nemes
Artwork
4 Maya Gurantz and Art21: Casting spells over Los Angeles 5 Listening to the 1960s
Exhibition
6 Art Basel Hong Kong, 2015 moves to March
Critic
7 Review of Degas Renoir and Poetic Pastels at the Cincinnati
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Endre Nemes (1909–1985)
In 1965, he was awarded a Swedish State stipend and held a notable exhibition at the Drian Galleries in London. His work can be found in the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm, Philadelphia Art Museum and Brooklyn Museum in the US, the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava, and the Ferenc Born Endre Nágel in Pécsvárad, Hungary, in 1909, he changed his name to Nemes in 1928. Martyn Museum in Pécs. In 1984, Nemes received an honorary doctorate from the His family soon moved to the small town of University of Gothenburg. The same year the Igló (then part of Austro-Hungarian monarthree large tapestries he designed for Första chy, later Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia). He Sparbanken in Stockholm were completed at later lived in Vienna (1927) where he studJindřichův Hradec in Czechoslovakia under ied philosophy before returning to Slovathe direction of Josef Müller. Two more, for kia, working as a journalist and publishing Volvo’s headquarters in Gothenburg, followed poetry. In 1930, he moved to Prague where in 1985. Härryda Municipality in particular he became a cartoonist. Whilst in Prague, he has a large collection of works by Nemes. studied at the Prague Art Academy, where About twenty of his drawings were reported he met Peter Weiss and Bernard Reder and collaborated with Jakub Bauernfreund. Nemes stolen in December 2008 from Ystad Art Museum. However, a month later, the drawings held his first exhibition with Jakub Bauernwere found in the museum basement. Nemes freund at the Dr. Feigl Gallery. As a Jew, he was a friend of the Estonian poet and publiescaped from Czechoslovakia before World cist Ilmar Laaban. War II, was in Helsinki in 1938, traveled through Finland and Norway, and ended Nemes died on September 22, 1985 in Stockup in Sweden where he held his first solo exhibition in 1941 in Stockholm. Just prior to holm. Weiss’s March 1941 exhibition at Masshallen, Brunkebergsplate, Nemes had shown his work at the same venue. He became a Swedish citizen in 1948. From 1947 to 1955, he was director and innovator for Valand School of Fine Arts in Gothenburg. He also worked on sets and costumes for the opera house and the municipal theatre. His fanciful paintings often included harlequins and clocks. Nemes became known for several large public art works and was a pioneer in Sweden in the use of enamels in public art, designing the façade of the municipal administration building in Alafors and the Zodiak Vardag under Trettioåriga kriget (Everyday Life during the Thirty Clock in the center of Västertorp. Along with Years’ War) Oil and tempera on canvas Max Walter Svanberg, C.O. Hultén, Adja 1977 Yunkers, and Carl O. Svensson, Nemes was a founder of the Minotaur group. In the end of Previously posted on: Max Walter Svanberg the 1950s, he showed in Zurich and Freiburg, for But Does it Float and there was a subsequent retrospective in URL: http://50watts.com/Endre-Nemes Lund, Prague, and Salzburg. History
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MAYA GURANTZ AND ART21:
CASTING SPELLS OVER LOS ANGELES The imminent possibility of magic seems to perennially hover over Southern California, an area long known for its experiments in alternative spirituality and its visionary optimism. Gurus, healers, psychics, and witches are common in Los Angeles, and their worlds often intersect with the world of artists; after all, both are engaged in probing the boundaries of life as we know it. In October 2014, a retrospective of the work of Cameron (1922–95), an influential counterculture artist and practicing witch, opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Pacific Design Center, generating excitement and substantial media coverage. Not well known outside of Southern California, Cameron has exerted a mythical pull on local artists, occult enthusiasts, and historians for decades. Her drawings and paintings, often depicting fantastical creatures engaged in mysterious rituals, are suffused with an otherworldly energy while her appearances in underground films such as Kenneth Anger’s Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954) reveal her personal charisma—still potent even now, years after her death. 4
The idea that magic is possible is always a seductive one, and many are no doubt drawn to Cameron because of the legends that surround her. As the story goes, the rocket scientist and occult practitioner Jack Parsons, who became Cameron’s husband, believed that she was the elemental—the spiritual energy in human form—that he had summoned through a ritual invocation performed with his friend and fellow spiritualist, L. Ron Hubbard. Called the Babalon Working, this spell was one of the few Parsons performed that, he believed, had actually worked.1 Today, younger artists in Los Angeles are continuing to engage with alternative forms of spirituality. Rather than perpetuating a certain mythos, however, some of them are appropriating occult tools within a larger progressive agenda. Two artists, Maya Gurantz and Amanda Yates Garcia, utilize rituals and spells in ways that are socio-politically inquisitive and, ultimately, activist. Posted by: Carol Cheh on art21 URL: http://blog.art21.org/2015/01/06/castingspells-over-los-angeles/#.VMQU_fnF9xl http://www.ucira.ucsb.edu/maya-gurantzand-art21-casting-spells-over-los-angeles/
Artwork
SoundSpace at The Blanton
LISTENING TO THE 1960S
As music becomes a regular offering at Texas museums, it’s always good to look to those who have been doing it well, such as The Blanton Museum of Art with their award-winning SoundSpaceprogram. Austin American-Statesman raved about SoundSpace as, “The most successful new music event in the City.…the combination of music and art has vaulted the series into must-see status.” This is not a sit down affair. Similar to previous SoundSpace events, Parker has planned an immersive experience, featuring simultaneous performances throughout the museum’s galleries. The diverse lineup includes the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), the Sun Ra Arkestra,Nameless Sound, Adam Rudolph and his Go: Organic Orchestra and The Home of Easy Credit. “This program highlights groups of improvisors who connect with their local communities through performance, education and outreach,” says Parker. “In particular, we are honored to be presenting two original members of these historic and important organizations that were formed in the 1960s: the AACM (Alvin Fielder, drums) and the Arkestra (Damon Choice, vibes). In addition, we will be presenting notated works and sound installations by Roscoe Mitchell and George Lewis, founding members of the AACM.”
SoundSpace artistic director Steve Parker Photo courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art.
Regional improvising groups are also in the mix, including SSBT, Alex Heitlinger and Bob Hoffnar, the UTSA New Music Ensemble, Bel Cuore Sax Quartet, and selected recorded interviews of members of the AACM and the Sun Ra. Creating a deeper connection with the upcoming exhibit was also a goal for the event. To that end, the program will also feature realizations of two scores from the Witness exhibit: Yoko Ono,Voice Piece for Soprano, 196, and Ben Patterson, First Symphony, 1964. There’s also a dance/video component to the event, with a new work by Nick Kepley created especially for this event with Ballet Austin II dancers. “Because the overall theme of this SoundSpacewill be the civil rights work of the 60s, I’ve created a piece that deals with the idea of first impressions,” says Kepley.
SoundSpace at the Blanton Photo by Elisa Ferrari.
Kepley conducted video interviews with each dancer, asking them about first impressions, prejudice and discrimination. “These videos will inform the soundtrack of the work, and be projected on two of the walls, along with additional footage and audio from famous civil rights speeches and poems,” he says. “I have also challenged the dancers to generate movement phrases based solely on text, and the performance will incorporate spoken word as well.” Parker has put together a jam packed afternoon of sound experimentation, improvisation in its many forms, dance and video. Expect to come curious and leave even more so. Be guided by your eyes and ears as the Blanton transforms into a music hub for a Sunday afternoon. Posted by: Nancy Wozny URL: http://artsandculturetx.com/listening-to-the-1960s/ Artwork
Bel coure Quartet performs at SoundSpace. Photo by Elisa Ferrari.
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Art Basel Hong Kong, New dates for Art Basel Hong Kong, 2015 sure to cause some galleries to choose their March art fair platform. This just in. The art fair organizers just announced that starting next year the newly hatched Hong Kong outlet of the global Art Basel brand is switching its run dates from mid June to mid March. The fair will now run almost concurrently to The Armory Show and the ADAA: The Art Show in New York City and since the two fairs share a substantial portion of top exhibitors this will surely cause headache to more than one gallerist. If the Armory Art week in New York generally runs the second weekend in March, ending some time around the 8th or 9th, and the Hong Kong fair launching on March 13th, this means that the New York – Hong Kong flights will suddenly become much more in demand with collectors, advisors, gallery staff, critics, media jetting off to make the next event. This may also be a deciding factor for many galleries when choosing which platform to participate in this very busy March art season. Besides the physical time required to get from one side of the globe to another there is also the massive logistical issues involved in attending both fairs so close together. Art has to be selected, curated, installation designed. Paintings, sculptures, installations have to be transported to the fair, cleared customs, delivered to the art fair itself, installed and the gallery staff in place to face the collectors. So international art galleries that participate in any of the New York March art fairs are going to have to either scramble and make both appearances, or pick and chose which one they want to be a part of. Doesn’t make much economic sense unless the organizers of the Art Basel Hong Kong fair are keen on keeping a very regional focus allowing Asian galleries first access to collectors. New dates are as follows: 6
2015 moves to March Preview (by invitation): Friday evening, March 13, and all day Saturday, March 14, 2015 Public Show Dates: Sunday, March 15 to Tuesday, March 17, 2015 “The second edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong, Lead Partner UBS, will take place from May 15 to 18, 2014 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. The show will present 245 of the leading galleries from Asia, Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world and more than 3,000 artists, ranging from young emerging artists to the Modern masters from both Asia and the West. 50 percent of galleries presented at the show have exhibition spaces in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, showcasing a strong combination of high-quality works from the East and the West and underscoring Art Basel’s commitment to the region. The main sector, Galleries, presents premier established galleries from across the world, while Insights is dedicated to presenting precise contextual and thematic presentations by artists from across the art scenes in Asia and the Asia-Pacific. The Discoveries sector provides a platform for younger galleries and Encounters shows large-scale sculptural installations by leading artists from around the world. The show will include for the first time a Film sector, curated by Li Zhenhua, and hosted in collaboration with the Hong Kong Arts Centre. The show will be accompanied by strong public programming, including Art Basel’s popular talks programs, Conversations and Salon. Additionally, collaborations with local and international partners will ensure a diverse range of arts programming, with hundreds of cultural events hosted across the city throughout the week. ” – Art Basel Hong Kong. Posted by: Kristina Nazarevskaia URL: http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/?p=20475 Exhibition
Review of Degas Renoir and Poetic Pastels at the Cincinnati Pastel has always been a contentious medium. Today most practitioners fall into the hobbyist variety. It is the bright color and ease of operation that attracts the serious and the idle alike. In the late 19th century, pastel experienced a renaissance of technique and usage, and many of the impressionists took up the medium. With Poetic Pastels, the Cincinnati Art Museum presents a sparse but satisfying show of mostly French pastel works from the permanent collection. The show is fairly small and the work varies in quality. Both Renoir and Sisley have admirable works on display, but serious artists such as Redon, Cassatt, and Millet are under served by less than quality examples of their work, while pastel paintings such as Sheepfold By Moonlight in the Pyrenees by Rosa Bonheur are long on public-friendly content but lacking in artistic merit. The real treasures in the show come from the hand of Degas. Here we see five fine works, all depicting the ballet. These pieces appear both ancient and startlingly modern: ancient because although the Ballet is the “subject�, the works really point at more universal concerns of physicality, gesture and the unspoken realm of body language. Like other great draftsmen such as the cave painters of Chauvet, Michelangelo, Ingres, or Kitaj more recently, Degas is able to conjure a physical and emotional response to his works. The movement of the Critic
bodies, diversity of touch, and brilliance of pictorial invention activate and provoke us as viewers. Degas used pastel in a free way, constantly changing his approach to suit the needs of a particular work. In the masterpiece Dancer In Her Dressing Room, Degas has mixed the pastel with paint to rich effect. The pastel blooms caresses and skitters across the image in a way that mimics the diversity and unpredictable nature of the real world. My favorite work in the show is the gripping late work Three Dancers In Yellow Skirts from 1900. The powerful contrasting poses of the dancers pull and wrench across the picture plane. The monumentality of Degas’ suggestion here, whether a result of failing eyesight or the urgency of old age, renders the figures as solid and solemn as Egyptian statues, yet the work is gutsy and risky. As death approached, Degas pulled no punches. Posted by: By Emil Robinson URL: http://aeqai.com/main/2013/11/reviewof-degas-renoir-and-poetic-pastels-at-thecincinnati-art-museum/
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IDEALIZER