Nimoy's Halloween Bash
Happy Halloween dear readers! While we gave some excellent holiday party advice to our New York followers yesterday, we felt a bit remiss leaving out you West Coasters. But you’re in luck, as a special treat, the Santa Monica Museum of Art is hosting a “Halla-Gala” hosted by none other that science fiction legend Leonard Nimoy and his wife Susan, who are avid art collectors. The good Dr Spock is also a a photographer himself, and one of the main prizes of the fundraising event is the chance to win a private portrait session with the creative Vulcan. Beam us up Scotty!
From In The Frame
Published online: 31 October 2009
This month:
Peace and Tacos at El Museo
If you’re looking for a break from the usual Halloween festivities this weekend, head up to the newly reopened El Museo del Barrio on Saturday, where they are hosting a day full of events and performances to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos. A centrepiece of the programme is the fantastically kitschy Goya Altar (a nod to sponsor Goya, the Latin American food brand). The work of artist Alejandro Diaz, the shrine features a life-size figure of its patron saint, Our Lady of Perpetual Peace and Tacos, holding a tray of the titular Tex-Mex snacks and surrounded by flowers planted in empty cans of beans and tropical juices. Based on the Catholic tradition of praying to a saint to intervene in personal problems, Diaz says he created the work to ask for peace and abundance. And a sign at Our Lady’s feet offers wise advice to visitors: “Make Tacos Not War”. Amen.
From In The Frame
Published online: 30 October 2009
Blondie blows in to Brooklyn
Get ready to rock tonight, Brooklynites, as the legendary new wave group Blondie comes to the hipster borough to perform at the Member’s Preview of the Brooklyn Museum's "Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present". During the reception, pop punk princess Debbie Harry and the gang will keep visitors dancing as they play a gig in the museum's glass-floored Beaux-Arts Court. And as if you needed more incentive to go, the exhibition itself is worth the trek, tracing the development of rock doc photography with striking images of music’s biggest stars, from a sweat drenched Little Richard, to a strutting Mick Jagger, to a lounging Amy Winehouse in her usual dishabille. One way or another, art and music fans are sure to have a ball.
From In The Frame
Published online: 29 October 2009
Don't hold back David
Supporters of the World Monument Fund gathered at the Royal Geographical Society in London yesterday evening to hear the headline-hitting historian David Starkey extol the virtues of objects in the study of history, as opposed to the written word. But predictably, the strident commentator couldn’t help but stray off point, swiping at contemporary figures as he talked about his beloved Henry VIII. “People greeted Henry as Obama,” he said of Henry’s ascension to the throne. “The only difference being that Henry took 20 years to disappoint his people whereas Obama has done it in a few months”. But Starkey’s acerbic tongue didn’t stop there. On the Tudor method of commissioning major buildings, he scoffed: “In those days we had public competitions to decide for us and not Prince Charles.” So how did the audience respond? “Bitter, isn’t he?” one woman was heard to exclaim while filing out. “As a lemon,” came the reply.
From In The Frame
Published online: 29 October 2009
An eye for detail
Starting yesterday, London artist Stephen Wiltshire has been drawing an 18-foot long panorama of New York. The amazing thing is that the artist, who has a form of autism, is recreating the entire city from memory after taking a 45-minute helicopter tour. Wiltshire has create similar pieces based on other cities, including London, Tokyo and Dubai, but he says the New York cityscape will be his final work in the series. "I love New York, the busy streets, rush hour, the chaos, yellow taxis and the high rise buildings reaching up to the sky,” he says. Wiltshire is working on the mural all week in the main gallery of the Pratt Institute’s Design Center in Brooklyn, where the public can visit him from 10am to 5pm every day until Friday or you can watch him live online.
From In The Frame
Published online: 27 October 2009
Picture perfect Pop Art portrayal
It's nearly time for our favourite holiday (well, after Van Gogh's b-day) and while looking for some last-minute Halloween costume ideas (for a friend. We're going as Van Gogh. Yes, we're obsessed) we came across this gem. A flesh-and-blood Roy Lichtenstein comic book heroine brought to life by a MAC make-up artist. No tricks, just a treat!
(via www.buzzfeed.com)
From In The Frame
Published online: 26 October 2009
Light sabers at the ready
We await anxiously a show of works by US artist Michael Rakowitz set to open at Tate Modern next January. The exhibition description reads: "Drawing on his Iraqi heritage, Rakowitz's new project investigates the influence of western science fiction—including Star Wars, Jules Verne and GI Joe—on Iraqi monuments and military activities during the Saddam era." May the force be with you Michael.
From In The Frame
Published online: 23 October 2009
Koh: The (rabbit) Film That Changed My Life
Hot US artist Terence Koh has been an ITF favourite ever since we saw his gold-plated turds at Art Basel in 2006. So we love his contribution to Elle magazine's recent world-beating survey "The Film That Changed My Life". Participants chose lofty European art-house movies and epochal US hits but not our Terence. "Watership Down is about a group of rabbits trying to find a new home. I have always been searching for a sense of place in my life; to settle. Perhaps I will continue as a flâneur until death, but I love the rabbits' adventures. And rabbits happen to be my favourite animal, as we are both vegetarian and like to hop around," says the bunny-loving practitioner.
From In The Frame
Published online: 22 October 2009
Stella's plea for Gary
Controversial painter Stella Vine, best known for her headline-hitting depictions of Diana, Princess of Wales, and supermodel Kate Moss, has now turned her artistic gaze to Gary McKinnon (pictured), the Brit accused of hacking into secret US military and Nasa computers. McKinnon has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, prompting Vine to comment: "Dr Temple Grandin, an engineer with autism, said that a really high proportion of people working at NASA have Asperger's. Perhaps they should be thinking of employing Gary not putting him in prison." The UK Home Office has agreed to a delay in extradition proceedings for McKinnon. "I find it quite distressing to think of him in this situation," added Vine.
From In The Frame
Published online: 21 October 2009
Revealed: Turner prize presenter (it's Duffy)
The Tate has just revealed its rather erudite choice for this year's presenter of the £25,000 Turner Prize. Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy will follow in the footsteps of Madonna, Nick Cave and Yoko Ono, among others, when she hands out contemporary art's most contentious award on 7 December at Tate Britain. This year's contenders are Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright.
From In The Frame
Published online: 20 October 2009
Kapoor makes his mark
The Anish Kapoor show at London's Royal Academy is packing in the crowds. But visitors should heed the warnings of the ever-so-attentive wardens, with one attendant pointing out that the red wax residue left behind by the mammoth moving Svayambh block as it squeezes through the gallery archways, "is terrible on your clothes. And watch your shoes as it'll play hell with your carpets."
From In The Frame
Published online: 19 October 2009
Sophie keeps schtum
If the celebrity-filled crowd at the Whitechapel Gallery were expecting pearls of wisdom from Sophie Calle (left) at the eagerly awaited artist’s talk this week, they were sorely disappointed as the inscrutable French artist put in a somewhat monosyllabic appearance. As Whitechapel director Iwona Blazwick (right) valiantly attempted gambit after gambit, Calle became evermore sphinx-like. The night’s tempo revved up later, however, as a bevy of A-listers including Jarvis Cocker, Michael Nyman, Miranda Richardson, Fergus Henderson and Carey Young rubbed shoulders with the hip East-End crowd of Sophie’s admirers on the eve of the enigmatic artist’s first UK museum show. Read more Frieze week gossip in our daily edition: www.theartnewspaper.com/fairs
From In The Frame
Published online: 17 October 2009
Let’s get motivated!! (all 15 of you)
There was a distinctly poor showing of only 15 Frieze exhibitors at yesterday’s early morning motivational seminar, organised by Frieze projects artist Mike Bouchet. But speaker Alex MacPhail delivered his spiel with gusto. Such was the positive energy oozing from this consummate performer that he inspired a member of the audience to come up on stage and punch through a sizeable chunk of wood. However, it turns out that this paragon of motivation was not a gallerist but a German collector from Hamburg—a buyer’s market, indeed…
From In The Frame
Published online: 16 October 2009
Pucker up
Good to know that there are no hard feelings between Jay Jopling and his former amore Lily Allen. They could be seen exchanging fond embraces on the White Cube stand (F13) at last night’s opening. Providing an austerely clinical backdrop to their affectionate greetings was Damien Hirst’s massive cabinet of surgical instruments, which goes by the name of The Night of the Long Knives. Perhaps an unfortunate choice of title, given the stream of coruscating reviews that have accompanied the unveiling of Hirst’s paintings over at the Wallace Collection.
Read more Frieze week gossip in our daily edition: www.theartnewspaper.com/fairs
From In The Frame
Published online: 15 October 2009
It’s a dog’s life if you’re John Baldessari
There were casting-couch capers in Dover Street before the unveiling of John Baldessari’s art-deco style tableau vivant installation in the window of Sprüth Magers. The Art Newspaper can report some fierce sibling rivalry between its potential poodle participants. Along with the platinum-haired model, the window’s all-white mise-en-scène also features Pebbles the dog. The snowy toy poodle was resplendent in a diamanté hair bow and toenails meticulously painted white—at the artist’s insistence. At the last minute, Pebbles cruelly wrested the starring role from her brother Puff, who was deemed too feisty. But Puff got the last bark—thoroughly upstaging his sister at the opening party on Saturday night. In the presence of a highly amused Baldessari, Puff embarked upon a spate of on-street sound and motion that was almost literally show-stopping. You can’t keep a top dog down. L.B.
Read more Frieze week gossip in our daily edition: www.theartnewspaper.com/fairs
From In The Frame
Published online: 14 October 2009
Mexican mummies hit Detroit
We know that the ancient Egyptians went to great lengths to preserve their honoured dead, but who knew that mummies can be created completely by mistake? That’s what happened to the “The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato”, a group of miners, soldiers, farmers and children who were naturally preserved in their crypts over a century ago. Now housed in the Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato in Mexico, the mummies are visiting the US for the first time in an exhibition which opened this week at the Detroit Science Center (until 31 January 2010). More personable that their Egyptian cousins, they’re sure to be a Halloween hit.
From In The Frame
Published online: 13 October 2009
Food for the mind
While catching up on our backlog of television watching this weekend (What? We’re not always thinking about art) we were happy to see a public service advert featuring a talking Vincent Van Gogh self-portrait. Created by Americans for the Arts, with The NAMM Foundation and the Ad Council, the spots encourage parents to give their culture-hungry children access to the arts. We even sympathise with the artist, who after giving a wide-eyed boy a cup of Van Goghgurt to feed his rumbling tummy (and one assumes equally ravenous mind) is asked “So what’s the deal with your ear?” Some things you can’t live down Vincent. You can watch the adverts online at: http://vimeo.com/4477739
From In The Frame
Published online: 12 October 2009
Daytime TV queen pops in to Tate
The Art Newspaper was surprised to see none other than US daytime TV talk show host Ricki Lake admiring the contemporary art on show at Tate Britain's Turner Prize exhibition bash this week. When quizzed, Lake told TAN that she was an avid art collector, amassing works by Idris Khan, Nigel Cooke, Andy Warhol and John Waters (Lake was star of the 1988 Waters film "Hairspray"). And would she like to present the Turner Prize? "I'd love to!" she hollered. Go Ricki.
From In The Frame
Published online: 09 October 2009
Pull up to the Serpentine
We know that the Serpentine Gallery in London is a star magnet but even we were taken aback by the plethora of big names set to appear at the Kensington Gardens venue next week for its Poetry Marathon (17-18 October). The two-day event, which will include performances of new work, collaborations, discussions and experiments based on the historical link between art and poetry, is set to include contributions from Vito Acconci, Tacita Dean, Tracey Emin, Brian Eno, Gilbert & George, Franz West and....Grace Jones. Yes, the striking, statuesque singer and model will give her own very individual take on rhyme, verse and imagery in the glorious setting of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, designed this year by the Japanese practice SANAA.
From In The Frame
Published online: 08 October 2009
New art for the White House
The Office of the First Lady released a list this week of 45 works of art on loan to the White House from museum collections. This includes works by well know contemporary artists, such as Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha and Glenn Ligon, whose black-and-white text painting Black Like Me No. 2, is on loan from the Hirshhorn and has been installed in the First Family’s personal quarters. You can read our earlier coverage of the Obamas’ search for more diverse art to hang in the White House here: http://bit.ly/mHmni And a related call for support of African American art by Kinshasha Holman Conwill, deputy director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History & Culture can be found in our opinion section: http://bit.ly/LZhiY
From In The Frame
Published online: 07 October 2009
Touch me
A spoof report on The Onion website, which details how visitors to the Metropolitan Museum in New York can now prod and scratch masterpieces on show, made us chortle. The text includes hilarious choice titbits including: "Gerard Schmidt, a retired banker who lives near the Met, said he had never much cared for museums until he was given the chance to manhandle one of Monet's Water Lilies. 'At first it just looked like a picture of a bunch of lily pads, but then I started scraping at it with my pocket knife and the whole painting just sort of spoke to me,' Schmidt said. 'For the first time, I finally understand what Monet was trying to get across in her work.'" Metropolitan Museum director Thomas Campbell is "quoted" (not really, of course): "Next year we're going to let people grab any masterpiece they like and just take a s*** on it." Go to: http://bit.ly/4wWYae
From In The Frame
Published online: 07 October 2009
It's not all white
The most intriguing (and entertaining) PR blurb to ping into our email box must be that of the Paris-based gallery Patrick Seguin which presents the show "We are sun-kissed and snow-blind" from 23 October. The premise of the exhibition, which includes 22 high-profile artists such as Liam Gillick and Franz West, is: "All works are, simply put, white." The show tackles two "misunderstandings", preaches the pr spiel: "Misunderstanding no. 1: White as a colour symbolising not only virginity, immaculacy, innocence, and modesty, but also grief, death, joy, and life (depending on the cultural area); white as a clothing colour worn by universalist gurus, including those of art (Karl-Heinz Stockhausen) and philosophy (Alain Badiou)...white representing the pope, emptiness, the Ku Klux Klan. Misunderstanding no. 2: White as a colour of fashion; white expressing summer; white associated with Mediterranean life and glamour; white yachts and convertibles; white lines; the place where all other glittery colours sunbathe; minimalist interfaces (Apple); Michelle Obama (Narciso Rodriguez) and Carla Bruni (Dior), June 2009; New York fashion week, September 2007, colour of the season: white." Quite.
From In The Frame
Published online: 06 October 2009
Terence gives us a Tenor
Hot US artist Terence Koh has moved on from the gold-plated turds he presented at Art Basel in 2006, by launching an imaginary opera, (Adansonias) in eight acts at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris this week (act one kicks off on 6 October with part eight unveiled during FIAC on 22 October). "Within the story, loosely based on 'The Little Prince', we find elements from Samuel Beckett’s 'Waiting for Godot' and the French New Wave, punctuated by experimental live music and singing. Koh will play a piece of music composed using only the white keys of a piano...the artist has invited surprise guest actors to perform on the opening night of the first act of Adansonias," exclaims the gallery. Keep us on tenterhooks why don't you Terence.
From In The Frame
Published online: 05 October 2009
Hot chicks wanted
The trend of one-theme blogs has been going strong online for months now, but the recently launched tumblr feed Hot Chicks at Art Openings (http://hotchicksatartopenings.tumblr.com) might become a guilty pleasure. Based on website The World’s Best Ever’s regular (and no doubt popular) feature Artorialust, the blog posts gold-framed photos of the lovely ladies who attend gallery preview nights. The editors are always looking for their next cover girl and invite visitors to submit their own snaps of gallerinas “looking all hot, smiling for the camera, acting all cultured because you’re at an art opening.” Who goes to openings for the art anyway?
From In The Frame
Published online: 02 October 2009
We didn't start the fire—but we know who will
Sure, we’re always happy to soak up a little Florida sunshine during Art Basel Miami Beach, but one “hot” event we’re really looking forward to this year is Art Burn 2009. Co-organised by art bloggers C-Monster.net and street artist El Celso, the exhibition will display works of important sentimental or monetary value—and then set them on fire. They are now accepting submissions of “combustible works on wood or paper”, but they warn artists that this is a symbolic not a commercial event, so nothing will be sold and there are no fees to apply. They promise the burning will be well documented though, “assuring the death of your work plenty of virtual attention”. Artists can submit work by email to celso [at] elcelso [dot] com. Burn, baby, burn.
From In The Frame
Published online: 01 October 2009