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A View on Art
A point of view
January 2006
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– 1. TORONTO
– 2. OTTAWA
– 3. MONTREAL
– 4. NEW YORK
– 5. LONDON
– 6. LOVED
– 7. LOATHED
– 8. ARTISTS TO GOOGLE
– 9. AND FINALLY…

Happy New Year,

Welcome to View on Art 2006!

A brief and hopefully engaging monthly look at the art world – from Toronto and abroad – wherever my travels take me.

I thought the new year should be brought in with a PREVIEW to offset the countless REVIEWS out there..

So please find a carefully edited selection of art exhibitions, talks and events that I think will be worth seeing over the next few months.

This letter goes to over 100 curators, artists, dealers, editors and collectors in London, Florence, Rome, New York, California, Washington, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

Please forward it to anyone who you think would be interested! Thanks and enjoy!

With very best wishes,

Andrea

1. TORONTO
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-7th ANNUAL BILL HUFFMAN AWARDS: JAN 13/06 6 – 8 PM

Last year the great and the good of Toronto’s art world watched as student Tejpal Ajji sat, bound to a chair while his brother burned his back with piping hot deep-fried pakoras, in a compelling and off-putting performance that evoked both Rirkrit Tiravanija and to a lesser extent, Herman Nitsche. The project was overseen by performance artists Louise Lilliefeldt and Tanya Mars.

This year’s rather more tame painting show honours student Alison Kobayashi.

“The Bill Huffman Award for excellence in studio practice highlights significant promise in the work of a young artist, and underscores the donor’s commitment to connecting artists of different generations as a way of bridging the transition from school to the professional arena.”

This year, contributions by six Toronto artists – Sara Angelucci, Louise Bak, Catherine Heard, Rachel Kalpana James, Lorna Mills, and Camille Turner – add to the exhibition.

-POWER PLANT TALK: FEB 3/06 7 PM

Royal College of Art Senior Curator David Batchelor’s book, Chromophobia, argued that “there is a tradition of resistance to colour in the West that can be traced back to antiquity and remains evident in contemporary culture. The book analysed chromophobic and chromophilic impulses in art, art theory and criticism, architecture, flim and literature.” He has recently shown his artwork at Ikon Gallery, in the 2004 Sao Paulo biennale and in Extreme Abstraction at the Albright-Knox last year.

Also Berlin-based architectural artists Elmgreen & Dragset are bringing their “Welfare Show” to the Power Plant 25 March – 28 May/06

Elmgreen & Dragset

-CINEMATHEQUE: KARL KELS IN PERSON: MARCH 1/06 6:30 PM

This carte-blanche programme at the AGO’s Jackman Hall presents German filmmaker Karl Kels. Kels employs a method of working with fixed camera, no sound and unstaged subjects to explore “the fictionalization of time in cinema, and the tensions between documentary footage and plastic editing”. His films explore the interaction between animals and the spaces they inhabit.

-GOETHE INSTITUTE TALK: MARCH 1/06 7 PM

German photographer Beate Gutschow has become known for her seemingly authentic landscapes combined from dozens of separate shots. This talk should be particularly interesting if you are familiar with Vancouver artist Scott McFarland’s work.

Gutschow’s work is a part of the exhibition “Variations on the Picturesque” at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery.

Beate Gutschow

-AL&D TALK: MARCH 15/06 6:30 PM

The University of Toronto’s Department of Architecture, Landscape and Design continues its brilliant speaker series with David Adjaye: Making Public Buildings, by the “artist’s architect” who built Tim Noble and Sue Webster’s home in East London, worked with Chris Ofili on The Upper Room and on his glitzy contribution to the 2003 Venice Biennale.

AL&D

-ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO: PETER DOIG: MARCH 22- JUNE 18/06

For me, Peter Doig’s work is all about memory. I’ll never forget Blizzard Seventy Seven, his 1998 show at London’s Whitechapel gallery and my introduction to Doig’s work. In his paintings there are both overt and subtle glimpses of nostalgia for the Canada where he grew up. I wonder what his watercolours will bring?

-ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO: ANDY WARHOL: JULY 8 – OCT 1/06

Coming from the Walker Art Center, this show (excitedly billed as “installed in collaboration with David Cronenberg”) aims to focus on the “polarity within Andy Warhol’s imagination that pairs celebrity with tragedy.”

-NUIT BLANCHE TORONTO: SEPT 30-OCT 1/06 7:01PM – 7:15AM

One of the events that is managing to surface above Toronto’s uninspired “Live with Culture” initiative, this “All Night Contemporary Art Thing” will see the doors of the city’s cultural institutions open all night.

Modelled after the highly successful annual event in Paris, it promises “public art commissions, all-night exhibitions, performances and programs.”

And it’s all free.

2. OTTAWA
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-NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA: CAI GUO-QIANG: JUNE 10 – 1 OCT/06

Firecracker artist Cai Guo-Qiang who created an amazing gunpowder piece “Money Net” in the courtyard at the Royal Academy in London in 2002, will be the subject of a solo show, featuring sculpture, video and gunpowder drawings.

-NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA: PHOTOGRAPHY AS THEATRE: JUNE 16 – 1 OCT/06

If you’re going all the way to Ottawa, you can – handily – take in both of these excellent shows. This curated survey will bring together artists as seemingly disparate as Julia Margaret Cameron, Henry Peach Robinson, Jeff Wall, Wang Quingsong and others.

3. MONTREAL
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-MACM: ANSELM KIEFER: FEB 11 – APRIL 30/06

This exhibition is – unbelievably – the first Canadian showing of Anselm Keifer’s work. His enormous, harsh, apocalyptic works must be seen all together! I had the opportunity many years ago to see a room dedicated to Keifer’s work at Kunstmuseum Bonn, I think, and it was breathtaking.

Keifer show

4. NEW YORK
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-WHITNEY BIENNALE 2006: MARCH 2 – MAY 28/06

According to curator Chrissie Iles “Through the curatorial lens of the Biennale, Day for Night (isn’t that a Bryan Ferry song?) explores the artifice of American culture in what could be described as a pre-Enlightenment moment, in which culture is preoccupied with the irrational, the religious, the dark, the erotic, and the violent, filtered through a sense of flawed beauty..this mood suggests a shift in the accepted values that have formed the basis of 20th century Western culture”

Rodney Graham, Urs Fischer and Michael Snow are among the featured artists…

-NEUE GALERIE: JOSEF HOFFMAN INTERIORS: FALL 06

Neue Galerie is one of my favorite places in New York, (with a brilliant cafe.)

This is bound to be a fascinating look at the work of the Wiener Werkstatte founder, architect and designer. Best, you can shop for Hoffman reproductions in the amazing gallery store.

Neue Galerie

-ALBRIGHT KNOX: ANDREA ZITTEL: OCTOBER 6/06 – JAN 7/07

The Albright Knox is a sprawling set of buildings with a collection to match – the Extreme Abstraction show last year was really good and so, I’m sure, will the Andrea Zittel exhibition – Critical Space, the first comprehensive solo show of her work in North America.

I hear the show will travel to the Vancouver Art Gallery,too.

Andrea Zittel

5. LONDON
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-STUART CROFT SCREENING: CENTURY CITY: JAN 11/06 6:30 – 8:30 PM

Film artist Stuart Croft presents a preview of his newest work, Century City at his gallery Fred (London) Ltd, 45 Vyner Street London E2. If his excellent Hit (2003) is anything to go by, it should be really good.

A synopsis: Century City is a dual-screen crime thriller that never ends. Cape Town detective Nancy Delport is investigating the murder of actress Crystal Fallone, who has been shot dead whilst filming a re-make of JL Godard’s ‘Contempt’ in South Africa. Detective Delport puts in an implausible phone call to Crystal’s bereaved father, Peter Kashlin – a burnt out, washed up TV-movie director who is on the Los Angeles set of his latest, dubious crime thriller.

-TATE BRITAIN: CHRIS OFILI: THE UPPER ROOM: CONTINUING TO MAY 1/06

This exhibition blew me away when I saw it in 2002 at the Victoria Miro Gallery. The twelve glittery monkeys are Andy Warhol, they are Diana Ross, they are Christ’s apostles, and they are gorgeous.

-V&A: ANNA PIAGGI – FASHION-OLOGY: FEB 2 – APRIL 23/06

I had the pleasure of meeting Italian Vogue’s Anna Piaggi, one of fashion’s true supporters of creative freedom, many years ago while working in Milan. Her monthly double page spreads are consistently prescient, and she dresses both them and herself with refreshing un- selfconcious abandon.

An exhibition is overdue, and this one should be great.

Anna Piaggi article

-JONATHAN MEESE PERFORMANCE: TATE MODERN: FEB 25/06 10PM & 11 PM

I’ve never seen Jonathan Meese perform, but if I was in London I’d go for sure. He shows with Modern Art, London and his performances have been described as “some of the most provocative and dynamic to have emerged in Germany during the past decade.” It’s in the Turbine Hall and it’s free.

-SERPENTINE PAVILION: REM KOOLHAAS: SUMMER 06

With the MVRDV project cancelled (they were going to cover the entire gallery with earth and grass – leaving only the crown peeking through!) Rem Koolhaas has stepped in to create his first project in the United Kingdom. Last year’s stunning pavilion by Alvaro Siza & Eduardo Souto de Moura was brilliant!

From my short text on last year’s pavilion for AZURE magazine:

“..Previous participants (Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Toyo Ito and Oscar Niemeyer) have created unique experiments in form, shadow, material and effect. This year’s collaboration between Alvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura of Portugal is no exception. Resembling an animal poised for movement, their structure of exposed interlocking timber trusses is partially covered with a semi-translucent polycarbonate roof, which is divided into panels with a small light visible from inside and out. The undulating roof contrasts with the carpet of grey bricks set into the grass, accentuating the interplay between fluidity and rigidity. Inside, minimalist wooden furniture designed by the architects invites audiences to sit down and contemplate the creative possibilities of contemporary architecture.”

Rem Koolhaas

TATE MODERN: PIERRE HUYGHE: JULY 5 – 24 SEPTEMBER/06

The films of French artist Pierre Huyghe are great, and his first solo show in the UK will comprise completely new film, sculpture and performance works.

6. LOVED
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1. VAG: NEIL CAMPBELL The flickering lights in the front windows of the Vancouver Art Gallery each night over Christmas were spooky and wonderful.

2. CBC.CA/ARTS TOP 100 of 2005 LIST One of the best years-in-review, there was some I agreed with, lots I didn’t, and there was also lots I hadn’t heard of.

3. CARL DREYER’S 1927 FILM LA PASSION DE JEANNE D’ARC Stunning. Silent. Brilliant.

4. MERCER UNION’S MUSIC NIGHTS Nothing beats a soothing sound artwork to quell insipid art chat at an opening.

5. MURDERBALL You must see this film!

MURDERBALL TRAILER

7. LOATHED
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1. COLD CITY SHOW AT THE POWER PLANT Not that I disliked the show, but it should have been much bigger, more comprehensive and more important.

2. TORONTO’S OVER-HYPED ‘ARCHITECTURAL RENAISSANCE’ Yes we have major architects Libeskind and Gehry building in town – and that’s great – but it’s innovative, unusual buildings of quality that make a city great, not simply brand names.

How does Foster’s University of Toronto project compare (in terms of visual impact) to either his Swiss Re building in London or the brand new Hearst building in Manhattan? (8th Ave at 56th)

Click on the link below to compare Libeskind’s Royal Ontario Museum extension with his Creative Media Centre in Hong Kong, his Denver Art Museum extension in Denver, his Grand Canal Performing Arts Centre in Dublin and his Militarhistorisches Museum in Dresden.

Project numbers 2, 4, 7, 12 and 14 respectively.

Libeskind projects

8. ARTISTS TO GOOGLE
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Here are some of my favorite Canadian artists – keep your eye out for their work in 2006:

Evan Lee (Photography) For his current (Jan 21) solo show at Presentation House gallery in Vancouver, and also for the images that his dealer, Monte Clark showed at the Toronto International Art Fair this year.

Geoffrey Farmer (Installation) For his ambitiously conceptual pieces, and his intriguing show at the Power Plant in Toronto recently.

Scott McFarland (Photography) For his effort in taking photography forward, following in the footsteps of Jeff Wall.

Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay (Performance/video) For his lovely ‘Singing Diorama’ on Queen Street West in December in Toronto.

Daniel Cockburn (video) For his having been awarded an impressive grant this year.

Jed Lind (Sculpture/installation) For his incredible debut show at Jessica Bradley Art + Projects in Toronto.

Renata Morales (Fashion) For her mad catwalk shows and her newly launched men’s collection.

Massimo Guerrera (Sculpture/mixed media) For his decadent, sexy feast of an exhibition at Clint Roenisch Gallery this year.