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A View on Art
A point of view
November 2005
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– 1. NEW
– 2. LOVED
– 3. LOATHED
– 4. NOTICED..ART MARKET MADNESS
– 5. ZENOMAP REVIEW
– 6. DOCUMENTA 12 TALK
– 7. TORONTO ART FAIRS
– 8. ARTISTS TO GOOGLE
– 9. PLEASE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER
– 10. CORRECTION

Hello,

Welcome to my newsletter!

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

Things I’ve read, noticed, experienced and want to recommend to you, along with short pieces of my writing and upcoming projects.

This letter goes to curators, artists, dealers, editors and collectors in London, Florence, 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. NEW
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New this month is my blog where I have archived the past three issues along with a longer text or two.

Please check it out - I welcome your comments!

View on Art Blog

2. LOVED
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1. The talk at the Goethe Institute on Oct 12th for Urban Transformations, photographs by Michael Awad of Toronto, and Robin Merkisch of Dusseldorf

It was a well-moderated talk about the romanticizing of urban space. Awad’s work certainly holds an unabashedly romantic view of Toronto twenty or so years ago. In fact he echoed the feelings of many by brazenly suggesting that ‘less-good’ buildings are now replacing older ones. Merkisch asked why the new would necessarily be less-good than the old? It was an enlightening confrontation.

Someone suggested that Europeans are less inclined to romanticize the old (particularly Germans, I would argue, given their 20th century history).

Another comment concerned the notion of the ’sublime’, and of old industrial architecture as a modern version of nature. We regard abandoned buildings with similar pleasurable awe to which we used to regard forests, before they were brought under our control through industrialization, reforestation projects, the camera, art etc.

What is the effect of the romanticizing of urban space and how is it linked to Canada’s need for historical identity?

Another comment compared the urban jungle to the evolution of a swamp, with beavers as architects, building dams which flood rivers, creating marshes and eventually medows. Each destructive action creates another space possibility.

It kind of brings to mind the video work of June Bum Park. (You’ll have to click through 4 or 5 to see the ones with the hands)

June Bum Park

2. The Tinder Box by Hans Christian Andersen. I’m serious - if you don’t know it, Google it and read it, it’s brilliant!

3. Simon Starling shortlisted for the Turner Prize. (He should win!)

Starling’s conceptual works often involve a voyage, and a deconstruction and/or reconstruction. They are usually large- scale and stunning.

Do you remember his work at the Scotland pavilion at 2003’s Venice Biennale? See #5 (below) for the short piece I wrote on it.

Turner Prize

3. LOATHED
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1. Are you loving the Libeskind design for the Royal Ontario Museum Crystal?

You can buy a genuine napkin sketch (seriously) for the project. Max Protetch Gallery recently had a show of his designs.

How many napkin sketches did Libeskind make beforehand and save in mint condition? Or did he make sketches on napkins for the gallery to sell? A bit kitsch, no?

Speaking of Libeskind, on my blog I’ve posted an abridged version of a long piece I wrote back in 2001 on the World Trade Center re-build as an example of a cultural democracy. If you’re interested..

Max Protetch Gallery

2. The Istvan Kantor works priced at $400 (??) at TAAFI (Toronto Alternative Art Fair International) at the Gladstone.

Good news, I suppose, for those who bought similar work at MoCCA a few months back for $30 -$50 when Kantor hosted his Queen West Art-Scum Garage Salem.

Kantor’s ambiguous and hypocritical relationship with the art world is partly what makes his work so compelling..

4. NOTICED..ART MARKET MADNESS
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Off the Hook: American collector Steve Cohen bought a painting from Leo Koenig’s artist twenty five-year-old Justin Faunce for twenty five thousand dollars.

Galleries at this year’s Zoo art fair in London were selling works for 11,000 Pounds. Zoo presents emerging contemporary art talent.

“At first it’s nice to hear of such high sums; at the same time it’s horrifying. Most importantly, because it’s the wrong motivation for work. As a rule, (buyers are) paying way too much for art. There is a complete lack of balance between the value and relevance of art and the absurd prices that are paid for it.” - Gerhard Richter, in a recent edition of Der Spiegel

On the home front: If a dealer begins dramatically increasing prices without basing such increases on museum exhibitions, corporate and institutional acquisitions, international representation and critical praise, then there’s a good chance his collectors are being hoodwinked. Obviously, an artist’s CV should reflect their prices.

5. ZENOMAP REVIEW
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Here’s a little review I did of the Scottish pavilion 2003. Starling’s piece was great.

Zenomap: A presentation of new work from Scotland for the Venice Biennale 2003

Clare Barclay, Jim Lambie and Simon Starling Palazzo Giustinian-Lolin/Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi 15 June - 2 November 2003

‘Zenomap’ refers to the map of the North Atlantic created by Venetian brothers Antonio and Nicolo Zeno, who, in the 14th century had set sail to explore unfamiliar territories with the Scottish adventurer Henry Sinclair.

This extraordinary partnership was recalled in the heavy air at the Palazzo Giustinian - Lolin with the presentation of work by Clare Barclay, Jim Lambie and Simon Starling. The faded grandeur of the space, its walls of threadbare silk damask and shadowy mirrors made for a strong juxtaposition between old and new, exemplified in the mesmerising floor sculptures of sharply cut, reassembled doors and mirrors by Jim Lambie. A darkly erotic interpretation of Venetian silk damask backed the deconstructed wooden scaffolding of Barclay’s large structure, from which hung a stark white leather Doge’s cap. Next door were evocative hanging sculptures including a simple beam of blown glass sheathed in black leather.

The star of the show, however, was Simon Starling’s piece, Island for Weeds (Prototype). It was a plant-filled basin at one end of the foyer anchored with long rusting chains to large oil drums at the other, a slick metaphor challenging the acceptance of new ideas, surprisingly resonant in the floating city that is Venice.

Read more on Starling

6. DOCUMENTA 12 TALK
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The Power Plant talk by Roger Buergel and Ruth Noack, Director and Curator of Documenta 12, on Nov 5 (at the Toronto International Art Fair) offered an intriguing peek into their thoughts and plans for 2007.

The couple began by outlining the strong historical relationship of Documenta to the city of Kassel. Originally intended as a one-off exhibition, it was radical from the start in terms of its curatorial style. Its then-director hung works off of plastic curtains and back-to-back in the center of the room on poles. It was about the way the audience interacted with the works.

Buergel and Noack spoke of the museum as medium, rather than vitrine. They emphasized the relationship between the architectural environment and real life, a way of opening the dialogue between viewer and artwork. They are interested in the “positioning of the threshold.”

They spoke of their awareness of the challenges they face as curators of Documenta: considerations such as the geopolitical identity of artists, the notion of the curator as singular intellect, the artistic canon. They seek to avoid fetishizing, in fact the goal of Documenta can probably be summed up as being one free of both didacticism and fetishism.

To this end, they have planned to work with editorial boards around the world, using magazines as distribution method for questions central to their curatorial mandate. Working with 80 magazines worldwide “that matter to artists” over the next two years, they will incite discussions on the main themes of Documenta 12.

The topics will no doubt, relate to the three central points that Buergel and Noack outlined in the talk: 1. Is Modernity Our Antiquity? 2. Bare Life 3. Education.

In elucidating these points they spoke of the idea of the stateless person, of antiquity as the foundations of contemporary society, of modernity and violence, modernity as universal level. They spoke of human vulnerability, of pleasure and the apocalyptic, of the relationship between the people of Kassel and Documenta, the empowerment of young audiences, and of audiences engaging in an act of communication.

Find out more, especially about the magazine project at:

Documenta 12

7. TORONTO ART FAIRS
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-The Monte Clark Gallery at the Toronto International Art Fair (TIAF) was the best thing there. The booth, with lovely wallpaper and club chairs, was informed by design firm LA Designs of Toronto. The artwork was great too. Keep your eye on Vancouver artist Evan Lee.

-The Susan Hobbs Gallery at the Toronto Alternative Art Fair International (TAFFI) was easily the best hotel room art installation I’ve ever seen.

Aside from the usual decor, there was apparently little in the room, save for a hanging coat, a wallet on a side table, a business card and a camera.

Each object was an artwork, of course.

Susan Hobbs Gallery

-David Rokeby photographs, or perhaps more precisely computer-generated stills, at the Pari Nadimi gallery at TIAF.

-The Jed Lind sculpture at Jessica Bradley Art + Projects at TAAFI at the Gladstone. A model ship sliced in two and transformed into speakers, plugged into an amp with a book and a meteorite lying on top.

The book made reference to the story of Donald Crowhurst, a mad englishman who attempted to win the Golden Globe yacht race in the late 60’s. When he realized his boat, the Teignmouth Electron, wasn’t strong enough, he plotted elaborate false charts in a bid to cheat his way to third place.

He eventually committed suicide at sea, leaving his floating boat and its thorough documentation to be found. It remains one of the most elaborate hoaxes of the 20th century.

Read more about the mystery at:

www.teignmouthelectron.org

8. ARTISTS TO GOOGLE
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-David Kramer - New York

-Mark Lewis - London: Check out his new work (especially the stunning Rush Hour, 2005) at the Monte Clark Gallery Toronto/Vancouver or Galerie Cent8, Paris

-Bob Partington - New York